Many
people know and love the Psalms of David, but do you know the one
written by Herman
the Ezrahite? It seems that no one knows
Herman’s
contribution to the word of God.
However, Psalm 88 is worth some thought simply because it
is a total,
start to finish, song of complaint.
The Psalms record a
variety of
emotions and one of the benefits of them is that they give us
permission to be
real with God. Normally,
though, they
end on a high note. Unfortunately,
that
is not true here. Herman’s
psalm
concludes with these words: “Why, O Lord, do you reject me and
hide your face
from me… your terrors have destroyed me... All day long they
surround me like a
flood… darkness is my closest friend” (verses 16-18).
If
Herman was standing here, what would you say to him? More to the point, what
should we do when all
we can see is trouble and hope seems out of reach?
Jesus
gave
a one word answer: Abide!
“I
am
the vine; you are the branches. If
a man
remains (Abides) in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from me you
can do nothing!” (John 15:5). As
he
fills out this picture in the rest of the chapter, one thing
becomes very clear;
We must understand which end of the branch we are to focus on.
Too often, I focus
on the fruit
producing end. I try to
force growth and
make things happen. I try
to control
people and situations so that things turn out the way I think is
best. However, that is not
my job! My job is to
focus on the other end of the
branch. My job is to stay
connected to
the vine! If I stay
connected to Jesus,
he will produce the fruit and make things happen in my life. Just in case we missed that
point, he underlines
it by saying, “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain
in the vine”
(verse 4).
So, what would I say
to Herman or
to anyone, myself included, when life seems messy? I would say, “Keep praying. Keep focusing on God and his
promises. Keep trusting
that he is going to make
something good happen”.
You cannot fix or
control everything.
Fortunately, that is not your job!
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