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16th January, 2023; St. John the Evangelist, Smiths Falls, Rev. Brian A. Burrows.

Text: Psalm 69:2a,”I am sinking in deep mud, and there is no solid ground...”

Intro:-

In that recent wet weather before the snow and ice, I was struggling to get to the barn door. I wasn't exactly stuck, but not far off as I tried to free one boot after another. Then later, I read the opening lines of Psalm 69 and thought about that sinking feeling we all go through in our lives and of the 14th verse,”Save me from sinking in the mud;”

    1. The dreaded “D's”.

As we go through rough periods in our lives, it seems we are indeed sinking in the mud! Words like depression, despair, disillusion and even disaster come to mind. If we are honest, there are many times when we feel stuck and our worries and anxieties almost bring us down. Is this life itself, or is it ourselves or something else which is to blame? In truth there is no one answer except to say that this is the way things are! But, that is no help at all! What did the Psalmist do? He cried unto the Lord, “Save me!”

      1. Reach out!

This is the time to reach out to God for help, but not only that, we can reach out to others. All of us to some degree have experienced this feeling of utter helplessness. God can save us, but so can other people. We are not alone in this world. We have the chance to be helped by others and also the chance to assist one another. We see this in the animal kingdom with mothers protecting their young and of course in human families help is given to the very vulnerable

Why then cannot we help and save one another in times of distress? John Donne's famous words come to mind,”No man is an island....” We are all interconnected, and we can and we should, support each other in times of difficulty!

      1. We are resurrection people!

Help can come from faith in God and in His Son Jesus Christ risen from the dead. In our faith we have been taught to repent with the promise of renewal. We talk about being rescued from sin, about being restored to new life and that our doubts will be resolved in what Jesus has done for us. How can this be? Jesus was raised from the dead and we can be raised from the depths of despair. We are saved or lifted up by God's grace. The promise we have is that God generously reaches out to us and lifts us up out of the mud, so to speak. What we have to do, is to believe!

Conclusion:-

Do not be overwhelmed by that sinking feeling. Reach out to others and continue to cry out to God. We have his promise of deliverance. Now is the time to believe that God will lift us up and save us now, and always.