Jump Start # 751

Psalms 102:7 “I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.”

The holiday season is all about us. I am one who loves the Christmas season. I love the songs on the radio, and I have a stack of Christmas CD’s that I play over and over. I love the lights. I love the cookies. I love the decorated houses.  I even love shopping and wrapping presents (though I’m not very good at it). It is just a great time. Families gather. Food is eaten. Presents given. Pictures taken. We find a time to play Monopoly with the grown kids. Great fun. Some of the best times of the year.

This season is not that way for everyone. Family dynamics, drama and dysfunction make this season very stressful for many people. Many feel very alone at the holiday season. Statistics prove this. Alcohol abuse and suicide rates are the highest at the holiday season. This festive time is hard for many people.

Our passage today has nothing to do with Christmas, shopping nor holidays. It does speak to the emotion of loneliness. A person can feel alone in a crowd. A person can feel alone sitting in a church building full of people.

Our passage is a prayer. It is a cry for help, as verse one literally states. The writer has been afflicted by his enemies for a long time. There was no relief. This was taking a toll upon him both physically and emotionally. He reaches out to God. He knows God is there. He knows God will be gracious and good to him.

We can visualize our verse. A lonely bird sitting on a housetop. No other birds nearby. No other birds to call to. All by himself on a housetop. There are times in our life that we feel like that little bird on that rooftop. When our parents dropped us off to college, got our dorm rooms all set up, had their final words of advice and then drove off. A loneliness sat in. It happens as one visits the grave of their parents or spouse. A huge chapter in your book has been closed and often we are not ready for it to end. Life moves on, but it’s hard for some. There is a loneliness in the heart. For others, it’s been a divorce. The marriage has ended. The kids have to be shared between holidays and you may sit alone wishing things were different.

I share these thoughts not to make those who already feel bad, worse. Some of us do not grasp this. In our world we see everyone like us. Not everyone is like us. Even in our church services there sits the widow, the single person, the divorced, those whose families do not want them. They come in quietly and worship with the rest of us who are loud, smiling and having a great time. Their hearts are breaking because they are a bird on the housetop.

Wise shepherds are aware of this and will do all they can to encourage them. Those who love as Christ loves, will try to include and build up. But even with all those efforts, there is that dark and empty house one returns to each evening. The hope is in God. The prayer is to the Lord who understands and comforts. God understands. Look at Jesus at the cross. He died alone. No one in the audience offered to pray aloud for Him. No one held His hand during His final moments. Separated from God, abandoned by His followers, mocked by His accusers, Jesus died alone. He knows.

The thrust of Psalms 102 is not a “woe is me chapter.” It’s not a pity party. It’s not feel bad because of my circumstances. It’s not come and do something for me. It’s not written as a complaint and no fingers are pointed to anyone. Instead, the Psalmist looks to God. It is a chapter that praises God. He sings the beauty and glory of God. His eyes are upon the Lord.

That’s what we must remember. Instead of crying about not having anyone or complaining about people being too busy to remember you, look to the Lord. Sing His praises. Lift God up and magnify His holy name. In doing this, a person realizes that they have never been alone. God has always been there. God is still there. God is the best friend a person can have.

When my youngest child was small, I’d point out to him on many occasions, a whole bunch of birds sitting together on a telephone wire. We got to calling that, “Bird meetings.” It wasn’t uncommon to find one bird sitting alone on the wire a short distance for the rest of them. We’d try to imagine why he was by himself and came up with all kinds of funny and crazy ideas. But I’ve also noticed, birds don’t sing at the “bird meetings.” They just sit together. It’s often that lonely bird on a housetop or sitting in a tree that sings the loudest. I have an owl near my house. I go to sleep listening to him hoot. I thought of this passage. That lonely bird. Actually, he’s not lonely at all. He’s filling the night air with a soothing sound. He has become God’s orchestra.

In many ways, you can fill that role in the lives of others. Be that soothing comfort, that refreshing spirit, that encouraging heart that lifts those who are struggling, stressed and lost focus. Sing the praises of God for all to hear. You, in your loneliness, can be the voice that folks here in the night. And what they hear, is not complaining or gripping but a sweet sound that connects one to God.

I’ve gotten so accustomed to my night owl, that I listen for him. I look forward to hearing him. When the night is still and it’s very quiet, I hear him in a distance. You can be that for others as you walk with the Lord. They need you. You fill a void. You are a reminder. You help them connect to God.

A lonely bird on a housetop…don’t fight it, make the most of it with God.

Roger