The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted,
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord rescues them from them all.
He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. ~ Psalm 34:15-22
Have you ever felt rescued?
Maybe you were in trouble, deep trouble. Or you were suffering in some way. Or grieving. Or ill.
What did the rescue look like? Did it comes from a person or place? Did it come with treatment by doctors or therapists? Did it come with time?
What about a time when you begged for rescue but none came. The pain was too great. The suffering you wanted to avoid happened anyway.
Maybe you asked God, "why?"
The Psalmist doesn't promise us freedom from afflictions. But he does promise that we aren't alone in them. That our rescue comes from God.
Maybe the rescue won't be what we'd expect. Maybe it won't be when we'd expect. And sometimes it won't come in the form or person we expect.
And it doesn't mean affliction won't come again.
But it does mean that we have One who walks beside us, caring for us, and promising us that pain won't have the last word.
Lord, help me to see you and know your presence when I am in pain. Amen
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