Read
(A song by David for worship.)
Thanking the Lord
1The Lord was on our side!
Let everyone in Israel say:
2“The Lord was on our side!
Otherwise, the enemy attack
3would have killed us all,
because it was furious.
4We would have been swept away
in a violent flood
5of high and roaring waves.”
6Let's praise the Lord!
He protected us from enemies
who were like wild animals,
7and we escaped like birds
from a hunter's torn net.
8The Lord made heaven and earth,
and he is the one
who sends us help.
Reflect
Woven through yesterday’s cry for help is song trumpeting through the land: today all the people are singing it out loud.
We have not been swallowed up by violent anger
We were not swept away and drowned in their torrent of rage
We are alive—we were not abandoned
Their grip on us is broken!
God’s strong name is our help—we are free.
Our God who made heaven, who made us, has rescued us!
He has heard our cry for help!
What has happened to these pilgrims that their song has changed to such jubilation? What is it that God has done? Well, it’s not exactly clear what God has done . . .
It was simply a phone call to see how she was doing over the holiday weekend—holidays are often the biggest mountains to climb and the deepest valleys to forge – are they not? But it was a call precisely timed in answer to her “help” prayer. I didn’t do anything except call. I didn’t know her prayer. My call didn’t change the circumstances, or the need for her to stand firm, or how important it was to cling to hope. It was simply a call. But for her it was God saying to her: I am here with you. I see. I know.
It was one of those mysterious moments when we just know that God is present protecting us from violent anger, the flood of rage that so nearly crushes us? Those moments in the middle of intense relational crises when we experience God’s relational presence there for us.
If God hadn’t been for us when everyone went against us . . . this psalm would never have been sung. They’d have been swallowed, swept away and drowned.
No wonder this pilgrim song echoes encouragement through the centuries for pilgrims on an often grim journey of life.
Respond
We want to join in this song, Father God. Today let us know that you are present for us in vibrant, protective, mysterious ways so that at the end of today we will find ourselves singing this song with the pilgrims. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the one who rescues us from the torrents of life. Amen.
Elaine Pountney
Integration: a key word in Elaine’s life. Integrating a Science Degree into Counselling; integrating healing and wholeness into effective team building in an international business context (e.g. Sony Canada, Ontario Hydro, Schonbek LIghting); integrating counselling concepts with a Biblical understanding of what builds healthy communities and relationships with groups in the Caucasus, Africa, Brazil and the Arctic. Is it any wonder that she now works with leaders across Canada ‘bringing the pieces together’ toward Spiritual Integration? Publications: Reclaiming the Wonder of Sexuality. Trafford Pub: BC, Canada. 2008; “Reclaiming the wonder of sexuality: toward a Biblical understanding of male & female” teaching manual.