May Day
Today is May 1 and as I was spending some time with Father this morning I asked Him to speak to my heart about May Day. I know May Day is an ancient holiday of celebration of summer and fertility and work and that it involves flowers and streamers and Maypole dances. As I was thinking about it I saw a vision of the captain of a ship calling out "Mayday - Mayday - Mayday!!" on his radio and got completely off track. So I decided to ponder my psalm of the month instead.
I have been meditating on and memorizing psalms for a few years using a technique I call 'dialoging' where I read and pray and discuss each phrase in order to paint a picture of what the psalm is really saying to me. I write out the verses and the prayers and discussions to help me remember and to help put it all together in my mind. The writing and the conversation plant the words of the psalm securely in my heart and mind and by the time I finish the dialogue, I have memorized the entire thing. This morning as I was dialoging Psalm 20, I began to understand the distress call of the captain on the ship.
The "Mayday" of my vision is an internationally used distress signal in radio communications. It is always used three times in a row to prevent it being mistaken or misunderstood and to make sure that everyone who hears it knows it is an actual call and not a transmission about a Mayday call. If a captain gives a Mayday call his ship is in grave and imminent danger - the ship is probably on fire, has experienced an explosion, or is sinking. When the call goes out rescue teams are immediately dispatched to assist and other ships in the area will divert their course to help. The reason why Mayday is a distress call is that on May 1, 1927 a US aircraft carrier was in trouble and the operator receiving the call thought the ship had sunk so he kept repeating "Remember May Day". Mayday caught on as a distress signal and as a way to remember this US Army sergeant who did all he could to assist a sinking ship on May Day 80 years ago. Isn't it interesting that the English "Mayday" is the pronunciation of the French "m'aidez" which mean "help me"??? Must be a God-thing.
It is a very long story about how I have chosen certain psalms to be my psalms of the month but the interesting thing (another God-thing?) is that last night I realized I had jumped off my schedule somehow and that Psalm 20 is really my psalm for the month of May - not the psalm I thought was for May... Psalm 20 starts out like this: May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. Makes me cry in awe and wonder of a God who cares enough about our distress to point out that He is always on the other end of the transmission ready to answer and protect when we cry out "Mayday - Mayday - Mayday!" And that He would be so sweet as to put all of this together for me on the first day of the month of May. I journaled to Him this morning that I am certain He is tired of hearing 'God, help me!" all the time but that I am so thankful that He answers and protects me when I say it. And now I will never forget it!
Verse 2 says this: May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. When I give my Mayday call His answer always puts protection and help and support into action. I was thanking Him this morning that His answer involves angels who fly from His presence to surround and protect and help me. And I thanked Him that His answer in my distress is to send precious people to support me with encouragement and prayer and friendship and love. I saw a picture of this as the rescue boats and helicopters and nearby ships dispatched and diverted to come to my side.
What a perfect way to start a month — knowing and seeing God's personal attention and care for me in such a tangible way that completely mirrors the distress call of a ship's captain 80 years ago. He cared enough about my heart to know that my constant "God help me" prayers were important and that He wanted me to know just how important they really are to Him. So He spoke to me with a psalm that explains them and a vision that led to a thought process and painted a picture of just how important my cries are to His ears. And all of these things have written the first two verses of my psalm of the month on my heart and mind forever. Did you notice that in those first two verses of my psalm for the month of May - my Mayday psalm - that the word 'may' is used three times??? Beautiful, just beautiful.
Friend, are you in distress? Today your cry can be "Mayday - Mayday - Mayday!!!" and you can know without doubt that the Lord will answer you and protect you and dispatch angels and others to help you and support you. If your heart is saying "God help me" about your finances or your work or your health or your relationships or your parenting or your schoolwork, He is answering. He cares. You aren't going to sink. Look up and see the help on the horizon.
Remembering May Day-
Amy
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. Psalm 20:1-2
I have been meditating on and memorizing psalms for a few years using a technique I call 'dialoging' where I read and pray and discuss each phrase in order to paint a picture of what the psalm is really saying to me. I write out the verses and the prayers and discussions to help me remember and to help put it all together in my mind. The writing and the conversation plant the words of the psalm securely in my heart and mind and by the time I finish the dialogue, I have memorized the entire thing. This morning as I was dialoging Psalm 20, I began to understand the distress call of the captain on the ship.
The "Mayday" of my vision is an internationally used distress signal in radio communications. It is always used three times in a row to prevent it being mistaken or misunderstood and to make sure that everyone who hears it knows it is an actual call and not a transmission about a Mayday call. If a captain gives a Mayday call his ship is in grave and imminent danger - the ship is probably on fire, has experienced an explosion, or is sinking. When the call goes out rescue teams are immediately dispatched to assist and other ships in the area will divert their course to help. The reason why Mayday is a distress call is that on May 1, 1927 a US aircraft carrier was in trouble and the operator receiving the call thought the ship had sunk so he kept repeating "Remember May Day". Mayday caught on as a distress signal and as a way to remember this US Army sergeant who did all he could to assist a sinking ship on May Day 80 years ago. Isn't it interesting that the English "Mayday" is the pronunciation of the French "m'aidez" which mean "help me"??? Must be a God-thing.
It is a very long story about how I have chosen certain psalms to be my psalms of the month but the interesting thing (another God-thing?) is that last night I realized I had jumped off my schedule somehow and that Psalm 20 is really my psalm for the month of May - not the psalm I thought was for May... Psalm 20 starts out like this: May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. Makes me cry in awe and wonder of a God who cares enough about our distress to point out that He is always on the other end of the transmission ready to answer and protect when we cry out "Mayday - Mayday - Mayday!" And that He would be so sweet as to put all of this together for me on the first day of the month of May. I journaled to Him this morning that I am certain He is tired of hearing 'God, help me!" all the time but that I am so thankful that He answers and protects me when I say it. And now I will never forget it!
Verse 2 says this: May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. When I give my Mayday call His answer always puts protection and help and support into action. I was thanking Him this morning that His answer involves angels who fly from His presence to surround and protect and help me. And I thanked Him that His answer in my distress is to send precious people to support me with encouragement and prayer and friendship and love. I saw a picture of this as the rescue boats and helicopters and nearby ships dispatched and diverted to come to my side.
What a perfect way to start a month — knowing and seeing God's personal attention and care for me in such a tangible way that completely mirrors the distress call of a ship's captain 80 years ago. He cared enough about my heart to know that my constant "God help me" prayers were important and that He wanted me to know just how important they really are to Him. So He spoke to me with a psalm that explains them and a vision that led to a thought process and painted a picture of just how important my cries are to His ears. And all of these things have written the first two verses of my psalm of the month on my heart and mind forever. Did you notice that in those first two verses of my psalm for the month of May - my Mayday psalm - that the word 'may' is used three times??? Beautiful, just beautiful.
Friend, are you in distress? Today your cry can be "Mayday - Mayday - Mayday!!!" and you can know without doubt that the Lord will answer you and protect you and dispatch angels and others to help you and support you. If your heart is saying "God help me" about your finances or your work or your health or your relationships or your parenting or your schoolwork, He is answering. He cares. You aren't going to sink. Look up and see the help on the horizon.
Remembering May Day-
Amy
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. Psalm 20:1-2
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