Give Me Shelter

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
-- Psalm 57:1 

David was hiding out in a cave, pursued by Saul and the armed forces of Israel.  There were no safe places.  He tried going over to the side of the Philistines, and they wanted to kill him.  His courage, skill, and dedication had made him an enemy of all who sought power, self-gratification, and self-aggrandizement -- of all who were indifferent or opposed to the will of God.  

Do the right thing, and you have every man's hand against you like a sheep-killing dog.  That would have probably been the first line of my psalm had I been in David's place.  We could hardly blame a person in that sort of trial for becoming bitter, complaining and bemoaning such a fate.  The Bible often calls David a prophet, and his psalms are replete with messianic prophecies.  He was a prophet not in word only; he is a prophetic type.  His life illustrates and solidifies the principles and purposes of God -- as Paul said was the case with of all the events in the history of Israel. 

Disorder, destruction, and disruption are everywhere today.  The chaos will increase because so much of the world is turning away from God, and even more are not turning to Him.  I do not have a solution to the many puzzles that plague us.  I know Someone who does.   Like David, the only thing we can do is call to God for mercy and trust Him to shelter us from the storms of destruction set to sweep across the face of the earth.

I'm not worried about myself.  The worst that can happen to me does not hold a lot of terror.  I suppose I'd hate to lose my mind or become a burden to anyone else.  Otherwise, while the pain of transition my physical nature seeks to avoid, death itself mean only that I will see the face of Jesus rise like daybreak in the holler. 

The ones I would leave behind are my concern.  Have I been faithful enough in telling the truth to the next generation?  Have I been a good enough example?  Have I demonstrated sufficiently and efficaciously that God alone is my Refuge?  Will they take the message to heart and do the same?     

I've ended up saying this every day, sometimes several times a day, for the last couple of weeks in various contexts:  if we are abiding "in the shadow of" His wings, everything comes to us through Him and by His will.