Psalm
107:27-28, "They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and
are at their wits' end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble,
and he bringeth them out of their distresses."
This morning,
we live in a world of confusion. As the moments of life tick by, people
as a whole seem to fall further and further into the cavern of
bewilderment. All the while confusion is on the rise, the true sources
of comfort and peace either go unnoticed or are slandered by the very
souls that stay confused. When considering the secular world around us,
it is painfully obvious that people do not seem to genuinely know the
truth and the right way to go on any number of moral and ethical
subjects. Politicians debate over what is and is not right, while
common citizens have divided opinions about what is genuinely right and
moral today. Things frowned upon 50 years ago - and sometimes barely
spoken of even in secret - are now promoted to be not only tolerated but
also accepted. Is it any wonder that the world seems to fit the
illustration above and stagger about like a drunken man and reeling to
and fro?
Quite often in
our daily toils and labours, we quickly forget what should persistently
and constantly occupy our days. There are many things that we are
required to do, but the Lord does not require them of us constantly.
For example, God does not expect His children to never leave His house
and be constantly engaged in public worship. Though He does expect us
to attend faithfully and regularly, our place there is not unceasing.
Other requirements of the Lord should be perpetually observed. One of
them is prayer, while others are rejoicing and thanksgiving. (I
Thessalonians 5:16-17, Philippians 4:4-6) The Lord in His word has
required of us that we faithfully stay and consistently serve Him with
heart always attuned in prayerful spirit, overflowing with rejoicing,
and abounding in thanksgiving. There is never a time or season in our
lives when we can truly say that it is not a good time in our lives for
prayer, rejoicing, or thanksgiving.
One of the
truly amazing things that I find upon personal reflection is that my
seasons of despair and inner turmoil coincide with my seasons of little
prayer and rejoicing. Even with such consistent revelations of this
order, I still find myself - far more often than I would like to admit -
lacking the persistence and constancy of those blessed items.
Interestingly enough, it is this very subject matter that encapsulates
the one occurrence of the term "perseverance" in Scripture. When Paul
uses that word in Ephesians 6:18, he is closing a discussion on the
armour of God in which he mentions watching and prayer last as the
covering for the soldier's legs. When considering what the Scripture
commands - as we have previously discussed - we see an interesting facet
of the subject on perseverance that is rarely discussed in theological
circles when this word comes up.
Quite often,
proponents of some non-Biblical or un-Biblical version of perseverance
will ultimately change the definition of it. They will not admit they
have changed it, but by close examination, they have altered the basic
meaning of the word. When proponents of the Calvinistic doctrine of
perseverance start discussing their tenets, they will quite often define
what they mean by perseverance in the child of God's life this way,
"Though there may be dark seasons, and though we may stumble. If you
are one of God's elect, you will come back." By framing their viewpoint
in that light, they are trying to provide a safety net for not damning
someone that goes astray, while still upholding their errant notion of
assurance of salvation. Yet, by doing so, they are attributing a
definition of perseverance to include "returning to the right way."
Perseverance is never defined as having anything to do with
"returning." Perseverance is always defined as "staying" in something.
Therefore, the
word is rightfully employed in the discussion and subject matter of
prayer as that is something we should be fervently staying in, though
quite often we are often returning to it. Should the false promoters of
perseverance in faith and holiness as connected to our eternal
deliverance be correct, then no one will land in the shores of glory,
because all of us have to return to the right way, but none of us stay
in it without fail (thereby fulfilling the requirements that the word
perseverance has) and would thereby be denied the glories of heaven.
So, persevering (staying) in things like prayer, watching, rejoicing,
and thanksgiving is something that it behooves us to do, but there are
no guarantees that we and all of God's family will do these and other
acts of goodness, faith, and holiness.
Getting back
to the thoughts on our text, we see that calling upon the Lord (prayer
and supplication) is something that the Psalmist sees as very lacking in
the people under consideration. From the context in the opening verses
of the Psalm, it seems that the primary context could be the children of
Israel that came out of Egypt and into the wilderness. However, as the
Psalm gets deeper, the writer seems to broaden the scope somewhat to
include God's people in general, which is not only fitting but logical
since Paul attributes those very Israelites from that time period as our
examples. (I Corinthians 10:1-11)
The dire
pattern that seems to emerge over and over in the Psalm - and sadly in
our own lives as well - is that we stagger around on our own, try to fix
our own problems, and when we have exhausted every natural resource at
our disposal, we then end where we should begin: calling upon the Lord
for help and guidance. Notice the descriptive and fitting language for
this point. Like a drunkard staggers around to and fro, so we also seem
to vacillate from pole to pole as we reel from the beatings of life.
Now, while life will try to beat us down on a daily and regular basis,
we shall stand firmly and resolutely if the Rock is the foundation point
of each and every day. (Matthew 7:24-25) One of the most fitting
descriptions to the lesson is being at "wits' end." That expression
lines out for us the thought that someone is close to complete
irrationality.
Have you ever
considered how irrational drunkenness is? Someone willingly and
voluntarily gets in a situation where there is loss of control. Quite
irrational to willingly lose control of the senses and inhibitions.
Have you ever considered how irrational it is to try to get through the
arduous affairs of life without beseeching God to help and guide through
them all? The patterns are akin to each other. Finally to conclude the
illustration before tackling the heart of the lesson, have you ever
considered what insanity truly is? Insanity is quite often described as
doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.
How insane would it be to drink to excess over and over and expect not
to become senseless and staggering about? How insane is it to think we
can handle something without the Lord's help? Yet, we can act like
chronic drunkards by consistently tackling things on our own and jumping
out on things without asking the Lord's guidance. At our wits' end and
complete insanity seem a fair description of the pattern.
However, the
heart of the lesson is quite a comforting one. Notice the end of our
study verses. Even though we repeatedly call upon Him last when we
should call upon Him first, He does not deal with us as we so oftentimes
deal with Him. Though we deal wrongly toward Him, He never behaves
wrongly toward us. Indeed, He does chasten us for our wayward steps,
but He is still patient to hear our petitions, cries, and He does still
deliver us out of, through, and in our many distresses. Even though we
do not persevere (stay in the right way) as we should, He has never
failed to persevere in any of His promises or sublime characteristics of
His being. In all things at all times, He is and will forever be the
One whose character is unwavering in its uprightness, holiness, and
verity.
We act insane
sometimes by staggering about when we should not have to. Should we
call upon the Lord perpetually and rejoice in Him at all times, we will
find the answer (s) long before we are beaten to and fro by the things of
this world. However, we also act insane sometimes when we expect the
Lord to act differently than He has before. Sometimes we fear to come
before Him as we wonder, "I just don't know if He'll hear me this time.
I've been so bad." Yet, we are expecting a different outcome than we
have ever received in the past. Therefore, let us come before Him
often, consistently, and expecting that He will be true to His word in
all things.
Brethren, our
lives can always improve in many ways, but when I consider the aspects
of calling upon our Lord in constant fashion, I realize how faulty I am
in this subject particularly. Much of my staggering from the blows of
the world and confusion of mind about what to think comes from failing
to call upon Him nearly as often as I should on a daily basis. When I
have these reflections of shortcomings in this regard - and surely you
the reader have too - may our constant behaviour after this realization
not be to fall into a hole of guilt and despondency. As humans, we are
apt to do that quite often. May we - upon coming to these realizations
of shortcoming - reflect that other behaviour that should be constant in
our lives and rather than feel despair all over again, may we thank Him
that He is so much better than we are. He upholds His promises to keep
us, hear us, and be with us at all times. Then, going forward may we
get back to the right way of constantly calling upon Him and persevere
in that mindset and behaviour all our days.
In Hope,
Bro Philip