God to the Rescue

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.  Psalm 57:1

This is the first line of a Psalm David wrote as he was running from King Saul in an effort to keep himself alive. I thought of this verse this weekend as I was listening to a speaker at a conference talk about a harrowing ordeal while he was in Latvia. He was kidnapped by some “Mafia” that he had heard about. He had been told that you never, ever get out alive if these people take you.

He was blindfolded, handcuffed and could feel a knife being run across his back. His testimony was that as long as he kept his mind on the Lord he was peaceful and not afraid. When his thoughts would go to his wife or his children he would feel the tingle from the cut off blood supply in his arms and hands and he could feel that knife in his back.

Because of the peace that he felt when his mind was on Christ he said that he would never want to change that experience. He did not go into the details of how he survived and got back home but he did reiterate the peace he knew in those terrifying circumstances!

God was so good to give me such a picture of the peace that He offers. It is a peace that I have known many times but tend to lose sight of now and then. The past few months things haven’t exactly gone the way I thought that they should or the way that I would think God thought they should. This speaker this weekend reminded me to remember that God is always at work – regardless of what the circumstances look like.

When I start to think of the wrongs of other people, when I am asked about things that are hard to talk about, or even feel physical pain that I don’t know the origin of – I can KNOW that my God and the Lord of my life is at work. He has a plan that I can’t see. He has a purpose that will work out better for me than any scheme I could devise.

In verses 2 and 3 of Psalm 57 David says, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!”

I absolutely see the steadfast love of the Lord through His Word and through His human instruments who preach and teach His word and remind us of the truths that bring us the peace and joy that He promises.

I am in no way in fear for my life as this man was in the hands of the Mafia. But not all of my circumstances are so pretty right now. What I really heard and perhaps gained an even better understanding of this weekend is that my focus has to be on my Lord and not my circumstances.

This kind of focus requires an act of my will. I can’t just think that because I am a Christian my thoughts will automatically go to the Lord in my distress. I am full of the desires of the flesh – that desire for me is largely for my own comfort. God is far more interested in my character than my comfort.

I will tend to turn to my pain and my disappointment in other people. I may cry out to God but it will be more of a “Get me out of this, please Lord” than David’s heartfelt praise in verses 57:5 and 6, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves.” Selah.

David so trusted God in his terrifying circumstances that he, too, was able to focus on Him and take refuge in the Truths of who God is.

His closing remarks as he was writing about his ordeal are these from verses 9-11, “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!”

The speaker I heard and in this Psalm grown men are thanking and praising God for the most awful circumstances because of how He showed His steadfast love for them while they were in the midst of them. They saw His steadfast love because their minds were on HIM. I want that and I am determined that I will take my eyes off of men and focus them on Christ.

This will take an act of my will because the truth is that the “man” I have had my focus on in my circumstances is me. Like David, I praise God as He rescues me – once again – from my sinful thoughts and deeds!