Faith and fear cannot be in the same place at the same time… You either live in one, or you live in the other.”
                    –Dan Arnold  (Bear Creek)

       “When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.'”
                    –Luke 5:4 (NKJV)
————————————–
I was sitting the other morning in my chair, doing my morning devotions.  I paused to look out the window and gaze at the little forest where our cottage is nestled.  It won’t be long, progress they call it, that the trees will mostly be cut down and it will be part of “suburbia.”  I don’t blame folks for wanting to get out in the woods, wherever they might live, but my question is why?  But that’s a debate for another day.  As I was quietly sitting and gazing, an old hymn came to my mind.  I haven’t heard it in ages and it is one that I don’t know well.  In fact, I could only remember two phrases:  “Launch out into the deep, Oh, let the shore-line go…”  
     I turned to one of my readings that I do every morning and here is what came up.  “All great voyages begin in the same way.  Once all the passengers board, the ship’s horn sounds, and most of those on board rush up onto the deck.  The thick ropes that held the ship to the dock are let go.  Then the vibration of the engines can be felt in the steel beneath your feet.  Moments later, the dock and shoreline begin to slip away.” (James Merritt)  Coincidence?  Maybe, if you believe in that, but perhaps more, something that I was to ponder, something from the Lord.  So let’s take a look at that old hymn by A.B. Simpson and mesh it with what I read that morning.

          “The mercy of God is an ocean divine,
          A boundless and fathomless flood;
          Launch out in the deep, cut away the shoreline,
          And be lost in the fullness of God.”

Finally, the ropes have been cast off.  The lines that held the ship secure are no longer there and it is free to move into open water.  The journey has begun, and I like what the hymnist said, it begins out in the ocean of God’s mercy.  “Freedom and enjoyment in life start with casting off.” (Merritt)  We now are free to let go of the old life and enjoy life without the anxiousness that often besets us.  God has put us on a new journey and has good plans for our life. (Merritt)

          “But many, alas!  only stand on the shore
          And gaze on the ocean so wide;
          They never have ventured its depths to explore,
          Or to launch on the fathomless tide.”

Why, oh why, I have often wondered?  Why do people refuse the love, grace, and mercy of God?  Why do they stand in their selfishness bound by the ropes to the dock when God has provided a wonderful venture of life in His mercy?  Why do they purposely reject the grace that He offers?  All they have to do is get on board, because the crew does the work of casting off.  The journey has already been paid for.  Step out into the ocean of His mercy.  Put away the worry that may beset you.  Let go, “because God will provide sufficient grace for every trouble you face.” (Merritt)

          “And others just venture away from the land,
          And linger so near to the shore,
          That the surf and the slime that beat over the strand,
          Dash o’er them in floods evermore.”

Have you ever been to the docks?  The grease and crudge and slime lie all around.  The smell can knock you down.  Ahh, but out on the sea, the fresh air blows, the water is clean and clearer than at the docks.  Why stay moored to your old life?  “You don’t have to stay docked to your challenges any longer, moored to every piece of bad news, or tied to those things you cannot control.” (Merritt)  Look up at the bridge and see the Captain.  Just think, even the winds and waves obey Him, therefore the “storms of life cannot sink you on your journey.” (Merritt)

          “Oh, let us launch out on this ocean so broad,
          Where floods of salvation e’er flow;
          Oh, let us be lost in the mercy of God,
          Till the depth of His fullness we know.”

There is no need to look back at the dock–that old way of life.  Look forward to the journey, enjoy His grace and mercy, as you travel in faith with Him on this voyage.  I have written many times what my Pastor used to say, “Live Is Living!”  Then live it to the fullest with Jesus Christ and let the Holy Spirit guide you along the way.  Look at the freedom you have in Christ; no longer bound by the ropes of sin, worries, frets, and depression.  Look forward to the journey of God’s grace.  And if the storm clouds roll in don’t fret, the Savior is there to secure our safety.

          “Launch out into the deep,
          Oh, let the shoreline go,
          Launch out, launch out in the ocean divine,
          Out where the full tides flow.”

There are always those who are willing to earn what they get and those who work, being too lazy or immoral to honestly build their own lives.”

Hollowness is perhaps the worst emotion a man can feel.”
                   –Kenneth Pratt  (To Kill a Dragon)

Look to the hills. They are quiet. The storms sweep over them and are gone, and most of man’s troubles pass the same way. Whenever you feel that things are getting too much for you, go to the mountains or the desert—it smooths out the wrinkles in your mind.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Brionne)

       “Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths….”
                    –Isaiah 2:3 (NKJV)
——————————–
Being raised in Colorado at the foothills of the Rockies, Psalm 121 was one of my favorite Psalms.  This is a psalm of ascent, so perhaps the writer was looking upward at the mountain he was having to climb heading for the holy city.

          1 — I will lift up my eyes to the hills–from whence comes my help?
          2 — My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
          3 — He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
          4 — Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.  (NKJV)

     There is some controversy over verse one.  Some say, why look to the mountains, your help doesn’t come from them.  F.B. Meyer wrote, “We are all tempted to look at the mountains, to the creature rather than the Creator, to things and people beneath the heavens, instead of to Him who dwells above the heavens, in His infinite majesty, and to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth.”  However, in saying that, I want us to recognize the fact that in Scripture mountains often refer to the government of God.  Does the Psalmist look up, and he is right in looking up, to the mountains waiting for God to swoop down and rescue him?  Alexander Maclaren puts it this way, “I will look at the things I cannot see, and lift up my eyes above these lownesses about me, to the loftiness that sense cannot behold, but which I know to be lying serene and solid beyond the narrowing horizon before me.”  Barnes says that the writer is most likely looking toward the mountain where Jerusalem was built since that was where he was headed.  That was where God dwelled and therefore, that was where aid was expected.
     Either way, the writer realizes that his help comes from the Lord.  He knows that he is to lift up his eyes and not leave them downcast.  He makes an effort in the toil of travel, the troubles of life to lift up his eyes.  “Too often,” says Maclaren, “Christian men and women walk beneath the very peaks of the mountains of God, and rarely lift their vision there.  I think of Isaiah 2:2, “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills.  All nations will stream to it.” (HCSB)  
     The psalmist is assured of his faith–he know where his helps comes from.  He openly declares it, as the writer of Hebrews says, “So we may boldly say:  ‘The LORD is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?'” (13:6, NKJV)  Do not look to the mountain as an answer, as an idol, but look to the God who created the mountain.  He is the solution to your fears and problems.
     In this dangerous trek, there was the fear of falling which could result in serious injury.  I remember one time running down Green Mountain, my foot hit either a rock or root and I went sprawling off the path.  I was bruised, scraped and had more than a few scratches, plus the fact that I was embarrassed for having fallen.  The psalmist didn’t want to fall on his upward journey.  A fall could mean a broken bone or even death.   What is it on your path that could cause you to slip?  Grief?  Depression?  Feelings of worthlessness?  Habits?  This writer had the assurance that God will not allow him to slip.  Matthew Henry writes, “He is always near his people for their protection and refreshment…  He will take care that his people shall not fall.  Thou shalt not be hurt, neither by the open assaults, nor by the secret attempts of thine enemies.”
     Rest assured my friend, God does not sleep.  He is constantly watching over us and if need be He will send His angels to bring us to safety, plus on our journey we have the Word of God as a “lamp to our feet and a light on our path” as well as the Holy Spirit as our Guide, our Helper in any difficulty or circumstance.

               “What God’s almighty power hath made, his gracious mercy keepeth;
               By morning glow or evening shade, his watchful eye ne’er sleepeth;
               Within the kingdom of his might, lo!  all is just and all is right:
               To God all praise and glory.”
                      –J.J. Schutz