OVERWHELMED!

OVERWHELMED!

Ps 61:1-2

61 To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

          Being overwhelmed is not a condition but a feeling! It’s a malady of the heart. The Hebrew word used here for “overwhelmed” is ‘ataph and means “to swoon; to faint or to fail.” The dictionary definition is “to submerge” which is graphic but simple.

I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. I am nearing a second semester of inactivity regarding my college degree work. The lessons are by mail and self-directed – and that is perhaps the problem. I’m having a bit of trouble with myself. Oh, I haven’t given up! I have a writing assignment on a thumb drive dangling from my key ring. It’s a bit more than two thirds finished.

I jokingly – and a bit sarcastically – said to my wife that a good epitaph for my tombstone would be: “He died of multiple, overlapping responsibilities!” Please remember that being overwhelmed is not a condition but a feeling! It happens when we feel adrift upon a sea of discomfort. We need something solid and firm. We need to grasp a rock.

Ps 27:5

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

Ps 40:2-3

2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord .

Rock Of Ages

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Dear Lord, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to that rock that is higher than I. AMEN