Echoes From the Campfire

A man has to face up to himself sometime or other.  You can go on being satisfied or ducking the issue only so long, and then there comes a time when you start asking yourself, not what you’ve done with your summer wages, but with your whole life up to that minute.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Hanging Woman Creek)

    “Arise, cry out in the night, At the beginning of the watches; Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord….”
              –Lamentations 2:19(NKJV)
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I like the Psalms.  I read them constantly, and at this point in my life I wish that I had memorized many more of them.  They are good for inspiration.  They are good for comfort.  They are good for guidance.  They are good to use in worship and praise to the Lord.  However, one reason I like them is that so many were written by David and they reflect the reality of his life and how he lived through the trials, troubles, and tribulations that came his way.
    Just contemplate the first two verses of Psalm 55,

         “Listen to my prayer, O God.  Do not ignore my cry for help!  Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my trouble.” (NLT)

Have you ever found yourself in that situation, praying that same type of prayer?  People declare they want a relationship with God, where here you have one.  David knew God.  David turned to God when he struggled with abandonment and betrayal.  It seems that he might have been concerned that God would leave him as well.  As we see in the next few verses, David is in anguish.  Why is this happening to me? he wondered.  God are you there? he questioned.  

         3 – My enemies shout at me, making loud and wicked threats.  They bring trouble on me, hunting me down in their anger.
         4 – My heart is in anguish.  The terror of death overpowers me.
         5 – Fear and trembling overwhelm me.  I can’t stop shaking. (NLT)

In verse 4, the literal translation for “anguish” is “trembling with pain.”  Have you ever had so much pain that you actually trembled?  Has your body shook because of the pain and you think that you can’t handle it anymore?  Add to that the anxiety of those you thought were friends turning against you.  The NIV translates verse 3 and 5 this way:

         3 – at the voice of the enemy, at the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger.
         5 – Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.

One would think that David was living in today’s society and facing the onslaught of the enemy.
    Many times I could have related to the final words to this first part of Psalm 55.  Let me go to the high lonesome; let me get away from all the stupidity and hatred around me.

         6 – Oh, how I wish I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest!
         7 – I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness.  Interlude (Selah)
         8 – How quickly I would escape–far away from this wild storm of hatred. (NLT)

However, the Holy Spirit will not allow us to escape.  We are where He has placed us.  We are to be steadfast and trust in His leadership and guidance.  The Lord will give us comfort, He will not forsake us.  Fleeing is not the answer for there will the issues will follow and by fleeing there will be added problems.

         “Oh, were I a feathered dove,
          And innocence had wings.
          I’d fly and with the God I love,
          Leave all these restless things.”
                 –Isaac Watts