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Psalm 16:1-11 · Psalm 16
In the Lions' Den (Dealing with Stress)
Psalm 16:1-11
Sermon
by Maxie Dunnam
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I don’t know when it began, but the symbol has been a pervasive one for a long time “The Lions’ Den”. It is a symbol for the conflicts in life. “They threw him to the lions,” we say of those who cruelly thrust an innocent, unsuspecting person into the most difficult of all situations.

“The Lions’ Den” is the place where our testing comes, where we struggle to keep our integrity; where we wage the fiery battle with ourselves as well as with others and/or forces outside ourselves. It may be the arena where we fight for our very life.

It is an expansive image, but I want to use it in a forward way for perhaps the most common problem we face today - the problem of stress. I doubt if any problem is getting more attention these days. Psychologists and psychiatrists are saying it’s one of our biggest problems. The business world is giving it priority attention because stress is playing havoc with performance and productivity. Medical doctors are telling us that much of the illness they are treating is related to stress. In many instances, stress is the primary cause of the problem. But if not the cause, in almost all instances, the relief of stress must be art of the cure. We can’t be healthy unless we learn to live with stress.

So that’s the symbol we want to use today as we continue our series of sermons on coping as Christians.

I doubt if the image goes back to the Old Testament prophet, Daniel, but it might. You remember that story. King Darius loved and respected Daniel, had made him one of three presidents who presided over the affairs of the kingdom, and David had become the most distinguished of all. Jealousy set in, and some of the lesser officials in King Darius’ government tricked the king into setting up rules for worship - rules that required people to worship no other but the king for at least 30 days. Daniel was caught in the trap; and, much to the grief and almost despair of King Darius, he was thrown into the lions’ den; and you know the story. All night long the king fasted and prayed. When he went to the den the next morning, the lions mouths had been stopped, and not the least bit of harm had been done to Daniel.

That’s the picture living in the lions’ den.

I deliberately chose this 16th Psalm as our Scripture lesson because the images of stress are implicit there. Look at verses 9 and 10:

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also dwells secure.
For thou dost not give me up to Sheol or let thy godly one see the Pit.”

One of the unique things about stress is the intimate connection between body and soul. Stress is brought about by conflict between our inner and our outer life, by the fatigue of our body that no longer responds to the leadings of our heart. Stress is also brought about by guilt that brings fear, the fear that the psalmist is talking about when he affirms that God will not give us up to hell or let the godly one see the Pit. Those are images of death and hell and punishment. All having to do with stress. We’ll come back to our scripture later. For now, let’s line out some suggestions for living in the lions’ den – some directions that may enable us to survive stress, even to use it for our benefit.

I want to pursue four lines of thought which will at least plot a path for us to follow as we move in and out of the lions’ den. These suggestions all begin with an “A”; so maybe you c n remember them if you’re not taking notes.

1. Acknowledge stress;
2. Admit limitations;
3. Assert your will; and
4. Allow God to be God.

Let’s pursue this path of suggestions.

A part of the acknowledging process is to keep in mind the common causes of stress. Let’s look at some of those. First of all, change or crises. Some years ago, T.H. Holmes and K.H. Rahe developed what they called the social readjustment rating scale.

The study rated the impact of various upsetting life experiences in creating crippling stress and pressure. These various upsetting experiences were given a stress rating because it was discovered that the greater risk of illness came from the greater number of units of stress a person was experiencing.

1. The death of a spouse – this carries with it 100 stress points.
2. Divorce – 73
3. Marital separation – 65
4. Death of a close family member – 63
5. Detention in jail or other institutions – 63
6. Major personal surgery or illness – 63
7. Marriage – 50
8. Loss of a job – 47
9. Retirement from work – 45

And on it went listing major changes in health or behavior of a family member; major changes in our financial state; death of a close friend; critical changes in working hours or conditions – changes in residence or changes in schools.

All of these things play a significant role in bringing about the kind of stress upon us that weakens our resistance and sets the stage for us to become a victim of some major physical or emotional illness.

Then there is the pressure that comes from having our wants denied. Really that’s the cause of anger; when we want something or expect something and don’t get it, we become angry and anger is one of the greatest sources, or maybe I should say, one of the greatest expressions of stress.

Another cause of stress is denying our feelings. Many of us live that way, and so we become walking time-bombs. We have all of these deep feelings that we keep repressing. Some those feelings are positive; some are negative, but it doesn’t matter whether they are positive or negative, the fact that we deny our feelings by repressing them creates stress that we’re often unconscious of but cannot evade in terms of the devastation upon our life.

So, is the beginning, acknowledge stress, be familiar with its causes, and try to stay in touch with that which is bringing stress to your life.

II. ADMIT LIMITATIONS

Now a second suggestion. Admit limitations. This has to do with everything I’m talking about in terms of causes of stress. Stress is brought about by conflict between our inner and outer life, by the fatigue of our body that can no longer respond to the leading of our heart. It also has to do with guilt that comes when we have not done what we felt we should have don, or the fear that we’ll not be able to perform in the way that is expected of us, or according to the expectations we place on ourselves.

We can nip stress in the bud if we will assess our own situation and admit limitation in the very beginning. We are not super men and women.

One illustration will make the point. Early last Spring, I was up to my neck. I was about to go under. Stress was mounting. As I looked ahead on my calendar, what faced me was overwhelming. At least a year earlier, I had accepted some invitations that were challenging and exciting. I was to provide leadership for clergy in some spiritual renewal events at Conference—wide levels, and leadership in a National Clergy Laity Event. I’m concerned about our Methodist church across this land, and I feel that I must give some time and energy in seeking the renewal of our church.

I had not accepted too many invitations. I was not to be away from this congregation very much, and we were moving into the less busy summer season. So it wasn’t that the schedule was too heavy when I put those invitations on my calendar. But other things began to pile up - things that I’d not reckoned with before - not all of them negative. The celebration of a 50th wedding anniversary of Jerry’s parents, and a 60th anniversary of my parents were all ahead. Some other personal and family concerns that demanded energy - all looked like too much for any human being to deal with.

I think I had never done this before in a deliberate fashion.

I looked ahead as far as I could and saw those things that I could cancel without it limiting the accomplishment of the task too much; and I cancelled my involvement in two major events.

Some of you can imagine the load that was lifted. It was if though a dark cloud had parted and the sun began to shine. It was a very simple thing, but it began at a very profound decision making point - a decision that was very difficult for me to make. I’m a perfectionist. I’m a workaholic. I have this almost neurotic need not to let people down. So it was not an easy thing for me to dial those numbers and cancel those engagements it was a very difficult thing. But when I did it, it was as though a heavy cloak had been taken off on a hot day and fresh air began to cool my skin. It as though I was getting an internal massage that took he tension out of my inner being, very much like a massage takes the tension out of our physical bodies.

It was then that I internalized and made my own, what I had intellectually claimed before, and that is this; EVERY NEED IS NOT A CALL. Now listen to that: EVERY NEED IS NOT A CALL. There’s no possible way that we can serve every need. And every need that confronts us is not a call of God upon our life. So, to deal with stress we admit limitations.

III. ASSERT YOUR WILL

Now closely akin to admitting limitations is the third direction I would offer for living in the lion’s den. Assert your will.

By asserting your will, I’m not talking about competition or ego battles, nor am I talking to the neurotic need of too many of us to have our own way. I’m talking about the kind of stance which equates self-will with God’s will, that arrogant positions which takes the line from the umpire, its-not-a-strike-or-a-ball-until-I-call-it. I’m talking about “taking control of our lives.” So much of the stress we experience comes from our inability or unwillingness to take control, to make decisions, to be willing to act and to take responsibility for our actions.

One illustration will make the point. A husband and wife were torn to pieces by family-wide pressures. The mother of the wife was a matriarchal type that controlled the whole family. Her tool was love. Does that surprise you? She gave herself unselfishly, so it seemed, for every member of the family. She was always giving. But the giving always had a hook, usually very subtle, and for years unrecognized. The truth is her love was perverted – it was a selfish love. She did for others in order to bind them to her, to always have them around. Really in her loving, she controlled the whole family network. When John, the husband, received an invitation to move to another city in what was a very exciting professional advancement, his mother-in-law literally went to pieces. The family gave in to her selfish control. After months of turmoil and anguish, John refused the invitation. I doubt if he has had a happy day since. He hates his mother-in-law; he resents his wife for not supporting him more; he is bored with his work; his hatred, resentment, and boredom make him an inadequate father at best. I believe John is a walking time-bomb, a candidate for a heart attack, and already becoming dependent on alcohol.

It would be different if John had asserted his will and taken control of his life.

Remember what we said about the image in the lion’s den. We are in the lion’s den when we feel we’re dealing with something beyond our control, when we deny feelings or have our own wants denied.

Being in control is often a matter of our own will. A major cause of stress is unresolved guilt, especially the guilt that from broken relationships. We can do something about that. We can take control by initiating the forgiving relationship

We can also lessen the stress that comes from pressure to perform, whether in our jobs or in our interpersonal relationships, if we will take control - run our job rather than allowing it to run us, admit our limitations and be willing to become vulnerable. It’s amazing how others will identify with and support us when they realize that we’re not giants, and we don’t see ourselves our giants.

IV. ALLOW GOD TO BE GOD

That brings us to the fourth and final direction that I would offer to assist us in living in he lion’s den: Allow God to be God. I said earlier that we would return to the psalmist. Listen to him:

(verse 5) “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; He holdest my lot.

(verse 7): “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.”

(verse 8): “I keep the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”

We need to allow God to be God. Look at verse 4 – “those who choose another God multiply their sorrow.” When we allow stress to control – we are eventually choosing another God. We are limited. We can’t go it on our own; our resources are never adequate. But when we link ourselves to God, when the Lord becomes our portion, our cup, when we allow Him to hold our lot, then He will give us his counsel, and in the nights of our lions’ den, He will instruct us.

Listen to this story about a young paraplegic girl whose father is a columnist with the Los Angeles Times, and wrote this story in the newspaper.

There is no class for parents to take to prepare them for an accident like the one that put Kirby in her wheelchair. There is nothing that you can do to steel your self for that telephone call: “Come to the emergency room immediately - there’s been a serious accident involving a member of your family. No, I’m sorry, we don’t have any word on their condition at this point.”

Kirby - sixteen, tall, pretty, and two weeks out of modeling school, was the passenger on a motorcycle, when the cycle collided with a car. She was thrown into a brick wall and her back was broken in the lower lumbar vertebra. She had no feeling below her waist.

Although she can’t remember anything now, Kirby never lost consciousness at the scene of the accident or even during the seven days in intensive care.

She does have wide-eyed singing memories of 105 days in the hospital and several long surgeries, followed by painful therapy.

Kirby is working hard at learning how to walk again, and her doctors tell her that she may be able to do that, with the help of a walker. She has taught herself to stand, wobbling – and to crawl. As she lifts herself from the floor to her wheelchair, her smile is bright enough so that her shrinking legs go unnoticed almost.

God was supposed to see the note Kirby wrote, not her mother and I. Kirby had carefully pasted the brief message on the flyleaf of her Bible. One of her sisters - snooping as teenaged sisters sometimes do - found the note. Her sister brought us the piece of bright-yellow stationery, saying that she thought it was important that we read the neatly printed thoughts. As we stood there reading, Kirby’s laughter came floating through the room from somewhere else in the front of the house. When Kirby laughs, she laughs loudly and she means it. The note read: “Dear God - give me faith to be strong and to heal my body. Please make me a better person to be around. Dear Lord Jesus, please hold me. Love Kirby”

Her father added this word, “I know the Lord is holding Kirby, and she knows it, too.” (quoted by Clarence J. Forsberg in “How to Keep Life From Being So Daily”, September 22, 1985)

Kirby teaches us about allowing God to be God.

We can live in the lions’ den if, with the psalmist we can say. “I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”

ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by Maxie Dunnam