"Surprised To Be Loved!"

One of David's most beautiful and personal songs is by far his longest. It appears to have been written approximately 3 years prior to his death of old age and in my opinion is a sort of compilation of many of his earlier psalms. He probably had been working on it for some time and then sang it to the Lord "when the Lord delivered him from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul" (2 Samuel 22:1).
He begins with these words - "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation...I call to the Lord who is worthy of praise and I am saved from my enemies." 2 Sam 22:2-4 NIV
Then, after giving us a poetic vision of his desperate plight and what God did to rescue him from those who were committed to his death, he wrote - "But me he caught - reached all the way down from sky to sea; he pulled me out of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning. They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide open field; I stood there saved - surprised to be loved." 2 Sam 22:17-20 MSG
I am awed by this description of the same God who is my Father too! If you just take a couple minutes to dwell on these words, "rock", "fortress", "deliverer", "refuge", "shield", "horn (strength)of my salvation", you too must realize that "the Lord is worthy of praise". But I appreciate how Eugene Peterson subjectively translated David's words that "God stuck by me" and "I stood there saved - surprised to be loved."
All of this reminds me of Paul's personal assessment of his own life of service to the same Lord to whom David sang his song. At 2 Corinthians 11 he too shares with us a very lengthy listing of the life-threatening situations he encountered. Then at chapter 12 he says the Lord gave him a "thorn in the flesh" (had to be very painful) to keep him from becoming "conceited". He says he prayed repeatedly for God to remove the thorn but received an answer he probably wasn't expecting. God simply told him, in essence, to deal with it and assured him that he would receive sufficient grace to do so. Paul's testimony from this encounter is that he learned to live strong even in his greatest weakness.
I guess Paul, like David, was surprised to be loved in this way. Me too! Far from removing every obstacle to my faith and faithfulness, even after much prayer, my Father has surprised me over and over by allowing me to just deal with it and learn to live strong in spite of my challenges and weaknesses.
So, today I stand with both David and Paul, victorious over my true enemy, in a wide field, somewhat surprised to be saved, but daily praising the Lord who is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He has given and is still giving me sufficient grace to live strong even in my weakness. HALLELUJAH AND HALLELUJAH!

Singing Praises In A Cave

Hiding in a dark, gloomy cave for days, weeks, maybe even months had to be a very depressing and bare existence for David. A large portion of his early adulthood was spent on the run from King Saul or some pagan ruler who felt threatened by David's faith in God. Several of David's songs seem to have been written during this spartan period of his life. This one stands out - "I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble. When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who knows my way; in the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me....I cry to you O Lord, I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." Psalm 142:1-5 NIV
There are times when we all find ourselves in that gloomy, dark, depressing cave of despair. We can't know how many days and nights David spent sulking because his life just wasn't turning out like he had thought it would. But, at some point his faith found enough traction to look beyond his immediate circumstance.
Faith won't always prevent our short sighted decisions that put us in the cave, but when it finally gets some traction in the heart, it forces us to look forward and upward. The enemy always watches and listens to drag us back into the darkness within ourselves. With good reason the Holy Spirit calls Satan the "prince of darkness". But, praise God for giving us his Spirit to re-energize faith that allows us to see beyond the despair. Just outside the cave there is fresh air and sunshine and a way of escape. Jesus Christ shed his blood to create it. He said, "Come to me and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 Thank you gracious Father. HALLELUJAH!