Title: When You Can’t Sleep
Text: Psalm 30
Thesis: You can’t sleep when your life is unraveling… but it is in the sleeplessness of an unraveling life that we learn to live in grateful dependence on God – all the time.
Introduction
There is a Volkswagen commercial that is something of a parody of Gene Kelly’s “Dancing in the Rain.” It is a dismal night. The rain is pouring down. Gene Kelly kisses his girl friend at the door and clutching his umbrella, turns back into the drenching rain. Suddenly he begins to dance. He twirls his umbrella. He skips through puddles. With abandon he looks to the sky with open arms welcoming the drenching he is getting. He is so happy in love that nothing can squelch his joy. And then he does cartwheel on the cobble stone street and comes to his feet beside a shiny new Volkswagen and sees a stern policeman with his arms crossed, giving him “the look” and immediately the dancing is over.
You aren’t supposed to dance in the rain… it’s not normal!
Normal is not dancing in the rain and calm is not normal in a crisis. Panic is normal in crisis.
I. From Panic to Perspective, Psalm 30:1-5
Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5
This morning we begin with panic. David’s life was apparently going along just fine when his comfortable life was interrupted by what may well have been a life-threatening circumstance. He spoke of fearing that his enemies would triumph over him. He speaks of failing health, being rescued from death and the grave. Then, having narrowly escaped imminent peril he is overcome with gratitude and praise to God.
We have all heard adages like: I’m coming unglued! I’m falling apart! I’m cracking up! I’m coming apart at the seams! I’m unraveling! In our text today the Psalmist reflects on a time when he could not sleep. His life had so unraveled that he tossed and turned all night.
One pattern I have found throughout my life and have observed in the lives of others goes like this: When life is good… boom! It seems that it is generally during our up times, times when life is good, when everything is going well, it is then that we find ourselves faced with challenging circumstances. We get sick or someone we love gets sick. Someone dies. There is some kind of family crisis, perhaps even a faltering marriage. There is a job loss. And when that happens we find ourselves brought down. We become discouraged. We struggle. We can’t sleep because there is some worrisome cloud hanging over our heads.
Bobby Lewis sang it and it became the Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. In 2008 Billboard Magazine ranked it as the 27th biggest song of all time. It was on the sound track of American Graffiti and it still plays through my mind some nights. If you are at all nostalgic or curious check out Tossin’ and Turnin’ on YouTube. It’s a song about a lovelorn teenager in the 60’s…
Well I was tossin' and turnin'
Turnin' and tossin'
a-tossin' and turnin' all night
I kicked the blankets on the floor
Turned my pillow upside down
I never never did before
'cause I was tossin' and turnin'
Turnin' and tossin'
a-tossin' and turnin' all night
Jumped out of bed
Turned on the light
I pulled down the shade
Went to the kitchen for a bite
Rolled up the shade
Turned off the light
I jumped back into bed
It was the middle of the night
The clock downstairs was strikin' four… and you get the idea.
So there, sleepless in the middle of the night we pray. We pray like we’ve never prayed before. And eventually we emerge from the darkness and the sun shines again. The next day we see things more clearly. In our unrest… dozing in and out. In our musing we sometimes work things out and we can see more clearly. We did in fact make it through the night. And today is a new day and in every new day is new hope.
The Psalmist concluded: “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Perspective.
Verses 6-10 give us insight into how and why this all came about. David was feeling good… really good… too good. He had become presumptuous.
II. From Prosperity to Presumption, Psalm 30:6-10
Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was
shattered. Psalm 30:7
This Vignette from David’s life reminds me of the story Jesus told of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21. The man was a wealthy farmer who was enjoying a prolonged period of good crops and prosperity. Life was so good that he decided he would build more and bigger barns and store up his wealth. So he thought, “I will sit back and say to myself, ‘My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink and be merry!’” Nothing presumptuous about him was there?
I confess I likely fall into the category of those who feel entitled. My sense is that most Americans feel entitled; after all, the Constitution of the United States entitles us. We have rights. Gun owners are entitled to guns. Our children are entitled to an education. We do indeed pay into Social Security and Medicare so it is not purely an entitlement, however most Americans receive vastly more from those funds than they contribute… according to AARP I’m entitled. College students are entitled to Student Loans. Business is entitled to a profit. Corporate CEOs are entitled to huge bonuses despite performance. Special interest groups are entitled to lobby for their interests without regard for the good of the whole. Those affected by disasters are entitled to assistance.
I think David felt entitled. He perceived himself to be the apple of God’s eye. He had it all and thought he would always have it all. He said, “I was prosperous, nothing can stop me now! God’s goodness made me feel “secure as a mountain.”
So much of being an American is rooted in prosperity and security and when our lives begin to unravel we are not happy about it.
According to the World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School, our country may be the saddest nation in the world. Researchers found that 9.6% or nearly 10% of us suffer from depression or bipolar disorder. We were highest among 14 major nations some of which suffer ongoing war, vast unemployment and profound poverty. I few years ago Bret Stephens wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal, “The Great Depression.” He suggests that Americans score poorly because we are generally comfortable and as such we have more time for critically picking apart life situations and personal circumstances. He said, “Those who live in countries torn apart by varying social and economic issues have less time to fret… they are simply too busy trying to survive.”
I do not believe it is always the case but David certainly thought that God became weary of his pride and presumption and sense of entitlement and simply reversed his fortunes. From God’s perspective David was pretty much secure in his own little world and so much so that he forgot who had given him the good life.
David surmised, “Then you [God] turned away from me and I was shattered.”
The pattern now evolves from prosperity to presumption into pain to praise.
III. From Pain to praise. Psalm 30:11-12
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. I will give thanks to you forever! Psalm 30:11-12
There is certainly a time for sadness. The Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us, “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He believed that the purpose of human life was personal and spiritual growth. We are unable to grow as person if we are irresponsible in our observations and experiences. Similarly we might say, “The untested life is not worth living.”
The bible says, “Consider it all joy when troubles come your way. Consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a change to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed you will be perfect, needing nothing.” James 1:2-4
So it is that as we live into our sadness, depending on God to do his work in our lives that we emerge into a new normal of gratitude and praise.
When you look back over your life, you look back over good and bad times and places. But were it not for those good and the bad times and places, you would not be who you are today… hopefully for the better!
I read an interview of Mike Tyson by Daily Beast columnist, Winston Ross (Daily Beast, April 12, 2013). Mike Tyson has had something of a remarkable turnaround in his life and career. Following his 4 year old daughter’s death in 2009, he has gotten his life together. He expresses gratitude to God for a second chance. At the end of the interview Ross asked Mike Tyson if he had any regrets about his life and Tyson said, “No.” “Really?” Ross countered. “No,” Tyson said, “if I had done it differently I would not have the life I have now.” For good or bad or whatever you may think of Mike Tyson… there is truth to what he said. But for the grace of God, none of us would be who you are today were it not for what we’ve been through.
Richard Stearns is the President of World Vision. A year after the earthquake in Haiti he visited a church in a sprawling camp for thousands of Haitians who are still homeless in Port-au-Prince. The church was a tent of tarps and duct tape. In the front row were six amputees ranging in age from 6 to 60. They were clapping and smiling as they sang song after song. Their worship was full of hope and thanksgiving.
Demosi Louphine is a 32 year-old, unemployed, single mother of two little girls, who lost both her right arm and leg during the earthquake, led the choir. Standing on her prosthesis she held her left arm high as she directed the joyful choir.
Following the service she told Stearns how deeply grateful she was that God had spared her life so she could raise her daughters and serve the Lord a few more years.
This was Demosi Louphine’s new normal… and to think how irritated I get if my internet connection is slow is shameful. Her new normal was nothing but praise.
Conclusion
The Urban Dictionary defines the new normal as “The current state of being after some dramatic change has transpired. What replaces the expected, usual, typical state after an event occurs. The new normal encourages one to deal with current situations rather than lamenting what could have been.”
• Housing costs plummeting is the new normal.
• Having less discretionary income after the stock market crash is the new normal.
• Spending less on entertainment is the new normal during economic downturns.
• Now that the baby was born, having less free time was the new normal for the new parents.
“The new normal,” is a new catch phrase or buzz term that is being applied to changes in society, culture, business, the economy, family life, politics, spirituality and even church. Normal isn’t normal anymore. We may entertain thoughts like, “Once we get through this things will get back to normal again.” But it is more likely that the future normal will not look like the former normal… and maybe that’s a good thing.
Rather than the patterns of panic to perspective and prosperity to presumption and pain to praise… maybe a consistent, “O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!” would be best.
Could our new normal simply be, “Nothing but Praise?”
