This Isn't Normal


Psalm 94 (selected verses)
This afternoon, I listened to a webinar about “doing church” in this time of disruption due to COVID-19; more specifically, how to make our Resurrection Day services worthy of the name on April 12 when we remember miracle of our Savior rising from the dead. One of the questions that was asked at the end was “How are you (the church leaders who were the speakers for this event) keeping life normal”. Suddenly there was complete silence, because not one of them had an answer for that question. Finally, one of the guys said “well, there’s nothing normal going on here.” He was 100% correct. This isn’t normal.

12Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law,
13to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;
15for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
19When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
22But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.

So what do we do about that? We are, every one of us, in new territory. Just the fact that I’m writing this at 6:00pm rather than 6:00am is weird. The shift has happened because as soon as the day starts, the abnormal is coming my way. New ways to do things, new social parameters to embrace, a new “normal”. As I prayed through that idea, the words of Psalm 94 came into view. Now some of this psalm is about a person being assailed by his enemies and really, we don’t just have one enemy to strike out against this time. This is way bigger than a single enemy. But there are so many phrases in this prayer that ring out as true about the days we currently face. I’ve chosen to highlight those, as they speak into our very chaotic lives right now.

Blessed is the man whom You discipline – perhaps we are being disciplined by the hand of God. As I said yesterday, I’m not prepared to say God created this disaster, but He has certainly allowed it. And He is not going to waste the opportunity to teach us a few things. According to the psalmist (and we’re not sure who that is. The LXX ascribes it to David, but it is an “orphan psalm”, one without a superscription) we receive our teaching from the law – the Word of God. And that is most certainly true.

For the Lord will not forsake His people; He will not abandon His heritage – I will say, that which causes those feeling of abandonment is watching the news for very long or trolling through social media. Both of those activities bear a negative impact. And so, I know that we all need a dose of actual reality – the Lord will not forsake us, nor has He, no matter what we hear or see.

When my foot slips, Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up – I love that this phrase is spoken in the past tense. The writer looks back on their life and realizes that God’s faithfulness has been perfect. When my foot slips reminds us that trouble is going to happen. No life is without struggle. The only difference today is that this current mess is one we all share. And yet we look back and know that God has remained strong, capable, and faithful.

But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge. – A stronghold is something we don’t speak of very often today. In the time this prayer was first written, a stronghold was a place to run when there was danger. You were safe within its walls. God is our stronghold, and when the news becomes too great to bear, He alone has the strength you need to continue.

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