7-3-2015

        Good Morning All!!

          Psalm 137:4; “How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?” 

        You can almost envision the setting of this verse in this psalm.  This psalm is a lament psalm.  It was first sung while the Israelites were being held in captivity in Babylon.  Their nation had been conquered, their city Jerusalem was destroyed, their sacred Temple was in ruins.  About a third of the people had died, about a third was just gone and about a third were taken into captivity to serve as slaves to their now Babylonian overlords. 

    The Babylonians took great pleasure in “over lording.”  They made fun of them, they abused them, they had defiled their Temple, carried of the Temple gold as plunder and now treated them with complete disdain.  They taunted the Israelites by trying to get them to sing their sacred songs here, in Babylon.  The Israelites, especially those who valued their faith and religion, were saddened and distressed; they felt abandoned by God and would cry over their situation.

    There have been times when I felt like I was by the rivers of Babylon wondering how I could sing the Lord’s song.  Perhaps you have experienced the same feeling.  Perhaps you have felt that gnawing in the pit of your stomach with the ache of something completely gone wrong.  At first, it didn’t seem so bad.  But slowly we are sucked into the pit of pain and despair.  Guilt and shame become very cruel overlords that taunt and haunt us.  They leave us feeling lost and abandoned.

     If you have been there or if you are there, you have hope.  You have a Savior that has not abandoned you.  He came to this earth to bring about healing, your healing.  He came to give you peace and hope.  Through his death and resurrection, he gives you value; he makes you precious in the eyes of God and gives to you the righteousness that you need to stand in his presence and to seek his comfort.  He lets you sing those songs, or better yet, he lets you come to him as he gives you comfort.  God does not lock you out; he does not turn his back to you.  He gives us his grace to conquer our fears and to rise above our sorrows.

    The world may taunt us but Jesus has overcome the world by his death on the cross and his resurrection.  He takes that victory and he gives it to you.   He gives it to you so that you may be free from the pain and the despair.   He brings you into his family to heal you and to make you whole.

Father, at times my heart is heavy and at I feel you are far away.  Yet I know your promise to be with me is always true.  Lead me by your Spirit to know your mercy.   Lead me by your Spirit to know the gentleness of your loving arms.  Lift me up from the depth of my despair that I might be healed.  Be with those who are sinking in their own pit.  Free them in your mercy.  Guide them with your love to know your peace.  In the precious name of Jesus I pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret