Alone, but not Alone

You can tell a lot about a person by how he conducts himself when he is alone.

Bill Broadhurst wanted more than anything to run in the 10K Pepsi Challenge Road Race in Omaha, Nebraska on July 26, 1981. He wanted to run the race especially because his hero Bill Rodgers was also running in that race. Bill Broadhurst had never run in a marathon before, he had never run a 10K race before. He had lettered in track ten years earlier at Omaha’s West Side High School but he really wasn’t qualified to get a number in the race.

But he did get a number, and so he was among the 1,200 runners who lined up at 7:30 a.m. on that Sunday morning. The starting gun was fired. Bill Rodgers led the race for the entire 10 kilometer distance, and he finished in 29:04. Bill Broadhurst was at the rear from the beginning until the end.

But you see, Bill Broadhurst was no ordinary runner. When he was 18 years old, he had suffered a brain aneurism. And although daring and delicate surgery was able to save his life, he was told by his physicians that he would never walk again. By God’s grace, and with his determination, he did walk again. They said he would never run again. But this day he was determined that he would run, although with great difficulty and with great pain.

The other runners soon left Bill Broadhurst behind so that he was running the race alone. And without the rest of the crowd, he lost his way in downtown Omaha. He actually took a wrong turn and went down an incorrect street and lost some time and had to turn back and find his way. But he kept on running.

There were children who sat along the curb and watched the race go by. When Bill Broadhurst came, they saw him dragging his left leg behind him. And they taunted him and laughed at him. There were some who ran alongside him, dragging their left legs. But he kept on running, in terrific pain.

And then, at last, he heard the delightful sound of other runners. He was closing in. The distance was less; he could hear the thump of their footsteps in his ears—only to realize that they were coming back. The crowd of runners split and went around him. Some of them shouted words of encouragement; some of them gave him the thumbs up sign. And so he kept on running.

And when he finally reached the halfway point, the booth had been taken down. There was no one there to certify him. But he touched the post—he would know for himself that he had been there.

And he started back, alone. They had already taken down all of the structures to cordon off the race track. A car pulled up alongside and asked him if he wanted a ride, and he declined it and kept on running. There was a police car that came by later and asked if he was okay, and he kept on running.

Two hours after the starting gun, at 9:30 a.m., Bill Broadhurst was approaching downtown Omaha,exhausted and in excruciating pain. And he kept on running. Two hours fifteen minutes. The end was near. Two hours twenty minutes, he was near the finish line. He could see it. But the finish banner had been taken down. There was no one there. They had all gone home.

Still, he kept on running. And at two hours twenty-nine minutes, Bill Broadhurst staggered across the finish line—alone. And when he did, seemingly from nowhere, a small crowd appeared, clapping for him. And out of the crowd came his hero—Bill Rodgers, who walked up, took off the red, white, and blue ribbon that held the gold medal around his neck, put it over the head of Bill Broadhurst and said “You. You are the winner.”

Bill Broadhurst knew what it was to face incredible pain and hardship alone. Yet he kept on running.

Have you ever known what it feels like to be totally alone? Perhaps you’ve had that feeling as you’ve faced a major medical crisis. At a time like that, the support and sympathy of your family and friends is certainly appreciated. But when all is said and done, you have to face that surgery alone.

Maybe you’ve felt that feeling of isolation in school. Perhaps in class, you’ve decided to stand up and defend the Christian position on some issue, and you’ve been ridiculed for it. You’ve felt the mockery of your fellow classmates. Perhaps you’ve been on the receiving end of a condescending put-down from a teacher or a professor.

Maybe this morning you are wrestling with a personal problem that no one else completely understands. Maybe it’s a family problem. Maybe it’s a marriage problem. And as you grapple with it, you feel utterly alone.

If you’ve ever felt that sense of isolation, then Psalm 86 is for you. It was written by David at a time in his life when he was under attack. Verse 14 describes his situation:

The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life—men without regard for you.

If you’ve ever been a leader, you know what it is to be attacked—to bear the brunt of criticism; to feel the sting of hostility.

We’re not really sure what situation David is describing here. Did he write these words when he was a fugitive from King Saul? Or did he write them when he was king and the enemies of Israel were arrayed against him? Or did he write Psalm 86 later in his reign when his son Absalom led an uprising against him and tried to overthrow him? Whatever the situation was, David was facing it alone.

That’s why Psalm 86 has been called the loneliest Psalm of David. The 150 Psalms are divided into five books. David wrote the majority of them. But Psalm 86 is the only poem of David to appear in Book 3. Even its placement in the collection makes it a lonely Psalm.

Now the Psalms are Hebrew poetry and there are some things we need to understand about Hebrew poetry. One of the keys to understanding Hebrew poetry is to realize that the actual physical structure of the poem can reveal a lot about its meaning.

If you’ve ever tried to write poetry in English, chances are you’ve mainly concerned yourself with how it sounds. You’ve tried to give it a certain meter,and make the ends of the lines rhyme. “Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.” That sort of thing.

But Hebrew poetry is different. They didn’t care so much about rhyme and meter. They cared about whether the thoughts rhymed. They used a device known as parallelism—matching or contrasting the thoughts in two-line segments. And they cared about the actual physical design of the poem—about how it looked.

For example, Psalm 119—the longest Psalm—is a great big alphabetic acrostic. It has 22 stanzas of 8 verses. Each stanza begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

There are other psalms that are constructed in the form of a great big X—the first verse matches the last verse; the second verse matches the second to last verse, and so on.

Hebrew poets were like architects of language—they designed their poems to have symmetry and balance.

Psalm 86 has an interesting design. It is divided into 5 stanzas or sections, but the stanzas are not equal in length. The first stanza and the last stanza have four verses each. But the middle three stanzas have just three verses each.

Now why did David write it like that? Why didn’t he just make all the stanzas equal in length? Well, it’s because in the first stanza and the last stanza, he’s talking about his problem, but in the middle three stanzas, he’s talking about God, who is the solution to his problem. Let’s look at it together.

Psalm 86:1 Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

David wrote this poem about 3,000 years ago, but it’s as up to date as if he wrote it today. He says “I’ve got a problem. I’m needy. I have needs.”

Needs. That’s the buzzword of today. Everybody has needs. Most people are walking through life trying to figure out how to get their needs met. They jump from relationship to relationship; they cycle in and out of marriages, looking for somebody who will meet their needs.

They go to counselors and psychologists, trying to find answers for their needs. This orientation has even invaded the Christian community. Got a problem? Just listen to this tape. Or read that book. Or hear what this noted Christian speaker has to say about that.

But look at what David did about his problem. Where did he go to get his needs met? He went directly to God.

Psalm 86:3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

The best thing you can do if you have a problem is to go to God with it. Take it to Him. That sounds pretty simple, but it’s amazing how many people never do it.

Being a Christian doesn’t mean never having any problems. It means having a resource for handling them. And that resource is God Himself.

Now the most significant thing that David does in the midst of his problem happens right here between section 1 and 2. His attention shifts. His focus shifts.

He goes from thinking about his problem to thinking about God. At first, his focus is earthly—he is preoccupied with his problem. But pretty soon, he starts thinking about God. His focus turns heavenward. And he becomes preoccupied with God. Look at what he says.

Psalm 86:5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

In section 1, David says “I’ve got a problem.” But in section 2, he says “I’ve got a great God.”

Look at the attributes of God that he focuses on: He says “You are forgiving and good. You are abounding in love. You are a God who hears the prayers of your servants. You are a God who answers prayer.”

There is something wonderfully therapeutic about focusing your eyes on God when you are in the midst of a problem. When you shift your focus away from yourself and your problems, and get your eyes on Him, your problems begin to come into perspective. They don’t seem so big or overwhelming anymore.

In fact, as David begins to worship God—because that’s what he’s doing in Section 2, he becomes excited about God’s character. And that leads him to Section 3.

Psalm 86:8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

Here is a man who is captivated by God’s majesty, by his uniqueness, by his greatness. He says “You alone are God.”

He has moved from despair to delight. And what has gotten him there? A self-help book? A cassette tape of a great preacher? A visit to his counselor? No. Simply worship. He meditated and reflected on God’s greatness.

And once he’s there, look what happens next: He becomes so excited about who God is, that he begins to realize that nothing else in life matters as much as his relationship with God. And in section 4, he begins to express his desire for that relationship.

Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.

Why does God allow problems to come into our lives? It is for this very reason—he wants to deepen our relationship with him. Because nothing in this life is more important than our relationship with the living God.

God yearns for a deeper closeness with us. He loves fellowship with us. He desires intimacy with us. And if we process our problems as David did, that will be the outcome.

David was a man who walked with God. He was a man after God’s own heart. He was a man who had many problems, and much pain in his life, but he let the problems and the pain lead him into God’s presence.

You’d almost think that by the time David gets to section 4, he’s forgotten all about his problem. But he hasn’t, because he comes back to it in section 5, and concludes the Psalm by talking about it. But he comes back to it a changed man. His orientation is different.

Psalm 86:14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life—men without regard for you. But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

The problem is still there—God in his sovereignty hasn’t seen fit to taken it away yet. But there’s no more despair in David’s heart. No more sense of panic. He’s clear and calm and level-headed now. He’s able to handle this with God’s grace and God’s strength. He has that peace that passes all understanding. Because he remembers who God is, and he knows that God is on his side.

He’s running alone, but not alone.

Once upon a time, there were two travellers. They were on the road together when a bear suddenly appeared before them. Before the bear caught sight of the travelers, one of the men made for a tree at the side of the road. He climbed up into the branches as fast as he could and hid there.

The other fellow was not so nimble as his companion, so he simply threw himself down on the ground and played dead. The bear came up and sniffed all around him, but he kept perfectly still and held his breath for he knew that a bear will not touch a dead body.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, the bear took him for dead and went away. When the coast was clear, the traveler in the tree climbed down. He went up to his friend, who was dusting himself off after his close encounter, and asked him what it was that the bear had whispered to him when he had put his mouth to his ear.

The other traveler replied “That bear told me never again to travel in bear country with a friend who deserts you at the first sign of danger.”

You can be sure that God will never desert you in the midst of a crisis. You may feel like you are all alone, but you are not. Just lift up your eyes and focus on God and you’ll see that He is with you every step of the way.