A Story Not A Painting

Notice your emotional reaction to the psalm. Does it feel comforting, hopeful? Or do you feel a twinge of hurt and suspicion, that old Yeah . . . but . . . ? How come what you read in this psalm doesn’t seem to be reliably true in human experience?

Given the powerful images of refuge and fortress the psalmist employs, you might misunderstand the nature of the experience if you don’t grasp all the passages in the psalm. There is war, there is the need for angelic help, there are demonic assaults (and victory over those assaults), and twice, the refuge of God is described in terms of rescue or deliverance.

The refuge of God is active and dynamic. It’s not a static thing. Not one and done.

We live in a story, not a painting. It is played out in the harsh realities of a dangerous world. And all of the Kingdom of God is involved in our rescue.