"You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance." ESV
This verse has been a special verse to me for most of my life. But my focus within the verse has changed over the last several years. As a child, I loved the verse, because I loved the picture that God is my place of protection. He is the best hiding place. He is a place of quiet and rest.
As I became more aware of the bad things in the world and more anxious about things, I focused on the part about preserving me from trouble. I, like most of us, wanted to believe that this meant that we would be untouched by anything hard, painful or traumatic. Of course this is naive and unrealistic in a world broken by sin. Preserving me from trouble does not been I won't be touched by trouble. I believe it means that I will be preserved for God's glory in the midst of it. God has said that He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5b-6), even when we are walking through trouble He will be with us and bring us through it.
In the last few years, I have focused on the last part of that verse, that He surrounds me with shouts of deliverance. I was listening to a friend give her testimony a few years ago, and as she shared her story of how God delivered her from some things in her life that she was held captive by, I was struck by the hope that is given when we hear others' stories of freedom and deliverance. As I read this verse, I imagined people who had just found a place of refuge, who had been delivered from their Enemy and they were shouting, "We are free! We are delivered! We have been saved!"
This picture has been so powerful to me, A reminder of the importance of sharing what God has done and is doing in our lives. I need to hear your stories of deliverance, and you need to hear mine. We need to be reminded daily that God is working! This is one way that He brings deliverance and glory to Himself, through our sharing of stories.
I pray that not only would be watching for and experiencing God's deliverance in big and small ways, but that we would be sharing that with each other. In this time of change, we can be comforted and encouraged by sharing what God is doing in us and around us- and He is most certainly working! Let's be watching for, praying for, and shouting about His deliverance!
You Surround Me With Shouts of Deliverance
Psalm 32:7
"You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance." ESV
This verse has been a special verse to me for most of my life. But my focus within the verse has changed over the last several years. As a child, I loved the verse, because I loved the picture that God is my place of protection. He is the best hiding place. He is a place of quiet and rest.
As I became more aware of the bad things in the world and more anxious about things, I focused on the part about preserving me from trouble. I, like most of us, wanted to believe that this meant that we would be untouched by anything hard, painful or traumatic. Of course this is naive and unrealistic in a world broken by sin. Preserving me from trouble does not been I won't be touched by trouble. I believe it means that I will be preserved for God's glory in the midst of it. God has said that He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5b-6), even when we are walking through trouble He will be with us and bring us through it.
In the last few years, I have focused on the last part of that verse, that He surrounds me with shouts of deliverance. I was listening to a friend give her testimony a few years ago, and as she shared her story of how God delivered her from some things in her life that she was held captive by, I was struck by the hope that is given when we hear others' stories of freedom and deliverance. As I read this verse, I imagined people who had just found a place of refuge, who had been delivered from their Enemy and they were shouting, "We are free! We are delivered! We have been saved!"
This picture has been so powerful to me, A reminder of the importance of sharing what God has done and is doing in our lives. I need to hear your stories of deliverance, and you need to hear mine. We need to be reminded daily that God is working! This is one way that He brings deliverance and glory to Himself, through our sharing of stories.
I pray that not only would be watching for and experiencing God's deliverance in big and small ways, but that we would be sharing that with each other. In this time of change, we can be comforted and encouraged by sharing what God is doing in us and around us- and He is most certainly working! Let's be watching for, praying for, and shouting about His deliverance!