Lonely Bird

Our world is filled with troubled souls. The troubles come with many shapes and names, but certainly you know a number who are tormented. Psalm 102 is the testimony of one of these.

The personal lament of this psalmist extends, beginning at verse three, through nine verses. He uses vivid language, speaking of “a pelican of the wilderness,” far from his watery home; “an owl in waste places,” away from his forested home; and then this, “like a lonely bird on a housetop,” isolated and alone.

One mistake that troubled souls tend to make is that they do not read far enough. While the lament is long, the psalm goes on for another sixteen verses, offering perspective and hope. Paul Harvey had that radio spot in which he would recall a familiar story, and then provide more information, ending it all with, “and now you know “The Rest of the Story.” We need to see the whole picture, the rest of the story, rather than thinking that what we sense in the moment is all that there is, and all that is going to be. 

You may also notice that I began with verse three. Troubled souls are in trouble if they neglect the first two verses: “Hear my prayer, O LORD! .. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; .. answer me quickly.” Perhaps we skip these verses because we do not believe anyone is listening. We do not know that God is there, and that He cares. Perhaps there is just some deep-rooted stubbornness in us that keeps us from reaching out to the One whose mercy is deep enough to reach us in the depths, and wide enough to grab hold of that lonely bird on a housetop.

Over in the New Testament, Hebrews 12:2 we are invited to consider “Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.” See, he knew the rest of the story. That the present was dreadful, but the future would be glorious. And so we are later encouraged to “not grow weary and lose heart.” We are to follow him on that path, in that pattern.

Some troubled souls are difficult to deal with. They may be up and then down, pleasant and then perturbed. They may feel like we don’t understand, and, we probably don’t. Most of us are like drivers on the freeway, where we want the other drivers to be predictable. And troubled souls can be erratic. We regard them as dangerous. But Jesus, the one who knows both the Beginning and the End, is able to hold on to us and bring us home, safely; able to save us from our own troubled souls.