The psalmist here celebrates a deliverance from perils terrifying to contemplate: being swallowed up alive, drowned in a flood, trapped in a snare. While such dangers do exist, they mercifully do not threaten everyone, every day.
Yet in other ways, do we not sometimes face troubles that make us long for the routine of our day-to-day existence? Can we recall times when we were almost overwhelmed by the torrents of events in our lives? Do we remember being ensnared by sin or difficulties beyond our control? Have we ever almost been consumed by some immediate psychological or spiritual peril? If so, and if we have escaped, may we say with the psalmist, “Blessed be the LORD…” (verse 6). Indeed, how often have we been protected from such harms without our awareness of God’s intervention?
Whatever the dangers, we know these truths: the Lord is, and always will be, on our side (verse 1); and our help is always—and only—in the name of the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth will be with us in both earth and heaven.
Dear Lord, thank you for standing by us in this world and for promising our togetherness in the next. Amen. —