“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. 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. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness! My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts – the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. 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. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! 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!” (v1-11)
I couldn’t help but quote the entire Psalm – the entire thing was so impactful I couldn’t edit any parts out. I find the Big Mac structure especially powerful – praise, lament, praise, lament, praise (instead of bun, burger, bun, burger, bun [no, McDonald’s did not sponsor this devotional, nor do I advocate on their behalf]). This juxtaposition structure is not only a fantastic literary device for a song, it helps us to understand how our life with God can look while we are still in this world, and how we can rely on Him for our strength.
Even the metaphors David uses for lions, traps and teeth are powerful imagery of the dangers of this world, and read like a lyric from Amazing Grace: “Through many dangers, toils and snares We have already come.” True, the metaphors are not literal, but they are descriptive of life’s trials and importantly, David praises God before, during and after those dangers are mentioned.
And of course, as with all of David’s laments, his solution to getting through these dangers is to ask God for help. He acknowledges that God is his source of mercy, refuge, shelter, purpose, salvation, praise and faithfulness. That’s a pretty good list of reasons to entrust one’s circumstances to God.
Father, thank you for the many countless reasons that we can be honored to call You Father – a few of which I will count – You are: merciful, a refuge, a shelter, a purpose-giver, and our salvation in this world of many toils and snares. You give us authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt us. When we pass through the waters, You will be with us; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm us; when we walk through fire we shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume us. For You are the Lord our God, the Holy One of Israel, our Savior. (Lk 10:19, Isa 43:2-3 par)
~ Conqueror in Training