Thoughts About Psalm 12
I read it, sitting out on the front porch, enveloped in my South American cape, sipping coffee, and savoring the freshness of the morning. Morning is a wonderful, suggestive time. Anything can happen during the course of the day, and the morning is a good time to sit and speculate about it. Morning is a time for adventures of the very grandest scale.
Psalm 12: 5 (HCSB) fit the mood perfectly: ''Because of the oppression of the afflicted and the groaning of the poor, I will now rise up,' says the Lord. 'I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place.'' I realize that other versions of the Bible probably translate the last part of that verse differently, but I love the fact that my translation says 'I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place.' What about those who don't long for a safe place? What about people like me who'd rather not bother with safety?
There are those who say that the center of God's will is the safest place to be, but I don't think they've payed sufficient attention to verses like 'because of You we are slain all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.' The center of God's will is both very safe and very dangerous. Safe, in the sense that one knows one is with God, and completely in step with His plans...no matter what. Dangerous, in that Satan hates those who are following God, and does everything in his power to stop them.
For myself, I want to be where God is moving, shaking, convicting, turning the world upside down. I don't want to be safe. I merely want to be with my God. I've learned not to stick my nose out without His prompting, but if He calls me into danger, I'll come running.
We're all fighting a battle every moment of our lives, though it is more frequently the slow battle of spiritual erosion than the all-out war of dark and Light colliding. God, I know You're teaching me how to deal with the erosion. I know that is a useful spiritual skill to have in my arsenal. I'm grateful for all You're doing, for all You've done, and if this is where You want me to be, I'll stay here. But please, God, I'd like to be part of the collision again. I'd like to feel the thrill of battle. I want to come away from a fight with the glory of Your victory shining in my eyes. I want to stand in the face of darkness and radiate Your light. I want to disappear again - to have so much of Your power ripping through every fiber of my body that I'm not really present at all. I want to be consumed. I realize that this is 'asking for it', but You know that I've always asked for it. I just want to see - really, truly, see -Your power and glory again...the awesome and holy terror of Your 'rising up'. The trickling lukewarmness of 'Christian' life is wearing me down. Please wash me away in the flood again.
But not my will, Lord, NEVER my will, but Yours.
Psalm 12: 5 (HCSB) fit the mood perfectly: ''Because of the oppression of the afflicted and the groaning of the poor, I will now rise up,' says the Lord. 'I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place.'' I realize that other versions of the Bible probably translate the last part of that verse differently, but I love the fact that my translation says 'I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place.' What about those who don't long for a safe place? What about people like me who'd rather not bother with safety?
There are those who say that the center of God's will is the safest place to be, but I don't think they've payed sufficient attention to verses like 'because of You we are slain all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.' The center of God's will is both very safe and very dangerous. Safe, in the sense that one knows one is with God, and completely in step with His plans...no matter what. Dangerous, in that Satan hates those who are following God, and does everything in his power to stop them.
For myself, I want to be where God is moving, shaking, convicting, turning the world upside down. I don't want to be safe. I merely want to be with my God. I've learned not to stick my nose out without His prompting, but if He calls me into danger, I'll come running.
We're all fighting a battle every moment of our lives, though it is more frequently the slow battle of spiritual erosion than the all-out war of dark and Light colliding. God, I know You're teaching me how to deal with the erosion. I know that is a useful spiritual skill to have in my arsenal. I'm grateful for all You're doing, for all You've done, and if this is where You want me to be, I'll stay here. But please, God, I'd like to be part of the collision again. I'd like to feel the thrill of battle. I want to come away from a fight with the glory of Your victory shining in my eyes. I want to stand in the face of darkness and radiate Your light. I want to disappear again - to have so much of Your power ripping through every fiber of my body that I'm not really present at all. I want to be consumed. I realize that this is 'asking for it', but You know that I've always asked for it. I just want to see - really, truly, see -Your power and glory again...the awesome and holy terror of Your 'rising up'. The trickling lukewarmness of 'Christian' life is wearing me down. Please wash me away in the flood again.
But not my will, Lord, NEVER my will, but Yours.
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