Yesterday as I was getting into the car for church I almost had a breakdown. I was bundled up for winter and my seat was too close to the steering wheel. I had already buckled my seat belt and as I reached down to try to pull the lever to move my seat, my foot pressed down on the brake. Well, needless to say, the combination of a big winter coat, a seatbelt “locked” into position by the brake, and my usual Sunday morning sweaty forhead made for a nasty combination. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get to the lever and I couldn’t get the seatbelt to let loose. I was bound. A feeling I absolutely hate. After much grumbling, I yelled, “Let me go!” Of course the seatbelt wasn’t really listening. Am I the only one who hates feeling bound? Whether it be a seatbelt too tight or a child too close on my covers, I DO NOT like to feel like I can’t move. I thought of this as Psalm 18 was read in church yesterday. Listen to this:
4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
How awful does that sound? ”Cords of death, cords of Sheol.” Sounds much worse than a seatbelt and a winter coat doesn’t it? But the Psalmist says God hears him and rescues him and read what part of the rescue entails:
18 My enemies confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me. (emphasis mine)
When I read the part in bold, I actually chuckled out loud. To a soul bound by the cords of death and Sheol, what could be better than the Lord ushering that soul into a “broad place?” One translation reads, “spacious places.” All I needed yesterday was room to breath, a little space. The Psalmist was bound and God brought rescue and with it, room to breath, wide open space. Isn’t that what God does? He gives us exactly what we need exactly when we need it.
Yesterday we also sang a new song (well, new to us) by Natalie Grant called “Your Great Name.” Check out these lyrics:
All the weak; find their strength; at the sound of your great name
Hungry souls; receive grace; at the sound of your great name
The fatherless; they find their rest; at the sound of your great name
Sick are healed; and the dead are raised; at the sound of your great name
Do you see in those lyrics each needy soul finding that God gives exactly what is needed? What good would it have done yesterday for my wife, while I was bound by that seatbelt, to say, “Well, I can’t get you free but here’s a flashlight?” A flashlight would have been useless to me. I am so glad to serve a God who provides rescue to us in exactly the way we need it. A God who gives rest to the weary, strength to the weak, righteousness to those who hunger and thirst for it. Most importantly, when we were bound by the cords of sin, God provided rescue in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. His name is truly great!
your comment made me laugh! Denny hates the combination of winter coats and seatbelts!