Some Transitions
Friday (October 10)
Some Transitions
Psalm 13:1-2 & 5-6
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? … But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
Like many beloved Psalms, David opens his prayer with a turbulent wave of laments before eventually subsiding into a calm, steady stream of praises. But consider that this transition most likely didn’t take place as quickly as it reads on the page. On paper, it’s just a little word. But I’m sure there are months and years of struggle condensed into the brevity of that ‘but.’ Think of that the next time you sing your favorite hymn at church, friend. Psalms like these, psalms that stand the test of time, psalms that last from generation to generation and speak to us in our own time of need, are first a lament on the songwriter’s lips before they’re a joyous refrain on the choir’s. There’s no musical accompaniment to the rhythms of the real-life, flesh and blood struggle these psalmists express. The next time your church pianist hits the final chord of “Amazing Grace” or “It is Well or At the Cross,” marvel at the movement of the Spirit of God in the life of that individual who wrote it.
Transitions from lamenting to rejoicing don’t come easy. Not when the cancer diagnosis comes in. Not when our spouse hands us divorce papers and refuses to get counseling. Not when our child tells us he’s an atheist and wants nothing to do with Christianity. Not when the retirement fund we’d spent decades saving up is depleted by a house fire. Ah, but ask yourself: was it easy for our Lord to hold out His cup to the Father in Gethsemane and face the perils that awaited? Was it easy for Christ to stand before the very crowds He’d fed and taught and healed and hear them shriek, “Give us Barabbas!”? No! Yet, He demonstrated how to transition lamenting into trusting and suffering into singing.
We who’ve been redeemed by His great love can do the same.