A year ago, I began studying Psalm 16, which has always held special meaning for me. I have researched, studied, meditated, prayed and still don't believe I have scratched the surface of all the treasure hidden in these eleven verses. Currently, in my daily reading, I am in the Gospel of Matthew, but today I wanted to read something in the form of a psalm, so I went to the numerical psalm for the day...and behold, found myself once again in the words that have become bread to me when I am hungry. May I just share a bit of a nugget of gold with you?
"Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge." verse one. (Psalm 17:8 says "hide me in the shadow of Your wings"). The Message Bible translates verse one..."I run for dear life to you." When I think of wanting to be safe, visions of running into strong arms and being secure from harm come to mind, thus being protected.
Hannah Whithall Smith (Safe Within Your Love) says, "I feel just like a little chick who has run out of a storm and under his mother's wings and is safe there. I hear the raging storm and I am utterly unable to comprehend it or measure the damage it is doing. But I am safe under His wings. He can manage the dark storm, but I cannot. Why then should I worry or be anxious? When I feel hopeless or fear, I know I need to get back under His wings."
Years ago, our family was on a cross-country ministry trip and stayed with friends in Indiana. Our trip coincided with tornado season and the evening we were with them, they were under a tornado watch. Now, growing up in the Pacific Northwest and my husband being from Australia, tornados, nor the procedure which with you prepared yourself, were something we were not familiar with. We went to bed that evening, our friends keeping the radio on for information. I woke in the middle of the night to loud winds and rain and hearing the battery-powered radio on in another part of the house. My husband and children were sound asleep :) I could hear the raging storm but could not see it as all was dark with no electricity. I wondered how anyone could sleep through the noise (I have since learned that the rest of my family can sleep through anything!!). There was a sense of trust (yes, in God), but also in the family who had lived through this type of thing before. When morning came, we learned the tornado had not touched down where we were, but you could see the devastation from the storm we did experience.
The name of God used in verse one where David says he will take refuge, is "El Shaddai", the MIGHTY ONE, THE HERO. That's quite a description of One I want to run to and hide myself in a storm! He can hear and see the storm and it doesn't phase Him a bit - He's been through storms before! I think of Peter in Matthew 14:29 walking out to Jesus on the water and when he saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink. He took his eyes off Jesus. Somehow, in hiding ourselves in Him, I think He want us to keep our eyes on Him and not the storm, even though we hear all the raging of the wind.
Remember covering your eyes as a child and when you took your hands away, your mom or dad would say "peek-a-boo"? Somehow, I picture El Shaddai gently removing those hands when we are hiding, and saying "peek-a-boo...I see you...look at Me!"
I don't know what storm you are facing or what is ahead for any of us...but El Shaddai, our Mighty God and Hero, knows and comprehends the storm, but encourages us to keep our eyes on Him, take refuge in His arms, and let the winds do what they must.....but as the storm is passing, or when it has passed, we are safe in Him and His is the face we see through it all!
My prayer for those of you today who may be in the middle of a storm, or one right around the corner... Take refuge in Him today; hide yourself in Him; He is the safest place to hide!
