Troubles Sprouting Like Mushrooms
Finding a way forward in Psalm 3
“God, do you see this?” asks the poet in Psalm 3, “Enemies past counting! Enemies sprouting like mushrooms! Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery.” -The Message
I imagine most of us have been there. Whether an enemy or a problem or a day full of troubles, sometimes they seem to come out of nowhere. Other times, the source is clear.
In any case, the poet is being pursued by “trouble.” There are enemies on all sides. The Psalm leaves to the imagination what some of those enemies are and we may know them well: pressure, anxiety, addiction, pain, loss or grief.
Finding a Place to See
The voices of enemies may not be ignored, but they do not have to steal our thrones. For David, the poet in question, it is a matter of location, getting to a place where he can see clearly. Maybe that place is prayer. Maybe it is solitude. Maybe it is communion, repentance, or forgiveness, but it is a place of reorientation. It is seeing what the next right step is within a larger narrative of faith.
Seeing Beyond the Problem
This larger narrative may not seem like much, but taken to heart, it helps us see more than the problems. In Psalm 3, God is the wisdom to proceed in times of trouble. God is the prayerful reminder that we do not journey alone, that there are resources and friends available — and there is faith:
“But you, God, shield me on all sides;
You ground my feet, you lift my head high…
I stretch myself out. I sleep.
Then I’m up again — rested, tall and steady,
Fearless before the enemy mobs [i.e., trouble]
Coming at me from all sides.
Real help comes from God.”
A Way Where There is Seemingly No Way
The poet in Psalm 3 is no mere victim, nor can his troubles be denied. He is perhaps what family systems theorists call a “differentiated-self.” He will not ultimately be defined by trouble, but by the resources that faith brings to bear on all of life. The God who sees us in the face of undeniable threat is also the one who provides a way where there is seemingly no way.
PRAYER:
Lord, give us such eyes to see where to place our next step, such faith to firmly grasp, and such courage to know where to let go and where to hold on. At the name of One who provides. Amen.
