Safety!

Safety!

But I will sing about your strength. I will rejoice in your love every morning. You have been my place of safety, the place I can run to when troubles come. Psalms 59:16 ERV

When you hear a call to praise God and sing to Him, the first thing that comes to mind is that God has done something amazing and 'praiseworthy'. We want to hear of the  testimonies about the awesome power, the breakthroughs and the miracles he has wrought. Most times, it is the physical signs we want to see, but when we look at the context of today's extract, we begin to see praise from another angle.

First, David here wasn't all about the great and the awesome first of all, but about the daily experience of God. He spoke about God's love every morning, which to me means that he could see God at work every day. It didn't have to be earth-moving for it to be God; it was just enough to wake up every day to appreciate the mercy and grace of God. Secondly, the Psalmist could sing of the strength of God. There are ways you can recall the display of that strength in your life: outward or inward. God could have shown his power on situations around you by changing the narratives, or he could have  simply left the realities around you as they were but worked inside of you. Either way, you knew you had encountered God in a new way. That was the Psalmist's testimony.

Thirdly, God had been his place of safety, and the same God is still doing what He knows best how to do- secure lives. Placing today's extract in the right context, here was David, already anointed as successor to Saul, yet having to run and hide for many years because Saul was trying hard to kill him. Even with the assurance of kingship, David never forgot the source of all he was or had. When troubles come, and they will, what are your first options or your main considerations? Do you have options? Does God become your all or one of the many things you look out for?

As we always say, all that God is has been made available for me. I have the choice to make: take God at His Word and enjoy the life he has called me to, even in the face of troubles and trials, or place my trust in man-made devices and endure the trouble and trials that will still come, but without any assurance of help or victory. As always, every choice has an eternal consequence. His time of favour is here.