Wake up calls
Pay attention to them
It is good for me that I was humbled, so that I might learn your statutes. (Psalm 119.71)
Psalm 119 is long. I mean LONG. At 176 verses it’s the longest chapter in the Bible, and when it shows up in my reading plan for the day I settle in and focus.
It’s not easy to grasp the psalm’s flow, because what’s obvious in Hebrew isn’t obvious in English—the 176 verses are divided into 22 blocks of 8 verses, each block containing a collection of verses beginning with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. For example, notice below that in the section 119.65-72, each line begins with the 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter tet. It’s the character to the left of the verse numbers, as Hebrew is read from right to left.
Though there is deeper structure to the psalm, the surface structure is alphabetic. Aleph (8 verses), bet (8 verses), gimal (8 verses), dalet (8 verses), he (8 verses), etc. You get the picture.
The deeper structure often involves recurring vocabulary. For instance, the verb “to be humbled” occurs 3 times in just a few verses. And in each case it addresses something we might describe as a wake up call.
Psalm 119.67: “Before I was humbled I went astray, but now I keep your word.”
Psalm 119.71: “It is good for me that I was humbled, so that I might learn your statutes.”
Psalm 119.75: “I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.”
As a thinking person, I’d like to believe that we can make substantial changes without hitting rock bottom. But make no mistake, when we we find ourselves genuinely humbled, most of us are willing to make some serious adjustments. Sadly and sometimes tragically, that willingness is often temporary—things don’t seem as pressing when the situation gets less desperate and the crisis has momentarily passed.
But I think these texts speak a truth we’d do well to hear: We get wake up calls in life, and God uses these as means of grace for us.
A diabetic diagnosis might be a wake up call to pay more attention to nutrition, diet, and exercise.
The stark discovery of a marriage in tatters might be a wake up call to direct significant time, energy, and financial resources to saving it.
Substance abuse that’s interfering with work and everyday activities might be a wake up call to change habits and make new acquaintances.
A brush with death might be a wake up call to get serious about knowing the Lord in whose presence the faithful will spend eternity.
The list could go on.
God gives us wake up calls because he’s good, and he loves us enough to warn us when we’re on dangerous paths.
What wake up calls is the Lord giving you? Pay attention, learn, and respond appropriately.