Reflection:
Fear is a powerful emotion; it’s hard to ignore. You can feel fear throughout your whole body. Your heart rate rises, your breathing becomes shallow, you feel knots in your stomach, or you freeze and have trouble moving. When I’m afraid, I want to curl up into a tiny ball in a warm and cosy spot. I have trouble articulating how I’m feeling — in fact, my words and ability to communicate seem to go. What do you do when you feel afraid?
In this Psalm, David tells us he was afraid. His life was under threat from a powerful man (1 Samuel 21:12). He ended up hiding in a cave. In that moment of fear and dread, David asked for help. There’s no evidence that his prayer was filled with well-crafted sentences and beautiful imagery. No, we are told simply that:
‘I sought the Lord …’ (v. 4). Then, a few verses later, we are told that, ‘this poor man called …’ (v. 6).
David cried out, ‘I need your help!’ Two tiny arrow prayers that activated the Lord to step down and provide what he needed right there and then. And David’s God, our God, heard him (v. 6) and answered him (v. 4).
We all need our Lord’s help when we’re afraid. And in that moment of fear, it’s so easy to forget that he is near, and to lose our words. When we cry out those arrow prayers, we can be confident that our God both hears, and answers. Why? Because he cares so much for us. He does not promise to remove us from the circumstances that elicit our fear, but he has promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us. In Christ, he has stepped down and offers us the refuge we desperately need.
Prayer:
‘You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’. Thank you that I can seek you, cry out to you. Thank you that you hear my feeble cries, and you answer them. Today I ask, please, ‘Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.’ (Ps 16:1). In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Song:
“Psalm 34 (Taste and See)” by Shane & Shane