The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, [a]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
18 “I love You, O Lord, my strength.”
2 The Lord is my [b]rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.4 The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of [c]ungodliness [d]terrified me.
5 The cords of [e]Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
This isn’t the end of the song, but I couldn’t pass by verse 6, which is something we can take for granted–or not understand at all. David trusts in God, and calls Him his rock, and refuge, his shield, salvation, and stronghold. It’s easy to say all these things, but the seemingly simple statements in verse 6 should shock and amaze us.
When David cried out to God, God heard his cry. There’s no question there, no hesitation, no maybe. When David called for God’s help, God was listening. Of course we don’t always know what God’s answer will be, but the fact that God is listening for our voice is astounding. He has a million trillion (and more) things to think about, to manage, and to do, and yet his ear is ever attentive to our cry.
Perhaps even more amazing, is that he is listening even for those who don’t believe yet. When we surrender our lives to him, and ask for his forgiveness and mercy, there is no waiting line. There’s no “Hmm, let me see if I can fit you into my busy schedule…” The act is instant, and the forgiveness complete. The weary soul is rescued, literally, from the “cords of Sheol” and the “snares of death”.
That is at once incredible, and humbling, and awe-inspiring, and profound. Is that enough superlatives? Probably not, for the attention our Creator gives us is undeserved, for so many reasons, not least of which that we have all disobeyed His commands. We’ve all rebelled against His will, and still He listens. He always listens, for us his children, and for those who will one day be his children.
Like the father of the prodigal, who saw his son a long way off, our Heavenly Father is waiting for our voice. So whatever you need, wherever you are, whatever state your heart may be in, stop waiting, and cry out to the one who loves you more than life itself.