In April, I drove down to Edisto Island on the South Carolina coast to camp for a couple of nights. When I arrived, the sun was out and the clapper rails were shaking their voices in the marsh out from my campsite. Not long after the tent was set, a cool breeze pushed the marsh grasses in my direction and, without warning, fingers of a fog grabbed the grass and pulled its way quickly across the marsh tucking everything out of sight for fifty yards and beyond. It was an unexpected and drastic event.
I thought of the boatmen setting out traps for crabs, the shrimp boats heaving their catch on board, and the sailors reefing their mainsails as the fog bank stuck hard and fast. I also thought of the novice. I thought of the boater who suddenly found himself in the dark thick panic.
An inexperienced sailor can be a great danger, not only to himself, but also to other boaters. On the other hand, a weathered sailor knows to stay calm and to faithfully stick to his bearings.
Likewise, the new and/or immature Christian will often come undone at the sight or feeling of a trial. Seasoned Christians will also, often, lose their senses for a time. When this occurs, we too become a danger to ourselves and those around us. Everything seems thick as night and un-penetrable. Panic sends us flurrying. We grab hold of the ropes of the world to right ourselves, be it anger, distrust, hopelessness, or despair. But we have every means on board to see our way through the fog. We have a compass.
Psalm 63:1-7
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
David was in a wilderness. It was “a dry and weary land where there is no water.” It was a place where a person could panic and die. But David has been through adversity. He has lost his bearings before in what seemed like many a hopeless day and night. This psalm depicts David quickly coming to the means God has given for a firm grounding . . . a compass bearing. His thoughts and meditations go to “the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.” The sanctuary was the place where God’s people met with God. It was the place where the sacrifice was made on behalf of sin. It was the place where the necessity of Christ was depicted. It was where the people saw that God was for them and not against them as their sins were atoned for (covered) and His own righteousness given for them. It re-set David like a knocked down sailboat now righted so that he could “be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and (his) mouth . . . praise . . . with joyful lips.”
We too have means of grace given to us to lift us when our circumstances are foggy. We have a compass to direct us to our Savior who never leaves or forsakes us: God’s Word, the sacraments, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians. These three tools are the means, the compass, to steady us and cause us to see Christ as our safe harbor.
We also have the privilege of the Holy Spirit, often depicted in Scripture as our paraclete - our comforter - one who comes alongside as a Help. The Holy Spirit is a seasoned Captain who does not panic, but gently calms our spirits, using the means of grace to show us our Savior. He reminds us to not trust our natural inclinations to panic and run aground or into others; not to cast blame, feel defeated, or self-important.
As we mature as believers, Lord willing, we come more quickly to see the means of grace as our compass to Christ. We also, rather than become a hindrance to shipwreck ourselves and others, can be a help to direct others to calmly but surely look to Christ.
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