From Sighing to Singing

I’m not one to think that my profession is the most difficult or stressful one on the market. Part of what I get paid to do is stand up for 35ish minutes each Sunday and talk, yell, whatever. I mean, come on. Therefore, I won’t be melodramatic and say that the first 10 days of 2024 have been the most difficult in a decade or some other cute mantra. I will say they have been some fast-paced days. Which is fine.

Walking with people through their valleys is one of the most humbling things I have the privilege to do. Introducing a new staff member to a team and helping them get settled in to a new ministry setting is rewarding. Being able to tell a church member that I love them, knowing it will probably be the final time I speak with them, and to have them reply, “I love you, too, pastor,” gets my allergies to acting up and brings tears to my eyes. Standing in a hospice room when a saint leaves this world and enters eternity produces a moment that is truly indescribable. Being able to open a living Book and share its truths week in and week out is an honor. All that is good. It’s just been a bit fast-paced over the last week of the old year and the first couple of weeks of a new year when those things, and more, happen.

It’s fitting, then, that events unfolded this morning as they did. I walked outside to get in my car for a day that had every hour scheduled with something, mostly “heavy” stuff, from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Sure, one of those hours involved sitting at a table and eating some mighty fine food from FBC’s Mighty Chef and her team, but you get the point.

As I got into my cold car whose windshields were caked with frost, I cranked the engine, turned on the defrost, backed up until all glass was in the sun, and opened my Bible app to read a bit from the Psalms while the windshields defrosted. Pondering the activity of the past couple of weeks and the scheduled activities of the next several days, I let out a deep sigh, partly from pondering the activities of the prior days and partly in preparation for what’s to come.

Then, literally two seconds later, I read these words: “Listen to my words, Lord; consider my sighing.” (Psalm 5:1)

Message received, Lord. I continued to read.

“Lord, lead me in your righteousness … make your way straight before me” (Psalm 5:8).

That one made me ponder for a bit: “make YOUR way straight before ME.” Often I hope God will make my way straight before him. Sometimes my tendency is to toss up my plans and ways and ask God to make it work instead of embracing the way, the tasks, etc., that God has already placed before me. My job, however, is to follow him, asking that he make his way straight before me.

My sighing is minor. It was just a sigh of the energy exerted over previous tasks and the expected energy required for upcoming tasks. Your sighing might be more serious. There are some families in my church that I love dearly who are sighing over the loss of a cherished loved one. That’s a deep sigh. There are parents in my church who are sighing over their children for one reason or another. That’s a deep sigh. There are those I care about who are dealing with horrible diagnoses, painful circumstances, and unknown futures. Those can solicit some deep sighs.

If that’s you, go ahead and sigh. I don’t see a command to NOT sigh. Instead, I see a plea for the Lord to consider – to listen – to that sigh. Go ahead and sigh. Sigh deeply. Sigh loudly. Then ask the Lord to make his way straight before you, then walk in that straight way.

Here’s what I’ve discovered about walking in the way that God has made straight: you never walk it alone. He made it straight, and he walks with you. Then, at some point, believe it or not, the sighing turns to singing. Maybe not the same day, the same week, or even the same year. But eventually.

Take Psalm 5 as an example. The psalm that begins with a plea to consider a sigh ends with a note of singing.

“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them shout for joy forever. May you shelter them, and may those who love your name boast about you. For you, Lord, bless the righteous one; you surround him with favor like a shield” (Psalm 5:11-12).