Psalm 124 | At Water’s Edge

Trapped

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Betsy

I recently flew on Southwest Airlines and discovered the world’s smallest airplane lavatory. I’m talking really, really small. I’m not a large person, and I banged my shoulders on the walls as I tried to maneuver around. As I washed my hands, I had to breathe deeply, move fast, and concentrate on what I was doing to hold my claustrophobia at bay.

Claustrophobia is not just a fear of small spaces, it is a fear of getting trapped. As I reached for the door handle, the inevitable thought flashed though my mind: what if it doesn’t open? What if I get stuck in here? What if panic takes over?

We get trapped in all kinds of places and situations by all kinds of things and people. I have a friend who is trapped in a bad relationship and can’t find her way out. Another is trapped by addiction. A third is trapped in his credit card debt. Our world is trapped by a pandemic that caught us by its teeth and won’t let go as it shakes us back and forth in an effort to snap our collective neck. Bad choices, bad luck, bad friends, and bad timing can make us feel immobilized and helpless.

What can you do when you feel trapped?

Our psalm today addresses this issue, and reminds us that the Lord is FOR us. This concept is so important, the psalmist repeats it twice:

Psalm 124 (Common English Bible)

If the Lord hadn’t been for us—
    let Israel now repeat!—
²    if the Lord hadn’t been for us,
        when those people attacked us
³then they would have swallowed us up whole
        with their rage burning against us!

Remembering that the Lord is for you is crucial when it comes to finding the strength to pry open the steel jaws of what has you trapped. God can overcome the raging waters and the enemies’ teeth when we are too weak to help ourselves.

⁴Then the waters would have drowned us;
the torrent would have come over our necks;
⁵ then the raging waters would have come over our necks!

⁶Bless the Lord
because he didn’t hand us over
like food for our enemies’ teeth!

What has you trapped today? Your help comes in the name of the Lord. He made heaven and earth! He surely can reach down and release you from the hunters’ snare. All you need to do is ASK. Prayer makes all the difference in an imprisoned life.

⁷We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
the trap was broken so we escaped!

There is nothing in life that you can’t escape if you turn yourself over to the Lord. In fact, there is nothing in death that you can’t escape either. When Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and then on the third day arose from the dead, he opened up an escape hatch that can never be shut. Do you believe that? I do.

So no matter what has you by the teeth, cry out to the Lord of all creation and ask for freedom. It will be hard. You will have to do your part and make the difficult and exhausting changes that are required. But the good news is, God has come to deliver you, and he will walk beside you toward your freedom. You are never alone.

He is the Truth, and the truth will set you free.

⁸Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.

Thanks be to God.

Flash Flood Warning

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Betsy

Driving home from the airport this weekend was a frustrating experience. First, it was a Saturday in the summer in the Outer Banks, so I got caught in the stream of people coming from the north to check in to their beach cottages for the week. I landed around 4:00 and thought that I would be behind the surge. I had forgotten that check-in time has moved from 3:00 to 5:00 to accommodate a longer cleaning time between guests.

Then apparently there was an accident ahead of me that took some time to clear, which was followed by a torrential rain. The rain came down so hard I could barely see for about twenty minutes.

During that time NPR broke in with an emergency alert. It was already stressful enough, but that sound of ERRRRT—-ERRRRT——ERRT blasting though my car speakers was unnerving. The alert was a flash flood warning for the county next to me. I was driving through a good deal of standing water and could see how easy it would be for creeks to suddenly overflow.

Do you know what to do if you get caught in a sudden flash flood? “Turn around, don’t drown.” Attempting to drive through a large area of moving water is dangerous and sometimes fatal. People have died trying to drive through water that suddenly swept their car away.

In our Psalm today, the writer describes a time when the raging waters were coming over the necks of the people, but God saved them from the torrent:

Psalm 124 (Common English Bible)

⁴Then the waters would have drowned us;
the torrent would have come over our necks;
⁵ then the raging waters would have come over our necks!

Can you name a time in your life when God saved you from some form of rushing water that threatened to overtake you? I have a friend who has been battling the floods of alcohol abuse overtaking her life. Her drinking almost cost her marriage, her home, and her family. Just at the point where she was pinned underwater and unable to breathe, she called out for help. Months later, she is now restored in every aspect of her life. God did not hand her over to the enemy of addiction. She escaped because she turned around.

⁶Bless the Lord
    because he didn’t hand us over
    like food for our enemies’ teeth!
⁷We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
    the trap was broken so we escaped!

I don’t know what kind of flash flood you may be experiencing right now, but I know this for certain…God is with you. God is FOR you. Do you hear him sounding an emergency alert over some aspect of your life? God is waiting for you to turn around so that you won’t drown.

⁸Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.

Our help comes from the maker of heaven and earth! Rise up and shine.

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