“Incredible, simply incredible”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Thursday, October 19, 2023

Psalm 18:1-19 (Forward, p. 82) CEV p. 563

David, the future King David, certainly has felt himself to be ‘between a rock and a hard place’. He has been ‘on the lam’, a fugitive from the relentless pursuit of King Saul, who is determined to hunt him down and kill him. And, what has made it worse are two other factors. One is that Saul has all the resources of the state, of Israel, behind him. And, in some cases, as with the city of Keilah—which David had actually rescued from the Philistines—sometimes some locals as well (see 1 Samuel 23:13). The other factor that made it difficult was that Palestine is a very small country, only 90 miles by 30 miles at its largest expression. This meant that there was not a lot of room to hide.

Even so, David managed to escape Saul’s repeated attempts and attributed this to none other than the Lord’s doing. In today’s psalm David is quite eloquent both in terms of his own predicament and in terms of God’s intervention. He uses quite a bit of hyperbole, intentional exaggeration, which makes his point all the more vivid and memorable. In terms of his own predicament:

“Death had wrapped its ropes around me, and I was almost swallowed by its flooding waters” (verse 4);

“Ropes from the world of the dead had coiled around me, and death had set a trap in my path” (verse 5).

We have certainly seen video footage of rampaging flood waters which can overtake unwary victims in a matter of moments and sweep them, helpless and unable to do anything about it, away to who-knows-where. And, as for ropes, I think that probably all of us have had those times where we were confined, pinned down, and totally unable to free ourselves. I can certainly remember all too well once such time. I was ‘stuck’ in a mountain tunnel and unable—for what was probably only a few minutes, though it felt like an eternity—to move in either direction or free myself. It was a terribly anxious, claustrophobic, panicky moment in time.

David then moves on with some rather grand and grandiose expositions of just how God had helped him:

“I was in terrible trouble when I called out to you, but from your temple you heard me and answered by prayer. The earth shook and shivered and the mountains trembled down to their roots. You were angry and breathed out smoke. Scorching heat and fiery flames spewed from your mouth” (verses 6-8);

“You opened the heavens like curtains, and you came down with storm clouds under your feet. You rode on the backs of flying creatures and swooped down with the wind as wings. Darkness was your robe; thunderclouds filled the sky, hiding you from sight. Hailstones and fiery coals lit up the sky in front of you” (verses 9-12);

“You reached down from heaven, and you lifted me from deep in the ocean. You rescued me from enemies, who were hateful and too powerful for me. On the day disaster struck, they came and attacked, but you defended me. When I was fenced in, you freed and rescued me because you love me” (verses 16-19).

David has repeatedly been in what he considered to be an absolutely hopeless and untenable situation. But, rather than despair, he repeatedly goes to the Lord for help. God was his mighty rock, his fortress and protector, and he was confident that he could always rely upon Him and trust Him to help in times of trouble and distress. And, so can it be for each of us. Jesus, Emmanuel (God with us), is ever present, ever available, and ever ready to help us—if only we will turn to Him.

Forward notes: “You, O Lord, are my lamp; my God, you make my darkness bright” (verse 28).

“If you were to look at the pictures on my phone, you would find images of food, flowers, and quotes. But the most common images are photos of the sky. I love looking at the sky and interesting cloud formations. I especially like the morning skies when there is a mi of sun and clouds, the first light of day, and sunset skies, with all the bright colours as the sun goes down on another day. I can still vividly remember a stunning Arizona sunset in the spring of 2016.

“These moments are an example of a ‘thin place’ where God’s presence comes closer and more tangible to me on earth.

“I like documenting sunrises and sunsets because they symbolize a new day of possibility and the opportunity to reflect on all that has been accomplished. It is a chance to pause, admire, and thank God for the beauty of creation.”

Moving Forward: “What are the ‘thin places’ in your life? Share them with us at #ForwardDaybyDay.”