Articles & Devotionals
Out of Gas
They ran out of gas.
United Airline Flight 173 was approaching the Portland Oregon airport when they got a warning light from the landing gear system. The plane circled for two hours while the pilots tried to figure out if the landing gear was safe to use, but no one was paying attention to the fuel gauges. The engines suddenly quit and the plane crashed into a neighborhood. The investigation showed that the landing gear problem had so completely consumed the attention of the pilots that they forgot something as basic as not running out of gas.
These have been strange and stressful days and they might continue for some time. The challenges of the virus, the economy, the closure of the schools and the “social distancing” have us reeling from one crisis to another. We are learning new ways to work, to learn, to shop, to interact and even worship. New information floods in and we try our best to cope. But what we must not do is forget to look at our personal and collective “gas gauge” of spiritual health and perspective. We need a place to turn where we learn about our own uncertainty, struggle and fear. We need a place to stop and fuel up our joy, commitment, devotion, calm and hope. What we need is what is found in the Book of Psalms.
For many people the Book of Psalms is difficult. Looking at it through modern eyes it is poetry that does not rhyme and music with no tune or rhythm. However, when you look closer, the Psalms span a wide range of topics, emotions and situations. And while it does not fit our familiar forms of music, it is music that has been sung in some form for more than three thousand years. There are songs of sorrow and songs about joy. There are songs that paint pictures of great events and some that look deep into someone’s shame. It is a resource that can touch and strengthen the hearts of those that would serve the Living God.
Are you afraid? Don’t be ashamed because, at times, David was afraid. David pleads with God to help him understand the uncertainty and fear that he was experiencing. “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1) This Psalm also provides the answer and process for answering the fear.
Maybe we need to express our frustration with the sin-filled world and why God’s people struggle while the wicked prosper. “For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” (Psalm73:3). We learn we are not alone in such frustrations but we also learn how God’s truth rules all, the rich and poor, the weak and the great, the righteous and unrighteous. We gain the perspective of David and the psalmist seeing the same things and feeling the same things.
Psalms can help us give voice to our joy, tears to our sorrow, and power to our praise. It is the emotional well to draw spiritual water, to give us comfort in grief, peace to our uncertainty, and a sense of fellowship in the eternal plan and people of God. It’s power and authority is demonstrated by the many times Jesus and the Apostles quoted from the Psalms. Jesus even quoted from Psalm 22 as he was on the Cross.
In these turbulent times, these words ring as fresh as when they were first written down.
Psa 125:1-2
(1) ... Those who trust in the LORD Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.
(2) As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.
I hope we can look at some specific Psalms in the next few weeks. It is the fuel that can keep us airborne, keep us moving forward and deepen our love and devotion to God.
