Verse of the Day 2/5

 

Psalm 69:16-17 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
Hide not your face from your servant;
    for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Our hearts desire for ourselves and for friends and loved ones is to be faithful.  In life there are times when our decisions and choices in life can bring us down into the muck and the mire. 

 

That is the setting for this psalm of David.  He spent much time in the desert. Often, travel would be along dried up river beds, wadis.  Water could be found in the gullies and ravines in low places where the water had slowed down in after the floods and had been deposited,  water would also form in pools in these areas often surrounded by cliffs.  The mud itself would be like wet thick clay.  The kind that you may have walked through as a kid  when your boot would be pulled off trying to walk through it.  A wayward sheep looking for water could easily get stuck in this mud.

 

The danger here is that a flash flood could come rushing back at any time.  Sheep that had wandered and found themselves stuck in the mud would be in danger.  There bleating would draw the attention of the shepherd.  He would pull them out with his staff or perhaps do it by had, grabbing them by the wool on their backs and putting them safely on the rocks before the floods would come rushing back.

 

When we get stuck in the mud, in the mire of this world, we are to call for Jesus, the Great Shepherd, He will hear us, He will answer our call, our prayers.  His love is steadfast and in His mercy He will turn to us, lift us out of the muck before we are overwhelmed.

 

If we find ourselves stuck in the mire today, may we cry out for deliverance with the urgency of David as portrayed in The Message, "answer right now!"

 

 

Blessings,

Mike
Follow the verse of the day at http://www.mikesvotd.blogspot.com/

 

Psalm 69:14-17

The Message (MSG)

¹⁴ Rescue me from the swamp,
Don't let me go under for good,

Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy;
This whirlpool is sucking me down.

¹⁵ Don't let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole
Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.

¹⁶ Now answer me, God, because you love me;
Let me see your great mercy full-face.

¹⁷ Don't look the other way; your servant can't take it.
I'm in trouble. Answer right now!