A man should stop ever’ now and again and ask himself what he was doing, where he was going, and how he planned to get there.  And the hardest thing to learn is that there aren’t any shortcuts.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Tucker)

    “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”
              –Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT)
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We have on our property some of that black gumbo (not the eating kind).  Don’t try to walk in it when it is wet, for that muck will suck the shoes right off your feet.  It’s not like quicksand, but it will hold you secure in its grip.  Perhaps you’ve seen cows stuck in a bog not able to move.  Those animals will die because they can’t get out unless someone comes along with a rope and drags them to dryer ground.  So were we once, in our spiritual state–bogged down in sin.

              “My heart was distressed ‘neath Jehovah’s dread frown,
               And low in the pit where my sins dragged me down;
               I cried to the Lord from the deep, miry clay,
               Who tenderly bro’t me out to golden day.”
                      –H. J. Zelley

When we walk through the world we can get bogged down, just like one of those cows.  We need a strong rope with a stronger person on the other end pulling to get us out.  Once we are out we walk through the forests and glens with Him by our side.  Our feet are established on solid ground as we follow Him.

              “He placed me upon the strong Rock by His side,
               My steps were established and here I’ll abide;
               No danger of falling while here I remain,
               But stand by His grace until the crown I gain.”

Safe on solid ground, makes the heart surely want to sing.  We look back at that muck and our hearts sing a praise to the One who pulled us free.  Once trying to walk in the mire, each step we were being sucked down deeper and deeper, but now there is a lightness to our step.

              “He gave me a song, ’twas a new song of praise,
               By day and by night its sweet notes I will raise;
               My heart’s overflowing, I’m happy and free,
               I’ll praise my Redeemer, who has rescued me.

               I’ll sing of His wonderful mercy to me,
               I’ll praise Him till all men His goodness shall see;
               I’ll sing of salvation at home and abroad,
               Till many shall hear the truth and trust in God.”

We can wipe our brow and smile now that the ordeal is over and we have been pulled.  There was no hope, just as Christian knew when he was floundering in the slough of despair.  But now, now there is hope for He has reached down to save us.  

              “I’ll tell of the pit, with its gloom and despair,
               I’ll praise the dear Father, who answered my prayer;
               I’ll sing my new song, the glad story of love,
               Then join in the chorus with the saints above.

                                 He bro’t me out of the miry clay,
                                 He set my feet on the Rock to stay;
                                 He puts a song in my soul today,
                                 A song of praise, hallelujah.”

I might note that the verses were written by H.J. Zelley and the chorus by H.L. Gilmour who also composed the music for this uplifting song that definitely brings us up and out of that mire in which we once were stuck.

Nature never tired him.  If he had any peace it emanated from the silent places, the solemn hills, the flowers and animals of the wild and lonely land.”
              –Zane Grey  (The Mysterious Rider)

    “I raise my eyes toward the mountains.  Where will my help come from?  My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
              –Psalm 121:1-2 (HCSB)
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I have often written here my enjoyment of nature and of God’s creation.  It never ceases to marvel me.  I enjoy the scenery when I travel.  I enjoy the sounds; the other day while I was pondering, reading, and writing I stopped to listen to the squirrels rushing back in forth on the limbs of the trees.  This morning, as I was going out, I stopped to listen to the gentle rain falling through the leaves on the trees.  
    It was peaceful, calming.  But where does peace come from?  Not nature.  It comes from the Creator.  In Psalm 121, David says that he will look to the mountains.  He is not saying that the mountains will rescue him.  On the contrary, the reason he looks to the mountains is that mountains in Scripture often depict the government of God.  Only in Him can there be true justice.  Only in Him will there be peace from our adversaries.
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I came across the following in my reading last week.  It was written by D.L. Moody.

         A converted Chinese once said: “I was down in a deep pit, half sunk in the mire, crying for someone to help me out.  As I looked up I saw a venerable, gray-haired man looking down at me.
         ‘My son,’ he said, ‘this is a dreadful place.’
         ‘Yes,’ I answered, ‘I fell into it; can’t you help me out?’
         ‘My son,’ was his reply, ‘I am Confucius.  If you had read my books and followed what they taught, you would never have been here.’
         ‘Yes, father,’ I said, ‘but can’t you help me out?’
         As I looked he was gone.  Soon I saw another form approaching, and another man bent over me, this time with closed eyes and folded arms.  He seemed to be looking to some far-off place.
         ‘My son,’ Buddha said, ‘just close your eyes and fold your arms, and forget all about yourself.  Get into a state of rest.  Don’t think about anything that can disturb.  Get so still that nothing can move you.  Then, my child, you will be in such delicious rest as I am.’
         ‘Yes, father,’ I answered, ‘I will when I am above ground.  Can’t you help me out?’  But Buddha, too, was gone.
         I was just beginning to sink into despair when I saw another figure above me, different from the others.  There were marks of suffering on His face.  I cried out to Him, ‘O, Father, can you help me?’
         ‘My child,’ He said, ‘what is the matter?’
         Before I could answer Him, He was down in the mire by my side.  He folded His arms about me and lifted me up; then He fed me and rested me.  When I was well He did not say, ‘Now don’t do that again,’ but He said, ‘We will walk on together now’; and we have been walking together until this day.”

    It reminds me of the words of that great song.  

         “He brought me out of the miry clay,
          He set my feet on the Rock to stay;
          He puts a song in my soul today,
          A song of praise, hallelujah.”
                   –H.L. Gilmour

The way may be full of obstacles that range from rocks and boulders strewn across the trail, to storms that leave the trail mired with mud.  Hidden sinkholes may abound.  However, our Guide, the Holy Spirit, is walking the trail with us.

We’re all squatters in this world, when you look at it that way.  The land belongs to the Lord; we just use it a little while.”
              –Elmer Kelton  (The Day the Cowboys Quit)

    “Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.”
              –Ecclesiastes 12:6 (NLT)
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                             Psalm 8
              Yahweh, our Lord,
              how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!
              You have covered the heavens with Your majesty.
              2 Because of Your adversaries,
              You have established a stronghold
              from the mouths of children and nursing infants
              to silence the enemy and the avenger.
              3 When I observe Your heavens,
              the work of Your fingers,
              the moon and the stars,
              which You set in place,
              4 what is man that You remember him,
              the son of man that You look after him?

David spent so much of his time as a shepherd and soldier and fugitive that he would have spent much of his time outside of a night marveling at the night sky.  Can’t you imagine David, sitting around the fire with his men, and he begins to hum.  He begins to look at the sky and the worship of his Maker simply comes forth from him.  
    Look at how he starts.  He uses “Yahweh” and “Adonai”.  Yahweh is the sacred personal name of God that is often used with His covenant.  Adonai means “Sovereign” or “Master” emphasizing His dominion.  In effect, David is saying, “LORD Lord.”
    Look carefully or you’ll miss the meaning.  It is not creation, nor the wonder of creation, but it is about the Creator.  David’s attention was not on the night sky with the heavenly stars twinkling at him, but upon the LORD Lord.
    David began to ponder the majesty and greatness of God.  He realizes that only when we ascribe worth to God can we discover our true identity.  In that great wondering, David wants to understand, wants to grasp how the great Creator, Yahweh, how such great care of him.
    In the same way, to be like Christ, we must keep our eyes focused on Him.  Too often we get caught up in the marvels of man, but none can compare to the majesty of God.  I challenge you, the next time you are out at night look up at the sky and think of the great Yahweh and recognize that He is also Adonai.  The simple act of looking into the sky at the glory of God makes me wonder that we too often make things too complex with the way we act and try to make worship.  Look at the sky, be amazed, and then worship.