Rev. David Holwick J Evening Vesper Service
Little Brown Church
Round Pond (Bristol), Maine (adapted from my sermon on November 7, 2010)
July 10, 2022
Psalm 18:1-6,16-20,28-33
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
I. Desperate times require desperate measures.
A. Between a rock and a hard place.
In 2003 Aron Ralston was hiking alone in a narrow slot canyon
near Moab, Utah.
As he climbed over a boulder, it shifted, pinning his right
arm against the canyon wall.
He tried to move the 800-pound rock but it wouldn't budge.
Ralston had not told anyone of his hiking plans and he knew
no one would be searching for him.
Assuming that he would die, he spent five days slowly sipping
his small amount of remaining water.
He carved his name, date of birth and presumed date of death
into the sandstone canyon wall.
Then he videotaped his last good-byes to his family.
After five days of trying to lift and break the boulder, the
dehydrated and delirious Ralston took a drastic step.
(If you are squeamish, now is a good time to plug your ears)
He put a small stone between his forearm and the canyon wall,
and forced the arm against the stone until the bones broke.
Using the dull blade on his multi-use tool, he then cut the
soft tissue around the break.
Ralston was finally free, but he wasn't home.
He had to rappel down a 65-foot sheer wall, then hike out of
the canyon in the hot midday sun.
It was eight miles to his truck.
The truck had a stick shift.
He didn't have a cell phone.
Before he got to his truck, he ran into a Dutch family who gave
him water and two Oreo cookies.
They called emergency services and he was airlifted out.
As a nice touch, the rescuers retrieved his arm and gave him
the cremated remains.
A few years later a movie based on his experience was released.
They say the amputation scene is really cool.
Would you be able to do what he did?
Maybe not, but I know a lot of you have been in desperate
situations and some of you are right now.
As a pastor I have dealt with people about to be evicted, people
who have no heating oil, people who have been without work
over a year. #62883
B. When you don't think you can hang on, someone is there for you.
1) This evening's psalm was written by King David at a critical
point in his life.
2) It also appears in 2 Samuel 22, where it says David wrote it
when God delivered him "from the hand of all his enemies."
3) To David, the rock was his savior, because his rock was
God.
4) You will probably be able to relate to many of the things
he says.
II. It can get pretty bad.
A. Cords of death and the grave. 18:4
1) David uses imagery of being strangled and drowned.
2) Those are pretty apt metaphors for how disasters can feel.
a) You are pulled down and suffocated by your problems.
b) I've had people tell me who they literally feel a
tightness in their chest when their problems get
too big.
B. David calls on his God. 18:6
1) Like a lot of people, disaster got David spiritually
motivated.
2) It doesn't just say he prayed, but that he cried out to
God. There was a lot of emotion in it.
a) Aron Ralston's mom went to a Methodist church near
Denver.
When her son had not been heard from in several days,
she began to pray through the night.
In the morning she faxed her prayer concern to all
the Methodist churches near Grand Junction, Colorado,
where he had last been seen.
Even as she was faxing, she got word that his truck
had been found.
b) If you have a deep need, keep praying.
1> Don't give up.
III. God charges in.
A. Theologians call this a theophany. 18:7
1) It is like a combination earthquake, volcano, and hail storm.
a) You even get some of the proverbial thunder bolts.
b) God almost sounds like a fire-breathing dragon.
2) David is grabbed out of his pit.
a) This is the kind of backup we all want.
B. Why doesn't God do this more often?
1) Even Mrs. Ralston's quick answer to prayer seems better
than what we usually get.
2) Many Christians pray for months or even years and the pain
is still there.
a) We know he can do miracles.
b) He just doesn't do them that often.
3) For most of us, God's coming is going to be more subtle.
a) But that doesn't mean he is not coming for us.
IV. Perhaps there is a reason for the delay.
A. David believes he is rescued because of his righteousness. 19,20
1) He goes into some detail about how he has followed
God's ways and kept his hands clean.
2) He claims to be blameless.
B. Do we have to be worthy to be rescued by God?
1) It is not unusual to feel God is neglecting you because
you have done something wrong.
a) This is especially true when others seem to be
delivered, and you are not.
b) All those verses about how the obedient are rewarded
and the wicked are punished, start to haunt you.
2) Most Christians can always find something wrong in their
life.
a) Was David really that different from us?
C. This part of the psalm may be hinting at something deeper.
1) It is true that Old Testament saints like David had a
different way of assessing their spirituality.
a) They tended to look at their outward keeping of the
law rather than the motives of their heart.
b) Even the Apostle Paul says that concerning legalistic
righteousness he was faultless. Phil 3:6
2) David's language seems to go beyond this.
a) Many scholars think these verses really describe the
Messiah - Jesus himself.
b) In Romans 15:9, Paul quotes verse 49 here and applies
it to Jesus. Starting at verse 8 Paul says:
"For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the
Jews on behalf of God's truth, so that the promises
made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and,
moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his
mercy.
As it is written:
'Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing the praises of your name.'"
1> Jesus was perfect in a way that we never can be.
2> So do we have to be as perfect as Jesus to get
some deliverance?
3) A little humility helps. 18:27
a) Being faithful (v. 25) and pure (v. 26) are good,
but being humble gets you saved in the end.
18:27: "You save the humble but bring low those whose
eyes are haughty."
b) This recalls one of the most moving verses in the Old
Testament, Micah 6:8 -
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."
V. With God's help we can do anything.
A. Strength from God can give us the power we need. 18:29
1) David talks about advancing against armies, and scaling
walls. (in a single bound like Superman?)
2) It is all because God has intervened to help him. 18:35
B. Deer feet. 18:33
1) This verse reminds me of Josh Groban's popular song:
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be. [1]
2) Our feet and hands can contribute.
a) God can arm us with strength (v. 39) but it is up
to us to use that strength.
b) Our preference is for the miracle, for God crashing
through in an obvious way.
c) It is more likely that God will enable us to use our
own resources to attain our victory.
3) You may not be able to do much, but you can do something.
The second oldest college in America is William and Mary at
Williamsburg, Virginia.
Today it is one of America's most honored institutions.
However, back in 1881, as a result of the financial catastrophe
brought about by the Civil War, William and Mary was closed.
It probably would have remained closed but for the faith of
Dr. Benjamin Ewell, its president.
Every morning for seven years he rang the old college bell --
reminding everyone that the college was still there.
That was all he could do -- but he did that.
Eventually the college reopened and has remained that way for
130 years.
We can always do the thing at hand when we come to the "end of
the rope."
It may not be much we can do, but it is amazing what happens
to people who tie a knot in the end of the rope and hold on.
#6972
C. Aron Ralston has done more than hang on.
Since his accident, he has climbed all of Colorado's mountains
that are over 14,000 feet high.
There are 59 of them and he was the first to do them in the
wintertime, solo.
He has climbed mountains in Chile, Argentina and Tanzania.
In 2008 he climbed Mount McKinley in Alaska and skied down
from the summit.
You may not want to conquer these mountains but perhaps
you have some mountains of your own.
Ask God to give you the strength to take them on.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] "You Raise Me Up" was written in 2002 by the Norwegian-Irish duo
Secret Garden. The music was written by Rolf Løvland and the lyrics
by Brendan Graham. Josh Groban is one of my musicians who have
covered it.
# 6972 “He Could At Least Ring the Bell,” by A.P. Bailey, Our Daily
Bread. Original source is the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch,
April 15, 1999. From the Roddy Chestnut illustration collection.
#62883 “Between a Rock and a Hard Place,” adapted by Rev. David Holwick
From the Wikipedia.org article, "Aron Ralston." November 7, 2010.
These and 37,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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