Emma and I are reading and praying through the Psalms. This morning it was Psalm 31.
David’s external world is crashing in on him. He speaks of a city under siege. He speaks of enemies, the contempt of neighbours, and the dread of friends.
He speaks of people crossing the street to avoid him, of traps set for him and of terror on every side.
His physical and spiritual worlds are in turmoil. He speaks of anguish that is ageing him, afflictions that weaken his body, accusations that fill his face with tears.
He speaks of his soul being filled with grief, of being forgotten…
But then, the turmoil and torment lifts!
He begins to speak of God setting his feet in a spacious place, he begins to speak about the shelter of God’s presence.
David writes in verse 21 “Praise be to the Lord for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was in a city under siege”.
In the darkest of moments God showed David the depth of his love.
I have yet to speak to a Christian leader whose external world has not experienced some level of tension and conflict in the last two years.
I have yet to speak to a Christian leader whose inner world hasn’t been buffeted by these tensions and conflicts.
In the midst of this, how can we find our feet in a spacious place, how can we settle our hearts in the shelter of God’s presence?
We can remember, that in our darkest moments, when we are under the profoundest of sieges from sin and evil, God himself—in the person of his Son—shows the depth of his love for us by dying in our place.
Therefore, we can say to our hearts: he has already justified, validated, and vindicated us.
We can commit our spirits to him because Jesus committed his spirit to the Father as he died in our place, and on our behalf.
We can entrust ourselves to him. We can say like David “My times are in his hands”. We can say “He is our shelter and our spacious place”.
We can say our refuge is our resurrected Saviour.
