Love Up to the Stars!

Friday, September 04, 2009

Hold Me...Head and Shoulders

Psalm 27:1-6 (The Message)

Light, space, zest— that's God! So, with him on my side I'm fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. When vandal hordes ride down ready to eat me alive, Those bullies and toughs fall flat on their faces. When besieged, I'm calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I'm collected and cool. I'm asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I'll contemplate his beauty; I'll study at his feet. That's the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic. God holds me head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down. I'm headed for his place to offer anthems that will raise the roof! Already I'm singing God-songs; I'm making music to God.

The other night I couldn't sleep. I was totally stressed out and there was no rest for my body or spirit. I was flipping the channels and stopped when I heard someone reading Psalm 27 out of The Message. I got hung up on these words: God holds me head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down. Are you get the image I am getting? If God is holding up my head and shoulders who can possibly successfully pull me down? They can try...and that's where I get stuck - overwhelmed with stress and anxiety over others' attempts to pull me down...to crush me...to kill every good thing in me. But if God is holding me head and shoulders then all they can do is try. They can kick me on every side, but I can't fall down...not unless I disconnect from the only one who can uphold me. At 3:00 a.m., this verse gave me much to think about. God is my only refuge...the only place where I can break free from all the noise of my life...all the voices in my head...all those things that I can't seem to "turn off" at night so that I can get a good night's sleep. He is my peace, my serenity, my hiding place from all those things that I really can't run away from - all those things the plague me and keep me up at night.

I'm thinking of Psalm 23 as if I'm "getting it" for the first time. He makes me lie down on green pastures. Think about that. He "makes" me. Why do we have to be made to do this? Think of fresh, tender grass on a spring day. Sky is crystal blue with not a cloud in sight. And we have to be made to stop and lie down and take it all in? Yes because we get swept away by all the busyness and all the stress. So we have to be made to stop. Made to rest. He leads me by the "still" waters. Still, quiet - again, the Lord is trying to get us to rest in Him. To find our calm in Him. He restores my soul. - And that's what I needed at 3:00 a.m. That's what I need right now. God to restore my soul. Because my spirit breaks. my countenance falls. I lose my peace in a world full of turmoil. I need Him to calm me down at night, and hold me head and shoulders through a day filled with things that will try to kick me to the curb. But they cannot. Because He is the one who holds me. His love, His peace, His strength, is what holds me.

sent to the stars at 1:28 PM

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