Desperate Prayers of The Poor and Needy

Do you ever find that you want to listen to different kinds of music depending on your mood? I am simply mad over the song by the Foo Fighters, Pretender. Mad, I tell you. And I’ve got that thing cranked so loud on my ipod when I’m on the elliptical machine at the gym that I’m surprised my ears aren’t bleeding when I’m done.

But when I’m chopping veggies for dinner or sitting by the fireplace on a winter evening, a little Bach goes a long way. And in my reflective moments, when I’m seeking God in a deeper way, connecting to my longings for Him and His ways, there are some great tunes that say exactly what I’m feeling and they release the tension in my soul a little.

Scripture is like that for me, too. Especially the psalms. The writers of those poems and songs had experiences just like me – well, I was never chased in the desert by someone who wanted to kill me, but other than that, pretty similar. King David sinned and felt remorse. So have I. He felt betrayed and angry. So have I. Occasionally he would bust out in spontaneous song or exclamation because he was so grateful or excited or joyful over what God had done in his life. So have I. That gives me comfort that I’m not alone in my emotional wanderings. I’m not a freak. Not because of that stuff, anyway.

Have you ever felt like this?

⁸ I am feeble and utterly crushed;

I groan in anguish of heart.

⁹ All my longings lie open before you, O Lord;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

¹⁰ My heart pounds, my strength fails me;

even the light has gone from my eyes.

²¹ O LORD, do not forsake me;

be not far from me, O my God.

²² Come quickly to help me,

O Lord my Savior. (Psalm 38: 8-10; 21-22)

In a position of weakness, pain and desolation, with no hope but the Savior of your soul, who seems far away and silent. You’ve laid out your complaints, your heartache, and your deepest desire. You are just done. And nothing changes. You know that God knows your situation, but that doesn’t change it.

What does David pray for and what should we pray for in those times? Look at the second half of verse 21 – be not far from me, O God. The nearness of God’s Presence. The woman in the gospel account who had been bleeding for 12 years and thought, if I could only touch his cloak, I would be healed. She sensed it. The four men who lowered their crippled friend through the roof of a house just to hear Jesus and be near Him. They sensed it. And we know that the bleeding woman was healed and so was the paralyzed man. How did David’s multiple crises affect him? Psalm 40 gives some insight.

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

³ He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the LORD.

(Psalm 40:1-3)

All but the last line are past tense, indicating that all the good things David is describing here have happened to him. And yet, verse 17 tells us that not everything is hunky dory:

¹⁷ Yet I am poor and needy;

may the Lord think of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

O my God, do not delay.

Can two such seemingly contradictory truths coexist? Can I remember past positive experiences with God and still be in anguish? If David’s life is any indication, yes. If my own life experience is any indication, yes. What’s more, remembering the times God has come through for me, touched my heart with His Presence and transformed me in the process, allows me – no, compels me to have hope for the future.

This is one reason I find journaling to be so important. Like the beginning of Psalm 40, my journal entries of God’s activity in my life remind me that those experiences were, in fact, real. I did sense His Presence. I did hear His voice. The last time I groaned in anguish and laid out my longings before God, He met me. He answered my prayer and He moved me from one reality to another. It really happened. So, here I am again, in that place of emotional poverty and desperation, and I can trust that He hears me and will be not far from me.

In addition to knowing God more deeply because of the emotional turmoil He’s taken me through, these painful experiences show those around us what it looks like to trust in God. Psalm 40:3 says, “many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD”. God can use my distress to reveal Himself to others.

---------------
• Read all of Psalm 38 and Psalm 40. Underline or write in a journal key verses that resonate with you. It may be past or present circumstances, but make a note of that which seems to figuratively jump off the page at you. Turn those into prayers to God: prayers of thanksgiving or sighing or whatever….

• This week spend some time reflecting on a time when you were in a position like David describes in Psalm 38. What was the outcome? How are you different because of it? If you are in the middle of it, be honest with God like David was and ask Him to be near you.

Bible Minute Lesson 8

Chasing After Wind

What is the wind? According to several sources I found, including my 7^th grade son and his science book, wind is air moving from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. Wind is caused when the earth’s surface is unevenly heated by the sun. Since warm air rises and cool air descends, and because the earth is constantly moving, the air becomes wind. Why would anyone chase the wind? It seems that chasing after wind is the epitome of a meaningless pursuit, don’t you think? And King Solomon would agree. In one of his more reflective seasons of life, he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. And I have been spending some time there as well, trying to figure out things like the meaning of life, my personal purpose, and how to find satisfaction for my heart. Just little things to keep a girl busy in the rainy winter months… 

In the twelve chapters of Ecclesiastes Solomon uses the expression “a chasing after wind” at least 8 times. And he describes all the things in life he has found to be “meaningless” as such thirty times. With this mood to the book, one might rename it “The Why Bother Chapters” unless we decide to dig in, ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, and open our minds to something greater. I feel pretty confident that we’ll find something.

As I was reading through Ecclesiastes this section really resonated with me:

¹¹ He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. ¹³ That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil – this is a gift from God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. (Ecclesiastes 3:11-14)

This isn’t one of the sections describing man’s pursuits as meaningless or chasing after wind, but I see a description of a tension here that I relate to. It’s the tension of having eternity in our hearts, placed there by God Himself, and yet a limited capacity to understand or enjoy eternal things. This creates a certain amount of anxiety in our lives as we bump against our limitations in this life to comprehend realities in eternity. God is eternal and His own glory is His highest priority. And in revealing His glory, He gives us a gift – the gift to enjoy Him and the lives He gave us. He has given us the ability to work, to enjoy food and drink, to engage in relationships, and to find Him in all of it. So why do we chase wind and sometimes miss God entirely?

Wind has power and we see its effects – both productively and destructively. I see a windmill produce energy, and I see the devastation of a tornado. I would submit that we chase after things in our lives that look like they would create some energy, but end up destroying us or leaving us empty. And I think most of what we chase falls into one of four categories: pleasure, possession, power, or projects. 

Pleasure: Is it easier to be still and hear from God in an unpleasant season of life or anesthetize myself with food or drink or television or shopping, etc. to dull the pain? Best case scenario, my pain pops up again when the drug of choice wears off and I am left with the inner gnawing of the guilt of my weakness combined with the original unease that I still have not dealt with. Worst case scenario, I’ve got a full-blown addiction on my hands. 

Possession: There are plenty of references in the Bible discouraging us from putting our faith in what money can buy. And anyone who has bought a brand new car knows the chagrin of the first ding or scratch. It feels for just a moment like the car owns me and not the other way around, doesn’t it? And a woman’s manner of letting materialism move in and take root in our hearts can be insidious and divisive. Who has a bigger diamond? Prettier house? Nicer clothes? More expensive car? We chase after it, even when we know it won’t last.

Power: Would that the male gender had a corner on the market of this vice. Alas, it is not so. Am I alone in wanting to control some situation or some person in my life? Chasing after influence or placing our reputation above the quality of relationships is meaningless and a chasing after wind. 

Projects: If I am defined by what I accomplish in my job or in my home or in athletics, etc. then it is likely that I will not experience the satisfaction Solomon talks about in Ecclesiastes. Instead, I will forever be focused on the next achievement or completed task, thereby missing the joy that comes in the beauty of life that surrounds me. 

(As a side note, I believe that women can use beauty in any of these categories: the pleasure of a pedicure, possessing expensive accessories, influencing others by virtue of appearance, and constant attention to outward improvement. I’m just sayin’…)

So if God has put eternity in our hearts and has given us the gift to enjoy the pleasures of this life, why do we often feel empty? One reason may be that we were not meant to be too comfortable here. Look at these verses from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians:

¹ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,  ³ ... For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 

⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:1-6)

We were created for eternity; that’s why God put it in our hearts. That tension we feel should drive us toward God and cause us to long for eternity. When we give in to the meaningless chasing after pleasure, possessions, power or projects, we let ourselves be lulled into a false sense of satisfaction that’s just a distraction. We may also legitimately feel dissatisfaction in life because God wants the unrest to produce something in our souls. Either way, the process of running to Him for solace, guidance and deep satisfaction is the means and the ends to our issues. 

• This week ask yourself why you’re going after your goals in life. Do the things that take the bulk of your time and energy give you satisfaction? Do you see God in them? Or are they effective distractions – meaningless chasing after wind? I look forward to hearing what you discover. 

Be Still and Move On! (Part 2)

Has anybody besides me heard a parent say to a crying child, “I’ll give you something to cry about!”? And did the irony strike you then or not until later? Clearly that child already has something to cry about and an overabundance of cause won’t improve his disposition! The situation in Exodus 14 reminds me of this because when we left the Hebrews last week, they were crying out to God with the Egyptians on their tails and the Red Sea looming ahead of them. But God’s ways are not our ways, and He does not react the way an angry parent would when a child is crying. This week we will see the powerful and amazing way God responds to His children to bring them closer to His ultimate plan for them.

Last week’s lesson looked at the meaning behind the words “be still”. Here are the key verses we looked at:

¹³ Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

¹⁵ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.”

In this chapter of Exodus, Moses reassures the frightened Hebrews that God will do something; they just need to stop complaining. Moses knows that he isn’t the one who’s going to provide an answer to their dilemma, and I have no doubt that he was uttering a few prayers to God in his head, too. And now that we know that “be still” really refers to a lack of verbiage more than a lack of motion, verse 15 makes more sense. God can tell the Hebrews to move on because He knows that He is about to do an amazing work before them by parting the Red Sea so they can move on! But then we are faced with another dilemma: if Moses tells the people to be still and let God fight for them, why does God seem so irritated that they are crying out in the first place? This word is used several times in the Old Testament to describe people appealing to God for help, summoning Him to rescue them. Doesn’t God want us to do that? The Psalms and other places seem to encourage us to be real and honest with God about our emotions. So why is God rebuking the Hebrews for doing just that here?

I believe that what God is really saying to the Hebrews is, “Why are you still crying out to me when I’ve provided the answer to your prayer?” Here is deliverance. And it is not to the left or to the right, but straight ahead. Is it what the Hebrews expected? Maybe. But probably not.

There is a time to pour out our hearts to God and there is a time for us to take action. This is the pattern here and it’s a pattern in the New Testament, too. In John 11, Jesus comes to raise Lazarus from the dead. He arrives in Bethany to weeping women who are mourning the loss of their brother. They are crying out to God – for comfort, for peace. God wants to show them His love and His power over death so Jesus, feeling compassion for these women he loves, moves in God’s power and timing to raise Lazarus from the grave. But the stone is not miraculously removed. Jesus asks those present to move the stone (verse 39). That done, all that remained was for God to do what only God could do – “Lazarus, come out!” God will raise the dead; you just move the stone.

After Jesus’ resurrection, he appears to some of the disciples as they are fishing (John 21). They’ve been out all night with no luck. Had they been crying out to God in that time? If not audibly, I’m guessing in other ways. Their rabbi and leader had just been killed and resurrected, but their idea of His Kingdom still seemed far from materializing. And here they were, back to fishing like they’d always done, except this time there are no fish. What had it all meant? What were they supposed to do now? And Jesus appears, telling them to let down the nets on the right side of the boat to find some fish. Was there a moment when Peter and his companions were thinking, “Oh, the right side! Why didn’t we think of that? Thanks a lot, mister!” (They didn’t recognize Jesus at this point, or I’m sure they wouldn’t have called Him “mister”.) And what happens? There are so many fish the disciples can hardly bring them in. God will bring the fish; you just cast the net.

The expression to move on in this chapter of Exodus is found other places in Scripture as well. It means to go elsewhere, do something else, progress, get going to the next thing, uproot, advance. God says in Exodus 14:15, “Tell the Israelites to move on.” This is not the end of the plan I have for you; it’s only the beginning. God’s glory is about to move from leading them in front of the group to protecting them from behind (Exodus 14:19-20). He has done the communicating; Moses has his instructions. He has done the leading; there is no direction to move except forward. He has covered their rears; there’s a huge pillar of fire protecting them from the enemy Egyptians. What’s left to do? Move on! God will part the sea; you just take the first step.

How about a 21^st century example? You are reading this study because God has been teaching me this very lesson. I started Cuppa Joe Bible Minute because I sensed God saying, “I’ve given you unique life experiences and a passion for making the Bible clear to women. I’ve freed up your schedule and given you friends and family to encourage you and give you feedback. Why are you crying out to me? Move on.” And I wrote the first lesson. Scary first step? You bet. Was there a risk that I hadn’t heard God right and this was just me making things up? Yep. But how would I know unless I moved? That’s how God can build our faith. He’ll bring the fish (finances, job, mate) if I cast the net. He’ll raise the dead (dreams, relationships) if I move the stone. He’ll part the sea (circumstances, obstacles, temptations) if I take a step.

What’s God asking you to do in response to what only He can do? He may be saying, “I’ll repair the marriage; you work on being kind, compassionate, and forgiving.” Or maybe, “I’ll take care of your financial future; you keep doing your best at work for My Glory.” It might sound like this, “I will change this person’s heart; you speak the truth in love.” Sometimes it just comes down to this: I have to shut up, look up, then get up!

• What area of life are you asking God to change? Finances? Job? Relationships? Temptation?

• How can you incorporate the process – shut up, look up, and get up – into your prayers and life?

“And now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Be Still and Move On!

When I was a little girl my slightly eccentric grandmother used to sing me a song with some crazy opposites in it. It went like this: ‘Twas midnight on the ocean, not a streetcar was in sight. The sun was shining brightly for it rained all day that night. A barefoot boy with shoes on stood sitting in the grass… come to think of it, the rest of it wasn’t really the kind of thing you repeat on a Bible Study website, but you get the idea.

This week’s passage gave me a similar feeling. Read it and see if you know the part I’m talking about. (Hint: it’s in the title of the lesson.)

-------------

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!" 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen." (Exodus 14:5-18)

-----------------------------------

What’s The Story? God has just brought a million Hebrew slaves out of Egypt and into the wild desert to form for Himself a new nation and Moses is leading them toward the Promised Land by God’s instructions. Pharaoh is not happy about it and God allows him to chase after the Hebrews to bring Himself more glory and establish Himself as their God. In verse 14 Moses says, “be still” and in verse 15 God tells the Israelites to move on. Well, which is it? Does the Bible contradict itself? Was Moses not speaking for God here? Or do I just not understand the bigger perspective? I’ll put my money on option #3. Let’s see if we can get a handle on it.

It’s All About Context. When one part of Scripture is hard to understand it’s good to do two things: First, look at the verses before and after the confusing ones. Secondly, look at some other places in the Bible where that same word or concept is used to see if the combination of contexts unlocks some meaning. Strangely, this exact Hebrew phrase, “be still”, does not occur any other place in the Old Testament. There is a similar expression used in Psalm 46:10 that you may be familiar with. The English translation is the same, but the original Hebrew is different. I will give you the verses immediately preceding the one we’re looking at, as well.

“Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolation he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:8 - 10)

Both passages carry with them the connotation of submitting one’s will to a greater power. However, the Hebrew term in Psalm 46 means to hang limp, lose courage, or withdraw. There is a military connection here as the preceding verses in this psalm describe God’s power to make wars and conquer enemies. The very specific and unique term used in Exodus, on the other hand, means to become silent or deaf. To hold one’s tongue. In both places the message is clear: God is God and we are not.

Moses is telling the Hebrews to be quiet and watch for God’s movement because God has been speaking to him and he’s beginning to believe that great things are about to happen. But talking is sometimes noise that can get in the way of experiencing God’s activity. It was true for the Hebrews and it’s true for us. And just like there is a difference in a truly satisfying conversation with a friend and chit chat, there is a difference between genuinely voicing what’s in our hearts to God and simply complaining and making noise because life isn’t turning out the way we want it to.

We see examples of both kinds of communication here. Look at the kind of talking that’s going on in verse 10: They [the Hebrews] were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They were afraid and turned to God for help. Is that the kind of talking God likes to hear? I believe Scripture points to an affirmative response. He wants to be our refuge in times of trouble and He wants to hear our hurts and deepest emotions. Verse 10 is not noise; it is a genuine outpouring of emotion to the God who is their only hope of being saved.

Verses 11 and 12, however, are different. Look at the object and tone of these Hebrews’ communication: They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” First of all, these Hebrews are not crying out to God for help; they are crying out to Moses in anger. Big difference. Secondly, there’s not much in their appeal that calls for a response; they are just complaining. That’s why Moses’ response in verse 14 makes sense. He says, in essence, to the Hebrews who are truly afraid, “the LORD will fight for you”. Reassurance. To the Hebrews who are complaining about him, he tells them that if they would be quiet and look for God, they would see Him because He is their only chance out of the situation they’re in.

What about you? In your relationship with God, do you tend to go to Him first with your deepest emotions? Or do you tend to go to other people to voice your complaints? I feel the conviction immediately as I write these words that I am guilty too many times of the latter. Is it a lack of faith? Is it just easier? Am I too busy or too lazy to do the work of being still and silent before the God who made me and loves me madly? This week’s assignment may help us get to some of the root issues. If we dare. Here’s the challenge:

1. Choose a part of a day in the coming week to be still before God. Don’t talk; don’t read the Bible; don’t answer the phone. Be alone and purpose to silence yourself before God. If you hear Him speak to you, write it down or respond another way that seems appropriate to you. But you may also just want to enjoy the time in quiet. You may want to ask Him to speak to you about something specific, or let Him guide the time you spend together.

2. Spend time another day in quiet with God, but this time begin by acknowledging His power, His sovereignty, and His holiness. You may want to begin with a worship song or hymn to kick off your time. Or read some of the Psalms that extol God’s character. Be still in response to His greatness and ask Him to reveal Himself to you in a new way.

3. When you have completed both experiences, spend some time reflecting on them. What did you hear? How did it feel to connect with God in this way? How were the times different? How were they similar? How will you incorporate what you’ve experienced/learned into your future times with God? Explore and share with someone the various aspects of your experience.

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is as you take the challenge to spend time alone with God, listening to His voice in your deepest place – the place where only you and He can go together. I look forward to hearing about your experiences.