Words from WW Blog

“Unless the Lord had given me help,
    I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
    your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
 When anxiety was great within me,
    your consolation brought me joy. (Psalm 94:14-17)

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 consisted of seven debates in different parts of Illinois. Even though Stephen Douglas won the senatorial election that fall, Abraham Lincoln made a name for himself and the call to abolish slavery. In those days, the Illinois legislature made the final decision on who would be the elected official. Even though Lincoln had won the popular vote count, the legislature had more Democratic representatives than Republicans. Thus, Douglas was chosen.

Abraham Lincoln’s comment after the defeat was, “It’s a slip, not a fall.” Two years later, he won the presidential election.

There’s a difference between slipping and falling. The first is a momentary unsteadiness as a result of a misstep or misjudgment. A fall, however, is a plunge to the depths, an experience that often leads to brokenness. Sometimes, we mistake slips for falls. Sometimes our minds tell us that we are not valuable enough in God’s eyes to recover.

And then there’s the words from the psalmist: “My foot is slipping…” It hints at an imminent fall that is coming, a failure of obedience, a stumble toward stupidity. For me, the slip comes in a judgemental attitude that, in insidious ways, devalues someone, a group, an idea, or a way of life. Instead of seeing someone through the eyes of Jesus, I slip into a frown of disdain and disgust.

It’s as I’m slipping that the hand of Jesus reaches down to me and keeps me from falling.

“… Your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.”

The love of God is a rescuing hand and a brace of support. The Message paraphrase of the Psalm 94 verses resonates with me:

“The minute I said, “I’m slipping, I’m falling,”
    your love, God, took hold and held me fast.
When I was upset and beside myself,
    you calmed me down and cheered me up.“

We have a God who is intimately concerned with our slips and falls.

Back to Abraham Lincoln. On election night, after finding out that he had been elected as the sixteenth president, he left the telegraph office at 2 A.M. and made his way home. The last words that he was heard to say as he left were, “God help me! God help me!”

He was in desperate need of the embrace of God, the need for the Almighty to hold him up, because nine days later, South Carolina seceded from the Union.

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