One of the byproducts of COVID-19 has been a significant increase in anxiety.
Anxiety over our own health. Anxiety of the health of our parents. Anxiety over the reopening of schools. Anxiety over politics. Anxiety over the economy, our jobs, our plans. The other day I was sleepy. It was the afternoon so, as much as I love hot coffee, I don’t generally drink hot coffee when it’s 125 degrees outside. So, I walked up the sidewalk by church to the closest gas station. I was craving a Dr. Pepper. I was looking forward to all 23 flavors of deliciousness and the caffeine spark associated with it. As I searched for it in the store, I couldn’t find it. I ended up settling for an off brand and Coca Cola, paid my bill, and went back to work. But then I saw the article online. There’s a Dr. Pepper shortage. COVID-19 had closed factories for a bit and people began to stockpile Dr. Pepper. Such that the company hasn’t been able to keep up with the demands. Immediately, I thought: OH NO! What if they never restock? What if I can’t enjoy the beverage during a movie? What if I never get to taste the 23 flavors again? I wasn’t alone. On Twitter, on person wrote: Can’t find Dr. Pepper anywhere!!! (Crying emoji, crying emoji, crying emoji) How am I supposed to work? Another wrote: Could you sell the syrup in an IV bag? That would make it easier to wake up in the morning. Still another said: Yeah, I’ve been on the hunt for Dr. Pepper. I’ve been having to drink other sodas. They’re all TRASH. Finally, another wrote: Such sad time. I need my DP. #NeedMyPepper Over the next weeks, we want to dig deeper into anxiety and dig deeper into how God helps us with our anxiety. Today we want to discover what the source anxiety and the source of defeating it. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth. Your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Poetic Anxiety This lesson comes from Psalm 42. Psalm 42 was written about 3,000 years ago by a Levite. Do you know what a Levite is? Levites were a tribe of Israel. They were named after Levi, one of Israel’s 12 sons. But unlike the other sons, Levi wasn’t promised land. Rather, he was promised that his descendants would have a special place in Israelite history. They were the ones in charge of working in and with the temple. They kept it clean. They polished the golden ornaments. They made sure that the religious celebrations ran smoothly. A Levite was similar to a member of the altar guild. Only on steroids. The man who wrote Psalm 42 was a church worker, but he was also feeling anxious. Do people who work for the church feel anxious? You betcha. He writes: As a doe pants for streams of water, So my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (Psalm 42:1-2a) Did you know that deer drink 3 to 5 quarts of water per day? They are so large that they need that much water. And if they don’t get it? They begin to pant. Deer can’t sweat like we do. Panting is their only way to release heat until they can find some kind of cool water. A river. A lake. A stream. A puddle. The deer is in deep need of relieving its thirst. Similarly, The Psalmist is in deep need of relieving his anxiety. Anxiety is like a THIRST so great it causes you to PANT. This is literal and physical. Anxiety can cause headaches. Sickness. A stressful tension. It’s like you’re suffering from dehydration. Only it’s spiritual dehydration. The Psalmist continues with the metaphors: My tears have been food for me day and night, while people are saying to me all day, “Where is your God?” (v.3) Imagine sitting down to watch some Netflix, maybe an old episode of America’s Top Chef and as you watch them cook up a delicious Chicken Cordon Bleu, you get hungry. You check the fridge… No chicken Cordon Blue. Nor is there a piece of leftover grilled chicken. There’s not even a leftover chicken nugget from your 5-year-old’s unfinished meal. All that’s in the cupboard? A bottle of tears. Anxiety is like is a steady diet of UNEASY FEELINGS. The nutritional value of tears isn’t great. Tears are made of a combination of recycled water, mucin, lipids, lysozyme, lactoferrin, lipocalin, lacritin, immunoglobulins, glucose, urea, sodium, and potassium. But none of them are substantial enough to be included in even .1% of the daily value of what you need to function. A steady diet of sadness that is very unhealthy… If you’re constantly nervous. Constantly sad. Constantly frustrated. That’s not good. For your health. Physical, mental, or spiritual. II. The Source of Anxiety But where does anxiety come from? I think there are clues within the text. Check out the second part of verse 2: When can I go and appear before God? (v.2) Remember the writer was a Levite. Levites worked in temple. Since the temple was in Jerusalem, that means that writer would have lived in or near Jerusalem. But here, we discover he has been separated from the temple. Ones of the reasons may have been that this was during the time of the Israelite Civil War. Originally, the 12 tribes of Israel were one united kingdom. But after a king named Solomon passed away, there was a struggle for the throne. Some followed one guy. Others followed another guy. Such that the kingdom split into two kingdoms. Scholars estimate that the guy writing this Psalm may have been separated from the temple due to the Civil War. In fact, later he in the Psalm he reveals that he is writing… from the land of the Jordan, from the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. That’s over 150 kilometers from Jerusalem. At any rate… The writer isn’t in Jerusalem. It’s no wonder he’s so anxious. He wonders if he’ll get to see the temple soon. He wonders if he’ll get to spend time with his friends in this next month. He wonders if a year will pass without him hugging his family. TRUTH: Anxiety can come from FRETTING about the FUTURE. A key source of anxiety this week seems to be about school. Whether you’re a teacher or a parent, you might be nervous about this year. Will your kids be safe learning in person? Will your kids be able to learn online? Will your kids be able to avoid a “gap” in learning? Will your kids be able to get back to school soon? Will you remember what a parabola is if you have to teach geometry? The reality is… No one really knows the answers to these questions. Not the health officials. Not the government. Not the school superintendent. Not even the very opinionated friend on your Facebook timeline. No one knows what the future holds. This is why focusing on the future can lead to so much anxiety. It’s uncertain. It’s unclear. It’s indefinite. But the future wasn’t the only source of anxiety for the psalmist. Check out verse 4: I am overcome by my emotions whenever I remember these things: how I used to arrive with the crowd, as I led the procession to the house of God, with loud shouts of thanksgiving, with the crowd celebrating the festival. These verses give a glimpse into Old Testament worship. There would be throngs of people. There would be a procession usually led by trumpets and horn blasts. Loud shouts of thanksgiving: “Praise God! Hallelujah! Hosanna to the King! Amen.” There would be a festival. A celebration. A holiday dedicated with people gathering together to celebrate God. But… Did you see a key word in that section? Used to TRUTH: Anxiety can come from DWELLING on the PAST. Sound at all like 2020? We used to have a packed church. We used to eat in restaurants. We used to have festivals downtown. We used to have open parks. We used to be worried about murder hornets! Used to has been a common sentiment. And… Maybe that’s the problem. Because guess what… Things may never go back to the way they used to be. Things may never return to what we consider “normal.” Things may never be the same. Honestly… God didn’t promise it. God didn’t prophesy it. There isn’t a Bible passage that says, “God so loved the world that he promised to return your life to the way it used to be, in its pre-COVID state.” Here’s the bigger truth: If you’re trying to battle your anxiety by hoping for the future. Or trying to calm your nerves by longing for the past… Anxiety will win. Because… TRUTH: Anxiety ALWAYS thrives on UNCERTAINTY. III. The Source of Calm So… Where should we put our hope? Read on: Why are you so depressed, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I will again praise him for salvation from his presence. (v.5) Did you see that? The Psalm doesn’t say: Hope that things return to way they were in the past. (They might not.) Hope that things will improve in the future. (They might not.) The Psalm says: HOPE IN GOD TRUTH: The cure for anxiety is putting your HOPE in GOD Because God is not UNCERTAIN. God is REAL. God is ABSOLUTE. God is TRUTH. God is MERCIFUL. In fact, this Psalm is written by the Sons of Korah. Do you know who Korah is? Korah was a man who lived at the time of Moses. Moses was God’s prophet, but Korah was sick of listening to him and God. Korah started a rebellion against God. It was a rebellion big enough that there needed to be a public intervention to clarify who was God’s chosen servant. The rules were simple. Korah and his followers would stand over here. Moses and his followers would stand over there. Whoever was really God’s servant would be fine. Whoever was not God’s servant would be swallowed alive by an earthquake. Since you’ve probably never heard of Korah before… Guess who got swallowed by the earth… The writer of this Psalm was of Korah’s lineage! It’s understandable that he might consider God to be against him because of what his dad/grandpa did. But that’s not what God had done. God had shown him mercy. God had brought them into his kingdom. God had made them a part of his ministry despite their open rebellion. When life made this son of Korah feel anxious, he remembered that merciful God. The Psalmist writes this passage to himself. He literally says, “Hey self, put your hope in God.” Later on, he writes this: My God, my soul is depressed within me. Therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, from the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. (v.6) Do you remember verse 3? The Psalmist was in agony because he remembered the way things were. But here he finds joy in remembering God. That God things of the past might be gone; but God isn’t. That things of the future may never come; but God will. That things might not feel good; but God is good. IV. How God Battles Anxiety How good is God? A type of good that battles our anxiety for us, even when we’re focused on anything but him. The rest of the psalm describes how he does that. (1) God Commands MERCY Deep calls to deep in the roar of your rapids. All your breakers and your waves have swept over me. (v.7) The Psalmist feels like he keeps getting hit by wave after wave after wave of bad things! He can’t keep his head up. He’s barely treading water. But notice how God responds. He doesn’t tell this guy to keep swimming. He doesn’t tell him he’s on his own. He doesn’t let him drown. Nope. By day the Lord commands his mercy (v.8a) Look at the word “command” there. The Hebrew word there is the same word that God uses in the commandments. He commands us: Do honor your parents. Do worship me. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t take my name in vain. But in this Psalm, God is not commanding US to do something about our ANXIETY. TRUTH: God commands his MERCY. It’s as if God is sitting on his Almighty throne giving orders to his mercy to go to earth and help YOU: Go! Help her! Go! Uplift him. Go! Calm their anxiety. Go! Give them peace. (2) God Soothes with SONG And at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life. (v.8b) When you were little did you have a favorite bedtime song to sing with your parental figures? Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star? Jesus Loves Me Rock a Bye baby, don’t say a word. I know a kid whose said his favorite bedtime song was baby shark. I don’t know how well that soothed him. But the truth is that God soothes us. TRUTH: God SOOTHES with his song called the GOSPEL, When we’re anxious and worried, it is God he speaks truth in the Gospel. He sings: I love you. You’re mine. I am with you. I will not leave you. In the Gospel, It’s as if God is holding your hand. He’s rubbing your back. He’s looking you in the eye and whispering: I’m here V. The Long Game But here’s a reality. Anxiety doesn’t instantly get solved. In fact, look at how the Psalmist continues: I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go around mourning because of oppression by the enemy?” It is like breaking my bones when my foes taunt me. All day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” Why are you so depressed, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? (v.9-10) Anxiety is a battle. Because there are constantly things that make us anxious. There are constantly people that make us anxious. But even if anxiety is a repetitive struggle. The Psalmist has a repetitive refrain: Hope in God, for I will again praise him for my salvation from the face of my God. (Psalm 42) Do you see it? He repeats what he said before. Put your hope in God. Put your hope in God. Put your hope in God. TRUTH: Since anxiety is RELENTLESS, we RELENTLESSLY put hope in God. When anxiety is high. Put your hope in God. When anxiety is about school. Put your hope in God. When anxious about work. Put your hope in God. When anxious about money. Put your hope in God. When anxious about your future. Put your hope in God. Amen.
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January 2021
Pastor Phil Kiecker
and his wife, Julianna love serving the community of North Raleigh.
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