By Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador
I whakawhirinaki o matou matua ki a koe, i whakawhirinaki, a whakaorangia ana e koe.
Na faatuatua ia te oe o matou tamā; na latou faatuatua, ua e laveai foi ia te i latou.
In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
Psalm 22:4
When pilots face mid-air emergencies, they’re provided with a checklist for steps to follow. They have a list of steps to take, in order, that should result in the fewest accidents and casualties. What I found fascinating was the instruction right at the top of the list. Step one: fly the plane.
Some Bible scholars suggest there are two types of psalms: the psalms of orientation, which are songs of praise, and psalms of disorientation—songs of lament and prayers filled with grief, pain and sorrow. Psalm 22 is a psalm of disorientation.
Psalm 22 is a prayer rising out of a deep winter. In the midst of winter seasons, how do we continue continuing? How do we follow step one, keep on keeping on?
Psalm 22 reveals that the first step in the midst of disorientation is to remember. Specifically, this psalm directs us to remember the goodness of God.
In the midst of anguish, torment, crying, questions, and frustrations, David remembers.
He remembers God’s grace towards his people (verse 3).
He remembers the God who delivers (verse 4).
He remembers the God who rescues (verse 5).
He remembers the God who honours his promises (verse 5).
He remembers God’s grace towards him personally (verse 9).
When pilots are facing disorientation, cloud cover, or dust storms, they need to fly by their instruments and not by sight. Remembering is a lot like flying by instruments.
Remembering is a deliberate choice to cling on, to hold on. Remembering is a decision to act, not based on what we can see, but by faith in what we know.
Sometimes, winter is so bleak that we cannot remember our own experience of God. How are we to remember then?
In every season of winter in his ministry, Jesus went back to the Word, especially the Psalms. It is the book of the Bible that he quotes more than any other.
Just like Jesus, in times of disorientation, when our own experience seems too far gone to remember, we can turn to God’s Word. Through the prayers of God’s people through the ages, we can remember God’s goodness and his faithfulness to us. We can remember his unfailing love for us, proven at the cross.
In times when it feels like we are flying blind, we can walk by faith in the never-failing promises of God, and we can begin by remembering God’s goodness.
