My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 77:4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Psalm 77:5 I consider the days of old, the years long ago.
Asaph, in our last post, spoke of his seeking out answers, of being irreconcilable until he hears from God. He is not going to accept any comfort until he gets to the truth.
What a passion for answers, a man who seeks to know at all costs, as opposed to a man who seeks to find comfort. Or is this passage describing a desperate man, one who is struggling to simply believe, feeling he is slipping and is becoming desperate.
However we may see this passage, he is suffering and seeking, and this is a man to be honored, for he is seeking God, (and not simply an escape) in the midst of trial.
Our verses this morning are somewhat shocking in my mind, for Asaph is charging God with keeping him awake, of inducing insomnia.
Surely the insomnia is not merely a restlessness, a time of simple wakefulness, but a time of facing trouble and trial, a time when he remembers the past, and those times seem distant, almost forgotten.
And the Lord is “holding his eyelids open”, keeping him awake. What fuels my surprise is that the term “hold” in the Hebrew (אָחַז ʼâchaz) may be translated as seize, or took hold of.
Exodus 15:14 The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. (italics mine)
The example of this term in Judges implies a forced taking hold of, of acting against another’s will.
Judges 20:6 So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and outrage in Israel.
Is this Asaph’s intended message? Is Asaph speaking of God as the One who will not let go, not allow Asaph to ignore some issue or problem? This seizing of Asaph’s eyelids is associated with such trouble in Asaph’s life that he cannot speak!
Asaph is under the grip of the Almighty. Both parties in this battle are actively taking their stand. Asaph is crying out to God for answers, and God is “waking” him to issues of trouble and trial.
Our God is a comforting, loving God, but as my friends who may be reading may have already experienced, there comes times when issues in our lives can not be turned away from. Constant reminders, or “nagging” memories haunt us of better times with the Lord. The Lord seeks those times, and yet we may need to face some trouble.
And in the midst of facing trouble, a danger exists, a danger of thinking of the the Lord incorrectly. As we continue in our psalm, we will find that Asaph considers some of these dangers, considering difficult questions and frightening outcomes.
For now, let us consider that some nights of insomnia, with troubled thoughts, may be times of the Lord waking us to difficult decisions. Let us remember in those times the faithfulness of the Lord, and His goodness to those who deserve none of it!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.
Considering the Bible 