A Final Look at the word "OVERWHELMED"

I trust you are enjoying our little word study on the Whelm “triplets”- whelm, overwhelm, and underwhelm! I trust it is not underwhelming, and that you are not overwhelmed by the stresses of life!

I thought I would just add a couple of additional and interesting tidbits from the Book of Psalms before returning to John 11. The basic theme of these additional usages is basically the same, so we won’t necessarily go into an in depth study of those particular passages. (For more information on the use of overwhelm in Psalm 61, please view my previous blog from March 28.) However, there are some things that stand out that I would like to share with you.

Remember, our John 11 study took a detour when I had some wild thoughts about the word families revolving around the base whelm. After some research, we found we could use overwhelm to describe Martha and Mary while they were facing some serious circumstances and trials. They were overwhelmed! They wondered if Christ truly cared.  I trust after reading the previous segments on that topic, you have come to the conclusion that YES, He truly does care.   

Psalm 77:3 uses the word ‘overwhelm’ in the same general way as it was used in chapter 61. Asaph’s spirit was overwhelmed. He even admitted that the more he complained, the more overwhelmed he became. He even asked, as Martha did, “Lord, don’t you care?” in verse 7-9. Then, he answered his own question in verses 10-15 and stated, “But I will remember…” Now, I would like you to take note of verse 16~~so cool!  “The waters saw YOU, O God: The waters saw You, they were afraid.” Isn’t that a neat throw back to the word overwhelm?  Remember, the definition? 

OVERWHELM:  To submerge or engulf-usually with disastrous results.

Asaph continued this same thought when, after he remembered all  that the Lord had done, he metaphorically stated that the very “waters” that overwhelmed him actually feared God! When the pieces are fit together, we can see that feeling overwhelmed is basically a waste of time.  

As we continue to look at the word ‘overwhelm’ in the book of Psalms, let’s also check out Psalm 124. Notice how it begins. 

"If it had not been the LORD who was on our side…" (notice that David repeats that phrase twice in the first two verses). 

Now, skip down to verses  4-5, 

"…THEN the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul…."

David then concluded this Psalm (Verse 8) with the following:

"Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth."

David used the same concept in Psalm 143. He is overwhelmed. He cried unto the Lord in prayer. He remembered God’s promises and faithfulness. He praised the Lord! 

What a pattern for each of us to follow when our circumstances, responsibilities, and burdens seem to overwhelm us!

Remember, “The waters saw You, O God: The waters saw You, they were afraid.”

Follow David’s pattern! The Lord DOES care!

Debbie