“Help when most needed”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Thursday, April 11, 2024

Psalm 18:1-19 (Forward, p. 73) CEV p. 563 (c. 9:25 a.m.)

Harried, helpless, hemmed in on every side, that was how David felt. Certainly, the future king David was indeed in a rather impossible situation. After all, here was King Saul, with all the resources ‘of the state’, arrayed against him and relentlessly pursuing him. No wonder David used such evocative images such as flooding waters having almost swallowed him up or death wrapping its ropes around him, to describe his predicament.

But equally evocative are the images he calls forth to describe God: a mighty rock where he can be safe, a fortress, a protector, a shield, a powerful weapon (literally the horns of a bull), a place of shelter or a haven. When I think of flooding waters, the image that always comes to mind is that of the fictional character, Ulysses Everett McGill, played by George Clooney, in the movie, O Brother, Where Are Thou? A dam breaks, overwhelming and threatening to drown Ulysses and his two hapless companions, but in so doing, frees the three of them from their chains and sets them on a road to redemption.

In a sense, that kind of redemption is exactly what David envisions. He envisions the very powers of heaven intervening to help him, fiery coals, hailstones, and thunder clouds doing God’s bidding to save him from his myriad troubles.

So then, what about us? Do we ever feel overwhelmed? I suggest that we do, but in a different manner. Our troubles are almost certainly different from David’s, but they are no less real or taxing. Maybe they are the ‘things left undone’ or an upcoming, threatening deadline (like an upcoming assignment or tax time?). Or maybe work or family pressures, or a seemingly ‘impossible’ situation? Whatever they might be, it is so helpful and reassuring that God is there for us, that He understands, and that He can be of help. So, what we need to do which is what God does, namely go to God in prayer and asking. Far too often, we simply don’t do that. Today would be a good start.

Forward notes: “My God, my rock in whom I put my trust” (verse 2a).

“If you were to make a list of one- or two-word images you have for God, what would they include? If you were to tell a story about an incident in your life in which God has responded to prayer, what would you say?

“This psalm begins with a series of images of God that suggest great confidence: my strength, my shield, my crag, my haven, the horn of my salvation, my refuge. When in danger and distress, the psalmist calls upon God for help, a cry that reaches God’s ears. The response from God sets off a series of vivid images—the earth reeling and rocking, coals blazing, heavens parting, God riding on a cherubim and flying on the wind, the foundations of the earth laid bare—all culminating in a dramatic rescue.

“The constant in this psalm, whatever the words and images, is the great confidence expressed in God, the unbridled faith.”