Restart: Compassion and JusticeSample

TRAPPED

Choice. It’s a religion in the West. We’re the customers and we demand lots of choices. In the supermarket we can choose between several different brands of coffee, cat food, shampoo and paper towels. The luxury of choice is one that the poor do not have. They have to take what they can get. That’s life for someone in survival mode.

In this passage, the psalmist feels like he has run out of choices. He is trapped, imprisoned, hunted. “I am completely helpless,” he cries (verse 5). Well, not quite. There is one choice left, one choice for everyone: the choice to follow God. “You are my place of safety and you are my choice,” writes the psalmist (verse 5).

So think of this the next time you stand in front of the stacks of cat food at your supermarket. For many people in the world, God is the only choice they have.

When have you felt like the psalmist—starved for choice? How do you usually make choices? Why is reflecting on God’s protection helpful?

How do your actions show that God is your choice? With whom will you share that choice this week? You can reflect the notion of God as a refuge by making your home a refuge. Invite someone in need to share a meal with you. Pray: Help, Lord! Rescue those who are imprisoned or trapped so they can praise your name. May they truly know you as a place of safety.