GOD’S SPACIOUS PLACE
Psalm 18:17 – 19. (NIV)
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place.
Supplementary Reading: Mark 4: 35 – 41
Psalm 18 is a saga that dramatically captures the sound and fury of one man’s frightening experiences having possible lethal occurrences, but instead, it concludes as a story of inspiring hope. Essentially, this is the image of a vicious storm approaching one fragile piece of humanity, awaiting its destructive blow. In addition, David, the chosen king of Israel, is stealthily outmanoeuvring the deadly pursuit of Saul, his predecessor. Saul’s jealous rage is as lethal as the ominous storm clouds overhead. That which is spawned in the dark recesses of a human soul ought to be feared as much as any atmospheric disturbances. But where does one find comforting relief when all possible escape routes appear impassible?
God’s way of providing for His children when they experience impossible situations is to provide for them the Spacious Place. Herein, personal reflection on the ultimate meaning of victory proceeds in the Presence of the Divine.
The most urgent need looming in the dawning of this New Year for us is to discover, as David did, God’s Spacious Place. Events that demand one’s immediate action are forbidden entry into God’s Spacious Place. Consequently, Personal faith is either born for the first time or becomes unbound from restricting doubts because, in this Place God is, and acts.
As usual, within the shadows of each new day, legions of unknown or ill-defined experiences demand our readiness. “Sound and fury” most often breeds thoughts of helplessness and hopelessness. Our littleness is magnified when considering the howling wind in a night of storm, the shattering blasts of a senseless war, or the sounds of weeping in the wake of a deadly pandemic.
In this Psalm, David witnessed the storm’s destruction and celebrated the wonder of his escape from it before God. But still lurking in the soaked surroundings, close by, Saul and his maundering crew, bent on their destructive mission to murder David, slink forward. And at that moment, David lets us in on the secret of his truly admirable life:
Psalm 18:17 – 19. (NIV)
“He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;.”
Faith is to cease all assertion of the self and to make room for the divine initiative. It is an act which is the negation of all activity. A moment of passivity out of which the strength for action comes because, in it, God acts. (2)
For us, The Word that inspired David’s heroic venture,
” became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth”. ( John 1:14)
“We must not permit fears and the suggestions of impossibility from the world’s cynics to hem us in and limit our mobility for Christ’s mission. There is much work to be done. Therefore once more, Jesus Christ invites us to join with Him in God’s Spacious Place to see anew the picture of this world becoming the Kingdom Of God.
A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION
Father, in mercy, behold us now, residents of a place easily overcome by timidity and the overzealous conclusion of impossibility.
Please grant us the courage to stand firm for the hard right against the easy wrong. Grant us to be more scrupulous of the source of that perceived right. The right as inspired within Your Spacious Place will often differ from what lies within the people’s will. May the necessary actions be inspired by Your justice, undertaken in Your love, fortified by Your grace, and for the honour and glory of Your Name. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Hymn: Be Still My Soul
NOTES
- Scripture quotations are from the NIV translation.
- See C.H. DODD’s EpistleOf Paul to the Romans
- The photo was taken at our summer cottage in Michael’s Harbour, Newfoundland