Читать книгу The Psalms - Herbert O'Driscoll - Страница 25

Psalm 18

With the help of my God

I will scale any wall.

In the culture of the psalms—as in the Middle East today—nothing is experienced in moderation. Joy is ecstatic, hatred is implacable, love is deep devotion, betrayal is devastating, insults are laden with invective, friendship—while it lasts—is utterly binding.

Relationship with God is given the same extravagant expression. No statement of faith is sufficient without repeated images to describe and emphasize it. For the psalmist, God is “my stronghold, my crag, and my haven … my shield … my salvation, and my refuge.”

The effects of personal crisis extend far beyond individual experience. Whatever trouble the psalmist has endured assumes cosmic proportions. “Mountains shook … [God] parted the heavens and came down … The beds of the seas were uncovered, and the foundations of the world laid bare.” In all this upheaval the psalmist stands serenely at the centre, utterly sure of his relationship with God.

How are we to identify with this total moral conviction? Should we envy it or be repelled by it? Perhaps there is another possible response. We can note the massive foundation of trust that sustains the faith of the psalmist. Having indulged in our envy, we cannot but long for this kind of certainty ourselves.

We cannot help but long for the ability to say of God, “You are my lamp … you make my darkness bright.” Even to hear the psalmist say, “with the help of my God I will scale any wall,” is to feel one’s own faltering resolve strengthened. When we recognize God as the one “who girds me about with strength … makes me sure-footed like a deer and lets me stand firm on the heights,” we cannot but feel a surge of confidence and energy within ourselves.

Through such ardent expressions of trust, the psalmist is transformed before us into a warrior able to battle any foe. If these same images can make it possible for us too to cope with life, to conquer the enemies both within and beyond ourselves, then this psalm will become grace for us.

Trusting friendships are built in subtle ways, often over long times, and result from deep knowing. How much time do you spend with God? How well do you feel you know God? Consider devoting daily time to being with God and consulting God.