The psalmists understood paranoid thinking. One might say they even wrote the book on it. (Yes, bad joke.) Take Psalm 31. It is credited to David. David spent several years on the run from various powerful people. His father-in-law Saul wanted to kill him. So he bolted to an enemy country to try to live there. Claimed he had gone over to the other side. Made a habit of raiding villages of that very country and being sure to not leave any witnesses. (Yes, it's bloody and horrible but that was the world David lived in.) Course those kinds of secrets don't stay secret for ever so he had to take his men and run again. In one king's court he feigned madness to give everyone a laugh and to avoid being thrust through by a sword or spear.
So when David writes a song and says, "For I hear the whispering of many -- terror all around! -- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life," it's for good reason. Paranoid thinking became a survival instinct.
Some still live in that kind of fear -- victims of domestic violence, those in warn torn areas. And sometimes that kind of fear speaks to a fear of the demons that lurk on the inside. For some they are overwhelming strong and they need plenty of outside help.
The good news in the psalms is that deliverance in one form or another always comes. So take heart when it seems the enemies surround. Get help if you need it. Get out of your current circumstance if need be. And be sure you will find a lament in the psalms that matches your mood. God doesn't mind the prays of fearful and even paranoid.
I'm liking these psalmist posts.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, dad's eye surgery came out okay. He just got a shot in his eyeball. Couldn't remember if I told you that.
Also, please continue to pray for Liz and my Friend Eric & Lori Smith and their family. His mom is the one with Brain cancer. They found out it came back and is worse than before. The doctors told them it would be a miracle if she lasted till Christmas.