Remaining Peaceful

Psalm 18:1-19 (NLT)

1 I love you, Lord;
you are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.

4 The ropes of death entangled me;
floods of destruction swept over me.
5 The grave[a] wrapped its ropes around me;
death laid a trap in my path.
6 But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry to him reached his ears.

7 Then the earth quaked and trembled.
The foundations of the mountains shook;
they quaked because of his anger.
8 Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
Glowing coals blazed forth from him.
9 He opened the heavens and came down;
dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
10 Mounted on a mighty angelic being,[b] he flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
11 He shrouded himself in darkness,
veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.
12 Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him
and rained down hail and burning coals.[c]
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded
amid the hail and burning coals.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
his lightning flashed, and they were greatly confused.
15 Then at your command, O Lord,
at the blast of your breath,
the bottom of the sea could be seen,
and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.

16 He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
18 They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
but the Lord supported me.
19 He led me to a place of safety;
he rescued me because he delights in me.


In this Psalm, David is having a pretty rough time. Life is hard. I mean, when the ropes of death entangle you, the floods of destruction sweep over you, and the grave wraps its ropes around you, life isn't all rainbows and smiles. In the midst of all of his troubles, he calls out to God. What was supposed to happen? Of course, God was supposed to rush in - a grand finale to the whole story- lights, music, joy, peace...a rescue!

But no. Instead, David is faced with an earthquake, dark storm clouds and hail, lighting, smoke, and fire. He was already surrounded by death, destruction, and the grave. Now to add natural disasters on top of that? Where was God? Why did everything get worse when He asked God for help? Things had surely gone from bad to worse. Or so David thought...
What He didn't see, was a brilliantly bright God behind the dark clouds, coming to his rescue. What David didn't see was that God was controlling all of it, not being controlled or taken by surprise by it. God was in the storm, coming to rescue His beloved. In the midst of the trouble, God reached down and pulled David out of deep waters. He took him to a place of safety.

So often, things get a lot worse before they get better. Like the well known example of it's darkest just before dawn. So many times we are trapped in hard places and we wonder why God isn't coming. When we are down in the depths of despair, everything just gets worse! There's no sign of God, there's no light, no nothing.

Remain Peaceful.

God has not forgotten you. God has not forgotten me. Peace is not the absence of the battle, it's the ability to remain stable throughout it. So often we mistake a battle as a sign that God has deserted us, but the same Psalm above says "He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; Your help has made me great...You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet." (vs 34-35, 39)

As much as the outward circumstances may look like He has forgotten you, He's there. Maybe He's just coming in the storm.