Unchained Melodye

Whew: used to express variously relief, surprise, dismay, or disgust; an exclamation or a sharp breathing sound

I have found myself using this one-word expression quite often in the last few months. I have to chuckle that it expresses very different emotions depending on the current situation or conversation. I have this feeling we’ve all been there a time or two. Especially in the political climate in which we find ourselves as a nation.

[Ok. Here’s where I want to give you a chance to opt out of continued engagement in this particular post. I think some of you are simply over it all. The rhetoric, the ambiguity, the outright dishonesty – you’re just done. And I get that. But for those who are pondering with me, wanting to try and make sense of how we got here and where we are going, I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts.]

As I was recently making my way through Psalm 57 for a study I was writing, I couldn’t help but wince as I read David’s words (written when he was hiding from Saul):
I am in the midst of lions; I lie down with those who devour men.
Their teeth are spears and arrows; their tongues are sharp swords..
They prepared a net for my steps; I was downcast.
They dug a pit ahead of me ….

Whew. (Dismay.)

David was no stranger to trouble. But I think it came as a surprise to him that people sought to do him harm. They did not seem to fear God nor respect God’s man. They were looking to ruin David. (It was mostly King Saul leading the pack.) This situation threw him into deep despair – he woke up feeling the sorrow as he anticipated the betrayal that awaited him.

I’ve been in a place of despair in the past several months. I can get bogged down in the divisions taking place. I think it’s because I’m confused by it. The lines are more blurred these days. I feel David’s pain. (Wasn’t Saul his friend?) As hostility, competition and arrogance replace friendship, support and humility, it’s frightening and unsettling. Who do I trust? I’m often unsure and feel continual angst. Some leaders who I’ve followed for years and years are unrecognizable to me. Some of them – who I’ve known to be gracious truthtellers – have become angry and harsh. They are publicly calling names, judging motives and are increasingly accusatory. The saddest part is to watch this divide families, friends and Christian communities. Some days, the weight of it is extremely heavy.

I’m sickened by it all. A heavy kind of heart-sickness has set in. I believe many in the evangelical community have been “misrepresented … in order to use them as an illustration of the point that evangelical leaders are pushing a left wing political agenda. [And] that is both wrong and damaging to reputations [of those who are genuine] theologians and apologists.” I’ve witnessed this time and again. It has led me to search for quotes and interviews and messages to confirm that many of the godly influences in my life are moving away from the gospel or are rejecting biblical truths. And yet, not once have I found the actual beliefs and teaching to correspond with the accusations hurled at them. Believe me when I say I’m looking for it! Because I want to know that the people I am listening to and learning from are (biblical) trustworthy sources. Weren’t all these folks previous friends and co-laborers in the gospel? Do we now view those with whom we disagree as enemies of the cross?! Are they a real threat to the spread of the gospel? Or is it assumed?

Hence, my surprise & confusion.

What adds to the heaviness is the hypocritical outrage that doesn’t seem to stop. (Yes, that’s my opinion.) While some felt justified in their anger over what was very likely to be a distasteful mockery of “sacred art”, many of these same people aren’t bothered at all by images of ungodly political leaders draped in the American flag standing with the cross of Jesus as if they worship Him. It is this, along with a plethora of mocking memes toward image bearers, that astounds me. I simply don’t understand how this can be.

…

But God.

I’ve always thought David to be a certain type of people-pleaser (maybe a little naive), leaving him vulnerable as a warrior. But in those moments of his fear, he must have remembered those two life-changing words and decided to do the very best thing a people-pleaser can do. He focused his heart toward heaven!

My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident.
I will sing; I will sing praises.
Wake up, my soul! Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.

Whew! (Surprise)

This call from the psalmist is spoken to his soul and to his instruments. How odd that in the midst of lions he had confidence! The psalmist seems to be calling everything to wake up and join him in praise. He employs what he has to contribute to the process. I wonder why that was his strategy.
I believe David was telling himself to be awake and aware of his circumstances in light of who God is. That’s what waking up is meant to do for us too. It is about reminding ourselves again and again of His steadfast love and faithfulness. It’s about living in light of the hope we have. It’s about joining the psalmist in worship: My heart is confident! I will sing His praise. Let His glory fill the earth! This awareness should be at the center of our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions. Being awakened to the mercies of God is the key to living out our faith day after day in the midst of a world who doesn’t know or love Him.

The prophet Jeremiah knew the feeling of affliction and despair over what the people of God had become. But he did what the psalmist did. He remembered!
“Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, ‘The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.

Whew. (Relief)

This is where I want my heart to stay. I want to rise above the muck and mire of what’s around me and focus on Who is above me. Heaven is real and it’s here – through salvation in Jesus. Oh, the relief of being awake; of calling to mind the hope that’s found in knowing Jesus; of loving others and believing the best in those people who are clearly gospel folks.

So, Whew!

Mine is a sigh and a cry in one breath. I’m not completely sure how we got here. And no one knows what’s next. And I do mean no one! We have formed our camps, and we’ve armed ourselves with fiery darts of hostile words while protecting our own with the thick armor of our truth. In reality, we are all in the same boat of waiting. As stories unfold, we sometimes realize we jumped the gun with our critiques. Too many of us quickly form theories based on biases or perceptions, only to realize we can’t know with certainty how this will all end or who will be standing ‘on God’s side’ when the dust settles. If it wasn’t for Hebrews 11 correcting me, I would have scratched the names of some of those people off God’s “faithful list.” But there they are!

Paul said: A person should consider us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of God’s mysteries. In this regard, it is expected of managers that each one of them be found faithful. It is of little importance to me that I should be evaluated by you or by any human court. In fact, I don’t even evaluate myself.  For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. The One who evaluates me is the Lord. Therefore don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts.
AND THEN … praise will come to each one from God.

Oh, the grace of it all. And when we recognize it, as believers we will confess with the psalmist: My heart is confident, God. My heart is confident [in You alone].
Yes, Lord. In You, I place my trust. And in Jesus’ name, I press on.

My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay.
Though some may dwell where these abound,
my prayer, my aim, is higher ground.
I want to live above the world, though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
for faith has caught the joyful sound – the song of saints on higher ground.
I want to scale the utmost height and catch a gleam of glory bright.
But still I’ll pray till rest I’ve found, “Lord, lead me on to higher ground.”
Lord, lift me up,
and let me stand by faith on heaven’s tableland;
a higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground!