daily java

Daily Java: 

    My heart pounds in my chest.
      The terror of death assaults me.
    Fear and trembling overwhelm me,
      and I can’t stop shaking.
    Oh, that I had wings like a dove;
      then I would fly away and rest!
    I would fly far away
     to the quiet of the wilderness. (Psalm 55:4-7)

I remember the first time I ever heard this. It was in the old King James and it was record with Alexander Scourby reading it. He was one of the old Bible readers whose voice just crackled with biblical reality. He could read a corn flakes box and it would sound full of portent.

But it resonated in me at the time and it still does.

There are times when we wish we could just run away, go somewhere else, be small enough we could just scurry out of the sight of the world and hide, far away, in some wonderful place of quiet.

We would sit there in the shade of a tree and be small and quiet and let the problems we have just kind of go away.

There are times when I long for somewhere like that to go. Unfortunately, Nebraska is not known for its scenic hiding places. Almost everything has smaller trees and looks out over the same kind of landscape – plains.

Me, I would like to run away to a grove of trees on the side of a pretty little river in an isolated place, maybe on a hillside overlooking some mountains. There may be a cave or at least a rock outcropping that hasn’t been used by anyone for several years, like the ones the Louis L’Amour characters are always finding to recuperate from bullet wounds in.

I would just sit and look, star off into the distance, try my best to empty my mind of all my problems and failures and sadnesses.

It wouldn’t work, of course, but it sound great. Like someone once said, wherever you go, there you are. So whatever problems and difficulties I had would still be there. Just because I went to a scenic location wouldn’t really change anything.

I have, although, always thought it interesting in the terminology here. He says that I had wings like a dove. In Isaiah 40:31, the writer says: But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength They will soar high on wings like eagles.

If we are small and pathetic and wish we could run away, we will flutter away like a little dove. Small wings, rapid fluttering, oh dear! I must run away, scurrying.

If we are in Jesus and moving in his will, we soar like an eagle. Big wings, minimal flapping, high altitude, looking down on all the little doves fluttering around, above the fray.

Interesting difference in wingspans between the fearful and the faithful.

But today, I wish I were small and could go to that cave, take along a big thermos of coffee, a jug of water, some sandwiches, a pillow and covers, a couple of books and just sit and look at the expanse while I was quiet.

My poor wife, having to put up with this goofiness.

Flutter.