God of All Comfortનમૂનો

David, a man who intimately knew brokenness and pain in a fractured world, offers this prayer of preservation in Psalm 17. This psalm serves as a plea for vindication, a call to preserve his physical safety and personhood as he reflects on his righteousness, his desire for holiness, and his longing to embody God's will.

The thing about living with a desire for control or relationships that feel oppressive is that we feel suffocated, bodily, mentally, and inwardly. I have felt the feeling of resignation—my arm has gotten tired while at war with difficult relationships. I have steadied my elbow, pushed past the point of strength, and felt weakened by the arm coming back at me. We don't know what to speak, do, or say to become at home in ourselves again. We wearily resign parts of ourselves, no longer trying because we are too exhausted to keep putting forth effort. I have experienced this feeling of watching those who do evil thrive while feeling that no matter how hard I try to be in God's will, I still hurt and feel torn open inside by another's sinful choices.

God so intentionally created the eye with its black webbed eyelashes, bushy eyebrows, and an eyelid to rinse out tiny particles of dust, and debris—God saw it fit to have a surplus of guards for this vulnerable part of the body; David prays that God would guard him as one would guard their vision. Sometimes life leaves us vulnerable, exposed, and limping, yet God cares so tenderly for his children as a fierce protector. David prays earnestly in this psalm that God would keep him safe from evil’s advances.

David constantly experienced evil at the hands of the men around him. Justice felt warped, and his life felt fleeting. In the scope of his life, he had to continually find means of protecting himself from King Saul. He cried out that God might hide him under the shadow of his wings as a mother hen closes her chicks around the warmth of her body by the protection of her wings. He saw himself as a helpless baby bird, needing the protection of his mother's wings.

Maybe, like me, you also feel vulnerable to life's pain, fed up with evil people who take advantage of the suffering of others. Maybe you want Christ to vindicate you, for wrongs to be made right. Join David and me in rehearsing and reciting this psalm for comfort in times of peril.