Psalms 69:14

Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

You know the feeling. Your twosome is stuck in the middle of four foursomes. If you don’t play golf, it’s like being late and behind that farm tractor on a two lane road. The feeling of having no escape. The faster you try to go, the slower the pace becomes. Our lack of patience is a current reflection of our current condition.

The great Biblical theologian Matthew Henry said that, “prosperity was the blessing of the Old Covenant, but adversity is the peculiar blessing of the New.” We like to proclaim our status as always living at the foot of the cross. We don’t freely admit it, but we all have times when we question our closeness with Christ and possibly even our spiritual destiny. How could a saved soul have these thoughts much less act in such a devilish fashion? We find ourselves stuck in a trial or an adversity of our own doing.

The Nile River’s banks are composed of a mire. This mud is like quicksand. If you attempt to jump out of your boat or accidentally step off in the wrong place, you are stuck. The more you fight attempting to get out, the more engulfed you become. The same is true with sin. The harder we try to fight it within our own power, the deeper we find ourselves. David went to the right place for his “saving”. He had a hand reaching out to Him in prayer. Calling out to the Savior is the only means of being saved “out of the deep waters.” Notice David purposely said “deep waters.” Sin is the “deep water” which can engulf our spiritual lives. It is also the “deep waters” in which we recognize the “peculiar blessing” of this new covenant.

David found himself in the middle of such mire. Charles Spurgeon preached that, “a spiritual life is the requisite for spiritual grief and spiritual contrition.” We don’t realize we are in the midst of it until it’s too late for a quick and easy escape. The lost sinner has no concern as to the elements of his condition. There is no conviction in his lifestyle. He or she doesn’t worry about missing a church service. The lack of respect from his children is of no concern and is merely a product of the times. One of our local communities which has been disseminated by prescription drug abuse is lauding itself for the passage of an ordinance allowing “liquor by the drink”. The justification for the passage is pretexted as being economical and to promote recreation. Ironically, this same locality is in the midst of pursing a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma which allegedly targeted these communities with OxyContin because of economics.

The same rationale is true for our personal lives. When our primary focus is on either economics or status, we will sacrifice anything to attain such a result irrespective of the consequences. We desperately try to escape from our physical, economical and spiritual poverty. However, the result is finding ourselves mired even deeper. We become slaves to our passion and sin. Thankfully, we have a Savior with a long and steady arm. The further we allow Him to reach into our “spiritual contrition” and “spiritual grief”, the stronger our “spiritual life” becomes. We become stronger by depending upon His strength.