Psalm 74: Spritual Doldrums

In reading Patrick O'Brien's The Thirteen-Gun Salute, the 19th century sailing ship Diane has just skirted the doldrums, an ocean region known for "light, shifting, and sometimes completely absent winds—[which] are notorious for trapping sailing ships for days (or even weeks) without enough wind to power their sails." When applied metaphorically to people, it refers to someone who is stagnant, or in a slump.

Sometimes our spiritual lives can be like this: stagnant, in a slump; partly because we cannot seem to get a glimpse of where God is or what he is doing.

We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be. - Psalm 74:9

There is no sign of God ('miraculous signs'), no word from God ('prophets) and no clue as to how long this period will last. Any one of these would be enough to propel us, spiritually. If God would do something that only he could do, we would be excited. If God would speak as only he can speak, we would be inspired. If we could only know when God would move, we would be patient.

Why doesn't God act?  How can a good God resist acting? The author asks the same thing we do.

Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!  - Psalm 74:11

But there is no explaining, much to our frustration. We want to call God into the witness stand of the court and ask him a few questions; force him to give an account of himself. But he will not be cross-examined.

I would like to see the big-time, God-sized, over-the-top miracle in my time. I wish to know God's voice the way the prophets knew it, even just once. Just to delight in it; to replay it; to relish it. How glorious it would be.

Habakkuk gives voice to my own longing:

LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.  Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. - Habakkuk 3:2

I am tired of uncertainty. I am weary of the valley. But on the other side of the doldrums is the spirit of God, and when I am there, I will breathe deeply and rejoice.