Watchword for the Month
“Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.” – Ps. 63,7
Dear reader/listener, I would advise you to take some time and read through this short psalm of eleven verses in your Bible. The author of this text is given as David as so many other glimpses fromthe life of this man who went through such a lot.
The context of this word for the month of August is that of many a struggling life and thus the outstanding word that grabbed my attention was that of ‘help’. It is the word that made David ‘search’ for God at that time of his life. It is the word that made David realise that he needs to have someone close by who can support him when he couldn’t go it alone. The longing and need for help is great and deep according to this Psalm. He uses words like thirsts, longs, parched, weary, to help him express that feeling that overwhelmed his life at this time. And we can almost see the person suffering, searching, and calling for such support. In opening up like this, he expresses the heart and body, mind and soul of many around the world at a time like this. Our world can be cruel. Life can be cruel for some more than others. Seeking a way out of this wilderness can consume you to the point where you become desperate.
Many have lost themselves during such times in their lives. The wilderness of such experiences is the spaces where help and support seem possible around every corner. In the wilderness the shadows and sounds seem to bring hope to find an outcome just to lead you into more wildernesses. Many have totally lost it in such moments as they tried to see help in the straws and shadows of fake and dubious help. Many have just deepened the crisis of their wilderness by believing that their solution has arrived.
But this is the point where David helps us and points us into a direction that helped him in his wilderness. His solution brings interesting assistance and solutions into play. Firstly we will notice in the text that his focus is on the Lord during the day and night. It even comes to the point where, when he cannot sleep he meditates on the Lord. A new window of help opens up in this part of the psalm when prayer and meditation and gestures and focus on the goodness of the Lord come into play. The wilderness is somehow overcome by thinking of the role that God plays in his life and to me, the highlight in this focus is when he writes in our text for the Month of August that ‘I sing for joy’ in my wilderness. Isn’t that something exceptional? The wilderness that we described earlier with those dark words is overcome by another spirit – the spirit of joy of singing, of focusing on the very special ‘helper’ at a time when all else fails.
Do you also notice the encouraging words he uses like God’s power and glory, God’s unfailing love, and that brings about this new approach to the wilderness? In such circumstances in life there is nothing bigger or stronger than what God is and therefor what He offers to all who find themselves in such doldrums in life. There is the realization that, when things in life feel like they want to overwhelm you, God is still there to lift your spirit out of this suffering. He then uses a word that all of us need to pay attention to. My wife always tells me: You cannot overcome this illness by just taking one teaspoon or one tablet irregularly and think that will do it. You need to do what David realises was his panacea, his cure: look at v.8, and here you’ll find the word ‘cling’!
Yes, cling to God. He will help you change your darkness, your wilderness into joy, and singing, and feasting. And even if the pain and hurt continues, He will lift your spirit into his realm of jubilation. And so we can end this meditation by joining David and say: I will sing in the shadow of your wings. You are my Protector, my wings that teach me that this will not fall apart further, dear Lord.
Prayer: Dear Lord, sometimes we feel like David, while others feel like that all the time that their wilderness doesn’t want to go away. Help us to find that same faith as we see in this man, David, to cling to you, but also help others who are struggling to find you. May your Spirit be our help and guide at times like these!
Amen.
Augustine Joemath (Bishop)