Little children delight when they can finally tie their own shoes. It is a breakthrough in their quest for independence. Teenagers get excited when they get a driver’s license and no longer depend on parents for rides. We imagine a time when we don’t need outside help any more. Can this independent spirit, however, be carried too far? Can we get so ingrained in self-sufficiency that we refuse to ask for help—even God’s help.
Today we read excerpts for Psalm 69 (verses 14, 30-34). The Psalmist is at a point in life in which he desperately needs help. He describes the condition of his soul:
“I am sunk in the abysmal swamp where there is no foothold; I have reached the watery depths; the flood overwhelms me.”
He has reached a place where he feels like he is drowning, and no matter how hard he tries, he cannot save himself. There are only two choices: to give up or to ask God for help.
“But I pray to you, O Lord, for the time of your favor, O God! In your great kindness answer me with your constant help.”
He prays that God will change the course of life—from a time of distress and danger to a time of favor. As he prays he reminds himself of the “great kindness” of God. He knows the kind of God he serves—one who is rich in mercy and longs to reach out and help his struggling children.
Secondly he knows that God is not a “hit-and-miss” kind of helper. He does not step into our lives now and then to bail us out, and then return to his comfortable throne in heaven. He is not one who offer help only when we beg long enough. No, his is constant help. In every moment he is attentive to all of our needs and reaches out to offer us his saving help.
Life experience tells us that there are people who might help us today, but then tell us they are too busy tomorrow. We have all had moments when someone, even someone close to us, lets us down. With God, however, it is different. He is faithful and will never let us down.
The Psalm continues:
“But I am afflicted and in pain; let your saving help, O God, protect me.”
He is honest about his inner condition. Affliction and pain saturate him, and there is no relief except for God’s saving help. He knows that God always comes through. So he exhorts,
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the Lord hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
There is always some part of our lives in which we feel we are sinking and our independence has reached a limit. Rather than deny these deep feelings, let us be like the Psalmist and pour them out to God. Let us not be reluctant to cry out to him for help, and never doubt, even for a minute, that his help is real and constant. Let us learn to imitate the saints who were constant in seeking God, as he was constant in loving them.
What a blessing to know that even at this moment, God is holding us by the hand and is lifting us out of the “abysmal swamp.” Have great trust in him!
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps 95:8)
