Good Morning Children of God!
God is good all the time!All the time, God is good!Here is your Wednesday Message:
July 8, 2020
“Give ear to my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my supplication. Attend to me, and answer me; I am troubled in my complaint. I am distraught …
My heart is in anguish within me, the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.
And I say, ‘O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; truly, I would flee far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; I would hurry to find a shelter for myself from the raging wind and tempest’ …
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
Psalm 55:1-2, 4-8, 22
The prayer for deliverance in Psalm 55 artfully draws the reader into the author’s prison of despair. Quickly it summons up within us memories of times when we felt trapped by the circumstances of life with no way out. Perhaps, for some, that time is today. In such moments, like the Psalmist, we might wish we could simply fly away. If only we had wings like a dove!
Spiritually speaking we do have such wings. In the story of the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended from the heavens like a dove and alighted on God’s Son. That same Spirit has fallen upon us. Through the Holy Spirit, we have been given “wings like a dove.” With those wings we are empowered to fly away to the Lord Jesus and our Heavenly Father, for it is the Holy Spirit who calls to us and gathers us into God’s presence.
We fly away to God, when we cast our burdens on the Lord. Psalm 55 says that when we fly to him, he will sustain us. Our God is able to free us from the prisons of despair that threaten to hold us. He is willing to do so because he cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7)
Psalm 55 reminds me of the famous gospel hymn, “I’ll Fly Away.” Here are the lyrics:
Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away; To a home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).
Chorus I’ll fly away, Oh Glory I’ll fly away; (in the morning) When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).
When the shadows of this life have gone, I’ll fly away; Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away). (Chorus)
Just a few more weary days and then, I’ll fly away; To a land where joy shall never end, I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).
Albert E. Brumley conceived the general nature of the song while picking cotton on the family farm in Rock Island, Oklahoma. It came to him while whistling the tune of “The Prisoner’s Song” which was popular in the 1920’s and contains the line, “If I had the wings of an angel, over these prison walls I would fly.” The influence of that line is obvious in the second verse of “I’ll Fly Away.”
The flight Brumley had in mind was from this life to the next. Like the flight prayed for in Psalm 55, it is made possible only by the grace and strength of God. Whether it is the prison of despair or the prison of death from which we desire to flee, Jesus has made the flight possible and the Holy Spirit has given us wings to soar. By trusting in Jesus, we find the shelter and resting place desired by weary souls. He is our joy and our peace.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Bill