18 day plan

Stormy Waters

Day 12 of 18

NIV

Psalms 32:6-7

6Therefore let all the faithful pray to you

while you may be found;

surely the rising of the mighty waters

will not reach them.

7You are my hiding place;

you will protect me from trouble

and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Reflection:  I’ve asked Mary, my wife, what I might say that is helpful from her perspective, as she has had to live with the prospect of losing her husband to cancer for the last four years.

“Tell them,” she said, “that God is my hiding place. God is my ‘safe place’.”

So there you have it.

Mary has discovered something very special. God has not rescued her from her circumstance but has lifted her above the circumstance, so she views it from God’s perspective, i.e. from the safety of his love, and from a position of confidence in his ultimate plans. This has enabled her not to be crushed under her circumstances, but to sit over them with God—albeit sometimes with tears.

It is a good place to be.

Prayer:  Dear Father, thank you that I can hide in the safety of your love anytime, anywhere, and in any situation. Please lift me into your presence when danger threatens.

Psalms 32:1-11

Psalm 32

Of David. A maskil.

1Blessed is the one

whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

2Blessed is the one

whose sin the Lord does not count against them

and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3When I kept silent,

my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

4For day and night

your hand was heavy on me;

my strength was sapped

as in the heat of summer.

5Then I acknowledged my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess

my transgressions to the Lord.”

And you forgave

the guilt of my sin.

6Therefore let all the faithful pray to you

while you may be found;

surely the rising of the mighty waters

will not reach them.

7You are my hiding place;

you will protect me from trouble

and surround me with songs of deliverance.

8I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

9Do not be like the horse or the mule,

which have no understanding

but must be controlled by bit and bridle

or they will not come to you.

10Many are the woes of the wicked,

but the Lord’s unfailing love

surrounds the one who trusts in him.

11Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;

sing, all you who are upright in heart!