PURPOSED (Psalm 138)

We have lots of squirrels in our neighborhood, and they "squirrel" 

away their walnuts where I weed my flowers! This sprouted walnut

reminded me that if nuts have purpose (to make more nuts!), then

absolutely God is working out His purposes, even in places we can't see.

(Part of an ongoing series on the 48 psalms recommended for times of feeling "down,” from pastor-counselor David Seamand’s book, Healing for Damaged Emotions.)

I needed a miracle, that summer of 1980. I’d just finished a master’s degree and was job-hunting. I was nearly out of money. Part-time jobs like babysitting and filing had helped buy food. Within weeks I’d have to vacate college housing. Going “home” to my parents’ home—which would mean a trip from Illinois to Washington state--was no longer an option. They’d both died in 1978, and I’d spent a year cleaning out their home and on other death tasks. I left my car behind when I flew back to Chicago to finish my program, relying on Chicago’s public transportation to get around. My “out” was an offer from some older women roommates—one of them the college librarian who heard my story and reached out to me--to temporarily sleep on their couch.

One morning, despairing yet wanting to trust God as all-sufficient, I came across Psalm 138 in my devotional reading schedule. Over and over the psalmist praised God as his help in trouble. Then I came to verse 8. I’d read it before, but now it burned into my heart as hope against hope:

The LORD will accomplish what concerns me;

Thy lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting;

Do not forsake the works of Thy hands. (NASB)

SOMEHOW

Though I didn’t know how—and it might not be the way I had planned things out—the Lord would take care of me. He saw my tears, my angst, but He saw much, much more. As it turned out, I’d be offered a nearby job in my field just days before I had to vacate the college housing. The company arranged for an employee to pick me up and temporarily house me until I could secure and afford my own housing.

Whenever I come back to Psalm 138, that scenario replays in my heart and reminds me to obey the psalm’s first verse: “I will give Thee thanks with all my heart” (NASB). Many Bibles offer chapter titles or summaries as guideposts outside of the actual translated text. In the various translations on my shelf, the title summaries for this psalm have included:

David praises God for the truth of His Word.

Thanksgiving for answered prayer.  God works out his plans for our lives and will bring us through the difficulties we face.

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s favor.

The Lord’s goodness to the faithful.

Give thanks to the Lord.

GRATITUDE

My need of a job was peanuts compared to what King David experienced as a national leader in rough-and-tumble times, and which led to him writing this psalm. But he hit on essential truths of an “attitude of gratitude” as we live out our days on this planet. The psalm makes these points:

*Make sure God gets the glory (vv. 1-3)

*Make sure the lost hear your witness of God’s help and favor (vv. 4-5)

*Experience how God imbues our weakness with His strength. (vv. 6-8)

I could pick apart and cross-reference this psalm a lot. But I go back to this truth: Jesus came low to lift me up! The end result is praise and glory to Him. If we think our circumstances are too dismal, it’s time to re-read Philippians, Paul’s epistle of joy written from a prison. Especially note these verses:

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (1:6)

Rejoice in the Lord always…I will say it again: Rejoice! (4:4)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (4:6-7)

Think tank: "true"

Blue columbine grow in a little triangle flowerbed of perennials my son planted for me several years ago. Oh, his creative touch with lavender, lupine and other flowers bringing a dead corner to life every spring. Though columbine come in many colors, I’m glad he chose blue, my favorite hue. It’s soothing and also connected with loyalty or constancy, as in “true blue.”  Maybe that’s why I pay extra attention with I come across “true” in the Bible as in the sense of real, ideal, genuine, manifest, uncompromised.. John called Jesus “the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). Many passages in Revelation use “true” in describing God’s attributes. Then there’s Philippians 4:8, urging us to think about whatever is true.

It’s true that Paul wrote these words while a prisoner in Rome. But instead of complaining, he sought God’s true purposes in his situation and found the joy that throbs through this epistle. He gave struggling believers some “think tank” homework—to think  (meditate) on God’s praiseworthy attributes, starting with “true.” He knew it would change their outlooks and lives.

 

The “think tank” assignments follow Paul’s practical advice about surviving hard times: *Rejoice in the Lord always.  Long ago I had a car with a bumper sticker that said, “Praise the Lord Anyway!” One day a hefty teen guy was helping me carry out a big load of groceries. You guessed it: a glass jar rolled out and almost broke. Noticing my bumper sticker, he rolled his eyes and said, “Praise the Lord, anyway.”  I don’t think that’s quite what Paul had in mind! Instead, it is a mindset for life that says even when I can’t understand what’s happening, I rejoice in God who sees far ahead and helps me.

*Let your gentleness be evident to all.  I hope I’m not the lady who blusters about so much that people wish she wasn’t around. A “gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4) has been on my “remember-to-practice” list for a long time. I’m glad Paul added, “The Lord is near.” He sees every speck of behavior, good or bad.

*Do not be anxious about anything. Oh, this one stings. Can’t I just be “concerned”? But carnal concern slops over into sinful anxiety quite easily.

*In everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Those with high anxiety are apt to be those who obey the “pray over problems” a lot.  They stay anxious because God doesn’t answer their prayers promptly enough or in the way they want. They forget the “thanksgiving” part, which would say, “God, this is big in my life. I don’t see a solution, but thank You that You already have a better answer in mind. Thank you that some day I’ll look back and see Your wisdom.  I praise you that it’s not all about me and my worry-prayers but about You being a wise, gracious and loving God.”

Living and praying God’s way, Paul said, results in true peace. It’s not that push-back-in- the-recliner for a sigh-filled “end of day,” but a spiritual peace that “transcends all understanding.” It will also “guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (v. 7).  Now, that’s “beyond understanding.” 

Next: “honest”