May 9
Ps 27-32
How desperate have you ever been? What are the depths of your despair? Perhaps, some of David's Psalms don't fully resonate because in an affluent nation such as the United States which has seen little persecution we cannot place ourselves in David's situation. A few years ago, we had a visit to our church by Wes Bentley, former marine, now leader of Far Reaching Ministries centered in South Sudan. At the end of his talk I turned to those with me at church and honestly said "I have nothing to complain about". One facet of the ministry is to train army chaplains in a war torn nation. His talk concluded with a picture and short statement of the 69 chaplains who have already lost their lives in service to God. We heard the story of one man, who went back behind enemy lines to save his wife. His town was attacked by Islamic fundamentalists. All of the men and boys were killed as were most of the women and girls. A few of the women were spared to become sex slaves for the enemy soldiers. One of those spared was this man's wife. He thought she was dead, but then word came to him that she was alive. He watched the tent that she was in for a number of days and nights as four to five men daily went in to rape her. After a few days of this, he estimated that 3 am was the best time to attempt to rescue her. He successfully pulled it off and brought her back to the citadel where the ministry is housed. Though she estimates that she was raped five thousand times, she thanks God as she is the sole survivor of her town. Though his name escapes me, another one of the chaplains was caught by the enemy, stabbed and eviscerated, meaning they cut him such a way as to allow his intestines to spill out on the ground all around him. Taken for dead, the soldiers went into an adjacent room. This man awakened, gathered together his intestines, stuffed them back into his abdomen, found something to bind up his abdomen, picked up his rifle, then proceeded to walk back 30 miles to safety. The stories are many of a world that most of us can not fathom. Even the leader, Wes Bentley, openly admits that he drives on roads frequently ambushed, the site of multiple murders, to further his work for this ministry.
We sense the desperation from David, as we read Psalm 30:1-5, "I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health. You brought me up from the grave, O Lord. You kept me from falling into the pit of death. Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name...Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning." As David experienced God's deliverance, we see his concluding comments in 30:11-12, "You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!" Again, we see David crying out to God in Psalm 31:2-5, "Turn your ear to listen to me; rescue me quickly. Be my rock of protection, a fortress where I will be safe. You are my rock and my fortress. For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger. Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in you alone.
I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God."
We see in these psalms an earnest crying out to the Lord from one who is in a relationship with Him. His plea is not a last resort, but seems to come from a place of trust and hopeful expectation. In David's years he has been in many seemingly hopeless situations that God brought him through. None of us look for these situations, but perhaps there is a reason that the persecuted church in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia is thriving, while the complacent church in North America and Europe is largely floundering. When I hear the stories from Wes Bentley in Far Reaching Ministries, from Voice of the Martyrs, etc. it's hard to process situations so different from our own. In our nation, persecution will come. In fact, it seems the seeds are being planted for persecution, the likes that most of us have never known. Battle lines are being drawn. There seems to be little tolerance from those who claim to be the masters of tolerance for those of us who disagree. The question remains, how will we fare. Will many of our brothers and sisters buckle under the pressure and assimilate? As the fire gets turned up will we seek ways to manipulate our situation? Or will we, like David, like the many whose daily reality is life or death, learn to cry out to the Lord, seek Him expectantly, and find peace knowing that we remain in His loving hands and under His watchful eyes.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: