Escape!

The article for this week comes from the lectionary reading of Psalm 124.

I find in the psalm, and in all of the readings for this week, a theme of escaping from calamity. "If it had not been for the Lord, when our enemies attacked us, they would have swallowed us alive." These are lines from David, on the run from his enemies, perhaps the forces of King Saul. David had been anointed as the new king by the prophet Samuel some years ago, but Saul is still in power at this point and David is out of disfavor and on the run with only a small army of followers. It would not be long before David would ally himself with the old enemy, the Philistines, and conquer Saul, and even see the death of his close friend, Jonathan. For now, he is running and staying out of Saul's way.

The Lord is the protector of the weak and powerless. David is far from weak, but he is not strong enough to defeat Saul, even though Saul has fallen from the Lord's favor. David takes a moment from running and weariness of battle to sense that the Lord is on his side, and He alone will protect David. If it had not been for the Lord, a "flood of water would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us." There is a recollection of passing through the waters of the Red Sea by both the Israelites and the Egyptians. Fortunately, God was on the side of the Israelites, and He caused the waters to close upon the Egyptians, so that they were all swept away and drowned in the sea. David declares, "We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped."

In the last part of the psalm come familiar words: "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." This is seen elsewhere, as in, "From whence does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Genesis also rings in my ears as I read this line from David. "Bayersheth bara Elohim eth haaretz wueth hashamayim. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

In the beginning, God. That pretty well says it all. God alone is in charge. Only God can save us, either out of our problems or from sin itself. David, who would later commit great sin by taking Bathsheba for his lover and later his wife, would come to know a greater walk with God. This is the David who was in power, who was king over an empire, and yet came to know that the Lord alone is ruler in Israel and over all the world. The Lord is our keeper, and our shade from the burning sun, the one who restores us from sin to a loving relationship with himself. The immature David in this psalm is in trouble and is being saved by the Lord; the mature David is one of power and riches, yet beset on every hand by problems in his own household because of his sin. It is the mature David who is the more interesting, because he has fallen from grace, and is yet restored, and so comes to know the mercy of the Lord from a quite different perspective. He is able to escape the hellfire that yawned before him because he humbled himself before the Lord.

So, if you are in trouble, turn around and head for the hills! Run for it! Just be sure that you escape into the arms of Jesus!

Blessings,

Terry