Yesterday I wrote about how we can cry out to the Lord in our times of trouble. Today I took a look through Psalm 18, a beautiful picture of what that looks like. David wrote this after the Lord "delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul."
Starting in verse 4 notice where David was:
4 The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help. Psalm 18 (NIV)
This is David's point of view. Ever feel like that? Like everything is crashing down around you? Let's see what happens next.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears. Psalm 18:6 (NIV)
Sometimes we picture God as this king on a throne, ordering angels to come down to earth to take care of things for him. But that is not the picture of God that David paints with his words here. God is coming, let's see what that looks like
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils. Psalm 18 (NIV)
Take a moment and read that again. That is your Father in Heaven, coming down to do business with your enemies on your behalf.
I remember once as a child, getting picked on by a much older and bigger kid. He towered over me. He pushed me around in front of everyone. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know my older brother was picking me up that day. When my brother drove up and saw him, he was furious. He chased him into the church where the kid hid behind a group of adults. My brother ignored the adults and told the kid if he ever laid a hand on me again he would kill him.
Back in the car I was pretty upset, I remember that. My brother took me out for ice cream, kept making jokes until I smiled again.
My brother had all that fury at my enemy, but then tenderness toward me. We see that here with the Lord as well.
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18 (NIV)
I pray for all of us today to have a deeper understanding of our God. To strip away preconceived ideas of who He is, and to see that wild love He has for each of us.
He is there for you today, call on His name.
