When strength fails …

People who work as emergency responders and in other fields dealing with crises sometimes have a better understanding that “normal” isn’t life without trouble, but that trouble is a routine part of life.

In fact, Job 5:7 says, “People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.”

That’s why we have police officers, fire fighters, EMT’s, hospitals, armies, counselors, coaches, and a host of others who spend much of their time dealing with the troubles people face. Yet, for some reason, we tend to think that life should be an uninterrupted experience of bliss, and we struggle for response when things go bad.

We see that struggle reflected in the life of Heman the Ezrahite as recorded in Psalm 88.

Heman was a blessed man. 1 Chronicles 25:4-5 says “… God had honored him with fourteen sons and three daughters.” In Old Testament times, a large family was a key means of building wealth. In addition to this, Heman was a musician who played the cymbal, and was appointed by King David as one of the worship leaders for Israel, “… Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman reported directly to the king” (1 Chronicles 25:6b). We see that Heman was one of the worship leaders who celebrated the arrival of the ark in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15:17-19).

Heman was a family man who was a prominent spiritual and political figure, blessed by God. Yet something went terribly wrong in Heman’s life. From the height of helping lead God’s people in worship, we see a life filled with pain as Heman cries out to God in the words of Psalm 88:

“O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night. Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry. For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near. I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left. They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave. I am forgotten, cut off from your care. You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths. Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude. You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them. I am in a trap with no way of escape. My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O Lord; I lift my hands to you for mercy. Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you. Interlude. Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love? Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction? Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?< Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness? O Lord, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day. O Lord, why do you reject me? Why do you turn your face from me? I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors. Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have paralyzed me. They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long. They have engulfed me completely. You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend."

We don’t know what went wrong for Heman, but it was a substantial change of life for him to write “… darkness is my closest friend.” Verses 10-12 show that Heman longs to return to service, he simply wants to again be able to proclaim the glory of the Lord. Instead, we read his penetrating words in verse 4b, “… like a strong man with no strength left.”

Those words remind me of a client I once had when I was doing personal training at a gym. I was approached one morning by a man who was a mountain of muscles. He explained he thought the results of his training regimen had plateaued, so he was looking for a Personal Trainer who could challenge him physically. I took up the challenge, and by midway through our session together, this strong man was covered in sweat, panting heavily, and needing to take a break. He was “a strong man with no strength left.”

That’s how Heman felt. The troubles in his life that he had wrestled with left him weak, feeling as if all his strength had been drained. But notice, Heman didn’t give up. Instead, “My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O Lord; I lift my hands to you for mercy” (verse 9) and “O Lord, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day” (verse 13).

What this worship leader helps us understand is that, when things go wrong, when times are bleak and our strength is gone, we can still lift our hands to the Lord and cry out to Him. We don’t have to pretend that everything is “good” or “alright,” but we can take our pain, hurt, fear and weakness to Him as our unending source of strength.

In fact, Jesus Himself urged those who are burdened to go to Him: “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light'” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Have you ever felt like a strong man with no strength left? How do you handle those times of weakness in your life? What can you do to tap into our unending source of strength found only in God?

Scotty