Sweet relief! Nothing can feel quite as wonderful as when the pressures of life suddenly lift. It is as if the weight has been lifted off your shoulders. You energy level increases and you fell a spring in your step again. Those around you notice the change. Sleep returns to normal. Instead of being one edge every moment, you find the time and space to relax. What a wonderful feeling.
And when that relief comes, and you know it was the LORD who brought you relief, you want to tell people about what happened. You want to share the goodness of the LORD with others. The relief is so sweet, that you just have to tell people about it. You can’t keep that kind of joy bottled up.
I think it is this kind of experience that the Psalmist was trying to record as he wrote today’s section. The joy was bubbling up. He gives thanks with all his heart, not just part of it. It is really wonderful to have someone truly grateful for a gift. You can see it in their eyes. They overflow with a genuine heart of thanks. You can also tell when someone is just being polite in their expressions of thanks. The Psalmist is bubbling over. He wants to tell other people about what the LORD has done for him.
He feels vindicated. He was right all along. Their evil has come back to haunt them. And this is the work of the LORD. There is nothing David could have done to bring this about. It was the LORD who did it. He turned them back from their pursuit of David. He has passed judgment on them. He rebuked the nations.
What I find interesting is that most of the nations that attacked Israel at that time in history have faded from the world stage. There are no groups of people who claim these nations as their own. Israel is unique in that they survived intact. There have always been a people since that point in history who called themselves Jews. But no peoples call themselves Hittites, Ninevites, Amorites, Canaanites, or any other group. They have all vanished from the active pages of history. We only know of them from the pages of history and the sifting screens of archaeologists.
The response to the LORD’s intervention in the writer’s life is worship. He has felt the pressure of his enemies weighing on him. And now he feels relief. He doesn’t pat himself on the back and claim the victory for himself. He could have run a Twitter campaign of self-congratulatory words. But instead, he breaks out in worship. He gives the LORD all the credit.
One of the downfalls today of individuals and society at large, is that we try to take credit for the good things that happen, and pass the buck when things go wrong. But our writer acknowledges that the LORD is in charge. He is on the seat of power and authority. He rules as a fair and just ruler, something rare in today’s world. Those who are the weakest can know that they will be protected by Him. They can find refuge from the onslaught of attack.
If we know the LORD, we will trust in Him. And He will never forsake us. So let’s take this message to the world. This is the kind of news that needs to be spread to the nations. This is Good News.
The Arnold Journey 