“Let all that I am wait patiently before God, for my hope is in Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken…
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.” —Psalm 62:5-7
Last Sunday, when I saw my youngest son being carried by his dad after church, I knew there was a problem. He had sprained his ankle at church.
One year ago, my little boy fractured the same foot. Right before baseball season officially started. He played two exhibition games and was out for the rest of the season. On Sundays, his dad would carry him to Sunday School. Then, I would carry him from Sunday School to Kids Worship.
At home, he would crawl on the floor to get from one place to another. His ortho surgeon said he would heal faster without any cast.
I would attend my older sons’s baseball game and cry. In the beginning when I first saw him crawl on the floor, I would cry. His injury triggered this level of stress in me that I didn’t know existed.
We all have stress triggers. David’s stress trigger was Saul. So much so that he devotes more than one psalm to crying out to God about it.
What David reveals in his words to God is the closeness and the depth of intimacy that David has with God.
1. God is very revered in David’s life.
David holds God in a place of honor, of utmost respect, and complete high esteem. David looks up to God. He waits upon Him. Waits upon God to act. Recall the waiter in a restaurant who waits upon his patrons. A patron is a supporter, underwriter, guarantor, backer. David waits upon God His patron, who supports him, underwrites his battle with Saul, guarantees the outcome, and backs David up.
2. God is very real in David’s life.
Rock, salvation, fortress. David recognizes that God embodies all these structures of protection. In doing so, he can depend on God’s strength and stronghold. God’s arms are more than capable to keep David away from Saul’s reach. To provide safe places and safe spaces. To keep David from being shaken.
3. God is very relevant in David’s life.
God is more powerful and stronger than Saul. David reiterates references to the Rock over and over as if to remind himself of God’s strength. God will set David high on a rock, of God Himself. Such that no formidable enemy, not even Saul, can get to David. God is his rock. God will protect David in a way that no enemy can reach him. David is cognizant of his deep need for God. David makes God relevant in his life through this deep need for Him.
Do you have triggers in your life that bring about tremendous stress? Let’s learn from David.
Hold God in reverence. Keep His presence real. Make Him relevant.
Wait upon God through these Real Truths.