On many mornings I enjoy having a somewhat extended (for me, anyway) time of reading the Bible. A cup of coffee, solitude, and the Scripture is a great way to start my day. But, sometimes life intrudes, cutting short or eliminating this favorite habit. Whether it’s my own lack of discipline to get up early or some emergency requiring my attention, sometimes there isn’t opportunity for that quiet time of reading, prayer, and meditation.
Or maybe in the course of the day I am suddenly faced with a serious crisis needing immediate action in which there is no time to prepare, only to react. Whether it’s the former situation or the latter, sometimes all I’m able to do is send up a flare: “God, help!”
The warrior-king David had his share of times like that, too. I know he did because he wrote about them in Psalm 70. In five short verses, his prayer begins and ends with a plea: Lord, please hurry and help me! David provides reasons why he needs a 911 immediate response from God: there are enemies trying to kill him, people trying to hurt him, and some who are rejoicing in his troubles, seeking to humiliate him.
In David’s snapshot prayer, he asks that his tormentors be turned back and dishonored, and he prays that those who seek God would rejoice with gladness, and that God would be glorified by his people. His emergency request ends with a humble confession that he needs God’s deliverance, and he needs it now.
Commentators note that Psalm 40:13-17 constitutes an almost word-for-word repetition of Psalm 70, and that Psalm 71 is also very closely related to Psalm 70. Both Psalm 40 and Psalm 71 are longer than the brief cry for help that composes the short, emergency telegram of Psalm 70.
It’s a comforting lesson. In those crisis situations, when all there’s time for is “God, help!”, it’s enough: He hears and answers.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
The Outlander Chronicles Series
Set in the future, but not futuristic, the year is 2120 when the Outlander Chronicles series begins. The global population is sliding south of eight million souls. Global warfare eighty years earlier had involved biological weapons; a near mass-extinction of the human population was the result. The diminishing, scattered population is inadequate to sustain any manufacturing, mining, electrical generation, refining, communications, or transportation. There are no governments, national or local. Separated by nearly a century from the world that was, the survivors’ knowledge of the old technologies has virtually disappeared.
Here and there, tiny knots of population—the Townies—have coalesced, people banding together for safety. Opposing them are small gangs of violent raiders (Anarchs and Slavers), who make surviving in an already-intolerable environment almost impossible.
Surrounded by the rusting ruins of the former world, a young man (Jacen Chester) decides there must be more to life than avoiding death. He determines to challenge the status quo and to found a community committed to the rediscovery and revival of art, education, and technology. Jacen encounters a mysterious stranger (Hakim Abdul al Malik), an older man who ultimately becomes Jacen’s mentor, instructor, and protector. The two join forces to pursue Jacen’s dream. But they must first survive the predations of the violent groups, and their own deep disagreements with one another.
Surrounded by the rusting ruins of the former world, a young man (Jacen Chester) decides there must be more to life than avoiding death. He determines to challenge the status quo and to found a community committed to the rediscovery and revival of art, education, and technology. Jacen encounters a mysterious stranger (Hakim Abdul al Malik), an older man who ultimately becomes Jacen’s mentor, instructor, and protector. The two join forces to pursue Jacen’s dream. But they must first survive the predations of the violent groups, and their own deep disagreements with one another.
The Outlander Chronicles series is a coming-of-age adventure in which Jacen’s most deeply held views on life, religion, and morality are severely challenged by the raw, bleeding edge of life and death. As his community grows and experiences tragedy and disastrous setbacks, Jacen’s developing leadership skills are put to the test.
Book #1, Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix, chronicles the beginning of the relationship between Jacen and Hakim, and the growing community they establish.
Book #2, Outlander Chronicles: Pegasus, traces the community and the many challenges and heartaches they face as they travel toward their chosen destination near the ruins of Denver, Colorado.
Book #3, Outlander Chronicles: Icarus, records Jacen’s and his community’s response to a horrific disaster, as well as the dangers of employing technology not fully understood.
The Outlander Chronicles series is available on Amazon in both Kindle and print formats, as well as from your local independent bookseller (through the Ingram catalog). Signed copies are available from the Doorway Press store. See all the C. H. Cobb novels at my website.
Book #1, Outlander Chronicles: Phoenix, chronicles the beginning of the relationship between Jacen and Hakim, and the growing community they establish.
Book #2, Outlander Chronicles: Pegasus, traces the community and the many challenges and heartaches they face as they travel toward their chosen destination near the ruins of Denver, Colorado.
Book #3, Outlander Chronicles: Icarus, records Jacen’s and his community’s response to a horrific disaster, as well as the dangers of employing technology not fully understood.
The Outlander Chronicles series is available on Amazon in both Kindle and print formats, as well as from your local independent bookseller (through the Ingram catalog). Signed copies are available from the Doorway Press store. See all the C. H. Cobb novels at my website.
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