8 Then the earth shook and quaked,
The foundations of heaven were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
9 Smoke went up [g]out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth was devouring;
Coals were kindled by it.
10 He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew;
He [h]appeared on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness canopies around Him,
A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.
13 From the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were kindled.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
15 And He shot arrows and scattered them,
Lightning, and [i]routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were exposed
By the rebuke of the Lord,
From the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
17 He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
When we need help from God, it is easy to picture Him taking us up in his hand, and holding us secure. While that is a great comfort, David paints a much more vivid picture of God’s rescue.
God isn’t content with letting evil run rampant, and while we might feel that He tolerates it more than He should, there will come a day of reckoning. In the meantime, God is patient, and merciful, even on the unjust.
Because God knows the future, and knows what their future will be, He does not need to strike them down right now. One day, the wicked will be punished, but today is a day of grace, a day where we can call upon our God, and He will protect us–not from all of life’s storms, but from those that would threaten to wreck us completely.
God wants to build us up, to make us stronger, so sometimes He will use the storm as His tool. But when the storm is too big, or the enemy too strong for us, be sure that God will be your rescuer.