Psalm 69:1, 2
Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life. I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.
Water is one of the most powerful creations on God’s planet. One raindrop would hardly affect the wellbeing of anyone, yet torrential downpours kill hundreds of people each year. I’ll never forget when one of my best friends and I experienced this first hand. Most people would think a hurricane might be the best excuse possible for not going to the beach. Matt and I used this as our justification for making the trip. So, without much reservation, we headed down to the ocean and enjoyed the tremendous size of the waves. The experience was amazing. We would wade out about chest deep into the ocean and wait for the roar of the water to come in, sweep us off our feet, and carry us to the shore. I believe it was called “body surfing”… we didn’t know what we were doing though, it was just fun. The fun, however, came to an abrupt end when we got, let’s say, “In over our heads”.
It happened like this: We waded out just a little further than usual to experience a longer ride back. Good plan… but not really. One second we were standing neck deep in water waiting on our “ride.” The next second we were eyeing a wall of water so high we could barely see the top of it! In fact, we were no longer neck deep… the water that had once been covering our entire body was about to come down on us with tremendous force. It was one of the longest 30 seconds I’ve ever experienced. By the time we reached the shore, we had been tossed, slammed, twisted and abused by the wave so hard that we could barely breathe. Not only had we been introduced to the ocean floor on several occasions, but the rocks and pebbles tossed by the wave were continually bouncing off of us. It was not a pleasant experience to say the least. Happy to be alive, we retired for the day.
Psalm 69 is King David’s interpretation of the enormous stress and burdens attacking his wellbeing. He compares his pain and problems to turbulent waters. It seemed that nothing he could do would save him from certain peril. David, however, found an everlasting hope in the Lord. Verse 34 says, “Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save…” We too would find much peace in allowing God to help us out of the turbulent seasons of life if we would just ask Him. Where we are too weak to overcome, God will be more than victorious.
Have you been sucked into the ocean recently? Are the waves slamming and twisting you around? Does if feel as if the world continually pelts rocks at you like the waves did to Matt and me? I encourage you to lift your eyes up and place your hope on the Savior. He who created the universe certainly has the power and the means to lift you out of the mire and to pull you out of the waters! You may place your hope on money, alcohol, the future or friends, but no one will give you a peace and a hope like the Lord. I beg you to spend some time before Him today! He’s waiting to hear from you.