“Chaos calls to chaos, to the tune of whitewater rapids.
Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers, crash and crush me”
(Ps. 42:7, The Message)
In white water kayaking, when scouting a rapid, we’d say things like “nasty hole, that’s a keeper”. You wouldn’t see a hole. You’d see water falling over a boulder and crashing back on itself – a roar of foaming terror. A bad “hole” will violently cartwheel a kayak, rip out the paddler and recycle him. It’s like being dumped by an ocean wave that never reaches the beach.
That’s how the Psalmist felt. Life was chaotic and confusing – he was all churned up inside. We sometimes feel like that. I think that is how our nation feels. A legion of voices scream “racism, inequality, violence, protest, poverty, privilege, drought, unemployment…” Like the psalmist we are desperate and confused. The enemy mocks: “Where is your God?” (:10).
And yet, another voice is heard, gently but persistently singing:
“Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him,
my Saviour and my God (42:5, 11; 43:5).”
It is the song we learn in worship together. We have a saviour who stills the crashing waves, expels evil and restores clarity of mind.
God Bless, Sean