Meeting God in life’s whirlwind
What if we get in the way of those bent on living their own—as opposed to God’s—version of the good life? Sometimes they want it so bad they’ll stop at nothing to get it. Thankfully, God is our defender.
A David psalm, from when he fled from his son Absalom.
1 So many enemies, Yahveh—
mobs massing against me!
2 “Even God won’t deliver him this time!”
they guffaw and gush.
3 But you shield me from every blow
honor me with your presence
and lift up my downcast head.
4 I cried to Yahveh
and from his holy mountain he answered me.
5 I stretched out and slept
and woke up refreshed.
6 For why should I fear these enemy hordes
closing in on every side
with him beside me?
7 Move out, Yahveh!
Deliver me, God!
Yes, you’ll hit my enemies’ iron jaw
smashing their bared fangs.
8 Because deliverance belongs to you, Yahveh
and your blessing to your people.
Like Psalm 2, this psalm responds to an attempted coup—only David’s own egomaniacal son leads the power grab. David’s family life is a veritable train wreck. Absalom’s revolt was the culmination of a whole series of failures on David’s part—failures to do right. David’s over-indulgent love for his sons kept him from faithfully holding them to account. When Absalom returned from self-exile, David left him in limbo, feeding the overblown sense of injustice that prompted his rebellion.[1]
Having fled Jerusalem, God’s royal residence, David remains conflicted, unwilling to respond as he should, yet grieved that his beloved son is seeking his head and dividing the nation. While David has been a fugitive before, now he’s the older guy in the chase, and his foes are convinced he’s done for.
So David cries out to God, whose care for him is already evident. And God graciously meets him where he is, giving him rest in the knowledge that nothing can separate him from God’s love. So this is what finding refuge in God looks like. David asks God to defend him against his foes and holds onto two truths that anchor him in the storm: nothing on earth can overthrow God’s sovereign rule and nothing can rob God’s people of his blessing.
No less a work in progress than David, I desperately need your grace, Lord. Deliver me from evil—my own as well as others’. You mercifully shield me, honor me and lift up my head. However hopeless things seem, I put my trust in you. “All other ground is sinking sand.” Amen.
During your free moments today, meditate on these words:
You shield me from every blow
honor me with your presence
and lift up my downcast head.
[1] The story is told in 2 Samuel 13-18.
