Songs In The Night

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit. – Psalm 34:17-18

Brokenhearted

As Moses approached the burning bush, God stopped him from getting too near. Moses could only get so close to the presence of God or he may have been consumed by His holiness as represented by the fire. To the contrary, Moses was commanded to stop in his tracks and remove his sandals as the ground he was treading was deemed holy ground (Ex 3:5). Intimidated by the presence of God, Moses could only hide his face as God spoke to him from the burning bush.

As Joshua and the Israelites were approaching Jericho, Joshua encountered a man with a drawn sword in his path. Confused by his presence, Joshua enquired if the man was a friend or foe, to which this mysterious man replied neither. Instead, he identified himself as commander of the Lord’s army. In reverence, Joshua could only fall facedown on the ground and humble himself before this man. What message did the commander of the Lord’s army have for Joshua? Joshua was to take off his sandals for he was on holy ground.

A couple of nights ago, I was standing on “holy” ground. No, I wasn’t in the presence of a burning bush on Mount Horeb. Nor was I on the outskirts of Jericho in the presence of the commander of the Lord’s army. Instead, I was in the midst of the brokenhearted. A small gathering of God’s children who have shared a common experience; the death of a child or grandchild.

Closeness

To clarify, we did not gather Friday evening to lick our wounds. Nor did we gather for what some might call group therapy. Our objective was simple; to worship our Savior in song and testimony and to intercede for our friends Jake and Julia in the midst of their trial. In other words, we did what David encourages us to do (by example) in the first three verses of Psalm 34.

¹ I will extol the Lord at all times;
    his praise will always be on my lips.
² I will glory in the Lord;
    let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
³ Glorify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together. – Psalm 34:1-3

To do so in the midst of such extreme grief is difficult. How do you sing when death has kicked you in the stomach and taken away your breath? How do you praise the lord with your lips when your heart is full of grief, anger, and fear? It wasn’t easy, but we did it. And all I can say is that I am not sure there is such sweet fellowship on this side of Heaven as there is among the brokenhearted. There is nothing like standing on Holy ground in humility. And there is nothing like death to humble us. Thankfully, God often rewards such humility with His “closeness”.

Humility

The prophet Micah asks us what the Lord requires of us. If we didn’t know the text, I wonder how many of us would be able to answer the question “correctly”. Notice what Micah suggests, before he gives the “correct” answer.

⁶ “With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:6-8

We want to impress God with our sacrifices. God wants us! Keep your calves and your rams and even your firstborn. What do these mean to God if he doesn’t have you? He wants us to walk humbly with Him on a daily basis. If we are walking humbly with God we will love kindness and do justice, but it all begins with humility.

Crying Out

Why is humility so rare? Why do we avoid being transparent? Are we afraid to be vulnerable? Why are we all so good at play acting? None of us has it all together, so why do we pretend we do? God wants us to walk humbly with Him, but we want to be independent and autonomous. We want to do what we want, when we want, how we want!! And when we get it wrong we still have the audacity to blame others.

God knows our struggle with pride, hence this famous passage.

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:1-8

A big step in the right direction in our walk of humility with God is to count others as more significant than ourselves and to look to the interest of others. That is what the brokenhearted did Friday night. We met to worship our Heavenly Father not only in song, but as we cried out to Him on behalf of Jake and Julia. The dear parents of Baby Josie whose death we have been grieving.

Crushed Spirits

Friday night was definitely a special night. The emotions were so raw. The prayers were so desperate. Transparency permeated everything that was said and done the entire evening. It was emotionally draining, but it was so beautiful. If only we could worship like that more regularly!!

Yet hearts are still broken, and spirits are still crushed.

Julia is still carrying Josie in her womb. Bittersweet days lie ahead. There are still a lot of unknowns to be answered. The tears come and go and the emotions still swing like a pendulum. In the midst of the uncertainties, the families still need all the love, encouragement, and prayer support they can get.

Despite the broken hearts, crushed spirits, and uncertainties, I am thankful for what we do know:

When the righteous cry out the Lord hears them and delivers them from their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in Spirit.

Hope

Though He was in the form of God, Jesus emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant. Taking on flesh and blood, He further humbled Himself by dying on the cross in our place. Because of His death and resurrection, we can get “close” to God as we are now clothed with Christ’s righteousness. If nothing else, the death of Christ on our behalf should be enough to keep us humble. As we contemplate it and appropriate it, we are “standing” on holy ground.

Death may have a way of breaking our hearts and crushing our spirits, but the death of Christ puts them into perspective. In fact, it is only because of the death of Christ that we can have hope in the midst of such grief and brokenness. When death, or any other trial or tragedy, takes away your breath, I challenge you to lift your eyes to Heaven and exalt His name.

When you do so, come to Him with empty hands and lay down your mask. Admit your total unworthiness and futile weakness. Like the widow who donated her two mites, admit He owns everything you have and you are only a steward. And like the tax collector of Jesus’ parable, admit your unworthiness to stand in His presence without His grace.

It has been a difficult week. The present has certainly dug up the past. But I hope I never forget the beauty of last Friday night, because I am convinced it was a foretaste of the future.

May life’s trials remind us of the importance of walking humbly every day with our Heavenly Father. No time like the present to prepare for the future.

Thanks for the reminder Baby Josie.