You Held Me Up

Have you ever fallen? What about slipped? Or lost your balance? Falling is not anything to laugh at. But I have been in situations where my foot has slipped and it would take me a while to catch my balance.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

There are two types of falls – elevated falls and same-level falls; 65% of fall-related injuries occur as a result of falls from same-level walking surfaces; Over one million Americans suffer a slip, trip, and fall injury every year; An estimated 20 – 30% of people who experience a slip and fall will suffer moderate to severe injuries such as bruises, hip fractures, or head injuries; The most common fractures that occur from slip and fall accidents are fractures are of the spine, hip, forearm, leg, ankle, pelvis, upper arm, and hand; Slip and fall accidents are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and these account for 46% of fatal falls among older Americans; Approximately 19,565 people die in the U.S. annually due to injuries caused by unintentional falls; Slips, trips and fall injuries account for between 12 and 15 percent of all Workers' Compensation expenses; Slips, trip and fall injuries cost employers approximately $40,000 per incident; From <http://www.arbill.com/arbill-safety-blog/bid/203028/Painful-Statistics-on-Slips-Trips-and-Falls>

It's one thing to slip physically with all of it's unwelcomed consequences, but it is another thing to slip and fall spiritually.

If you have been saved very long, you know that there will be times that you get on slippery ground. I remember an ice storm in MO before I was married you could not hardly walk on much less drive on.

This Psalm that I have read to you today is a "National Lament."

A Quick Overview of the Psalm:

The Psalmist's Appeal 94:1-3 - An appeal to God to judge the wicked The Psalmist's Accusation 94:4-7 (Accuses and indicts the wicked. "Here is a graphic picture of total depravity, involving the mouths, hands, thoughts and wills of sinners." The Psalmist's Admonition 94:8-11 Admonishes the "senseless ones" to repent and forsake their wickedness. He uses, "Simple but compelling logic, the Psalmist reasons, "94:9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see…" The Psalmist's Assurance 94:12-15 "Shifting focus, the psalmist concentrates upon the favor bestowed by God on the righteous. "A Confession of Confidence in God as the help of the psalmist and judge of the wicked." The Psalmist's Affirmation 94:16-19 Seems to be a personal testimony "regarding the blessedness God offers when his people call out to in the midst of their adversity." The Psalmist's Alliance 94:20-23 Declares God to be the Judge of all the earth.

Steven J. Lawson, Holman Old Testament Commentary – Psalms 76-150, ed. Max Anders, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Holman, 2006), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 105. And Mays, James Luther: Psalms. Louisville : John Knox Press, 1994 (Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching), S. 302

I want to focus on verses 16-19 Especially verse 18

This is a personal testimony. The psalmist has been talking about the state of injustice, and suffering now he begins to talk about his personal experience. Sometimes that is the only way we can express ourselves. Is by telling what has happened to us. What we have felt, what we have seen and heard.

He doesn't give us the specifics but he does tell us it was a serious situation.

My foot was slipping. and God's mercy was there to sustain me. I want you to know this morning we are not stepping blindly, we are walking on the very mercy of God.

That word "slippeth" means:

to totter, shake, slip

(Qal) to totter, shake, slip

(Niphal) to be shaken, be moved, be overthrown

(Hiphil) to dislodge, let fall, drop

(Hithpael) to be greatly shaken

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT entry: 1158

Part(s) of speech: Verb

Strong's Definition: A primitive root; to waver ; by implication to slip, shake, fall: - be carried, cast, be out of course, be fallen in decay, X exceedingly, fall (-ing down), be (re-) moved, be ready shake, slide, slip. Strongs

I read an article sometime ago

"BERLIN German trauma surgeons advised the public on Wednesday to walk like penguins to avoid slipping on pavements with freezing temperatures forecast nationwide over the next few days.

An advisory published on the website of the German Society of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery said that walking like the aquatic birds involves leaning the torso forward so that the centre of gravity is on the front leg.

A drawing attached to the advisory explains that when humans walk normally, body weight is split almost evenly over both legs, which the surgeons say increases the risk of losing one's balance and falling on slippery surfaces.

Municipal authorities in Berlin were criticized over their failure to sprinkle the capital's pavements with rock salt in January 2014 despite warnings of a freeze from meteorologists.

As a result, rescue services received more than 750 emergency calls and emergency rooms were overstretched with patients with bone fractures.

Temperatures in Berlin are expected to plunge to -10 degrees Centigrade (14 Fahrenheit) on Saturday."

There are going to be things in our life that may make us feel as though our feet are slipping. That they are going to fall out from under us.

Sometime ago my family tried ice skating for the first time. Now I like to know that when I put my foot down, it's going to stay there, but there is no guarantee of that when you are on a solid sheet of ice. I held on as tightly as I could to the wall as I gingerly put one foot down in front of the other and inched my way around, never venturing further than an arm's length away from security. Why because it constantly felt as though my feet were going to slip right out from under me.

Spiritually there are times we are going to have tenaciously hold on to the promises and mercy of God as we tread slowly on the slippery ground in front of us, but I love what the psalmist found -

When my feet slip - God's mercy sustained me - held me up - supported me - kept me up, never let me fall.

I came here this morning to let you know that God will not let you down. You may not understand, you may slip, you may feel like Asaph from Psalm 73 - "As for me my feet where well nigh slipped." He knew what it was to not understand and to feel like everything he understood as true and right to fall out from underhim. But his answer was not to walk like a penguin, but rather to Go to God.

If we hold on to God, God will hold us up.