Rock of Escape
the niv and kjv call it "sela-hammahlekof." the message calls it "narrow escape." the nlt cals it "the rock of escape."
there is something so beautiful about this to me. it's very poetic. like my french host-father who saw my hanson cd and thought the title "middle of nowhere" was one of the best expressions in the english language. ever have a phrase strike you like that before?
before the happening on the mountain, david was in exile, forced to run with his army of cast-aways and dissidents from execution by the king. but the thing that is remarkable to me is that after saul had gone, david was still in exile. saul still wanted his head. david had not been relieved of his eccentric-king-who-used-to-love-you-but-now-is-paranoid-that-you-are-going-to-kill-him-and-take-his-throne-so-he's-trying-to-kill-you-instead problem. on the contrary, that problem was still very present and very real. but he just got a little reprieve.
he got a short break.
a chance to breathe deep and regroup.
who knows whether it was God who made the philistines attack saul's holdings in israel. but david took it that way i think.
last week, the staff at my church all went on a 2-night retreat to do some planning and brainstorming...and resting. we had been fighting the enemy with all we had. we needed some time to regroup. i took the whole week off blogging, too.
and then we were back at it. fighting the enemy. fleeing from temptation. leaning on God in the face of tragedy.
the fight is still here, now that we're back. but we got a short breather.
you might need a little respite.
i find that when i don't have 2 or 3 days to sneak away on a retreat (which is pretty much an anomaly), i can get the same kind of refreshment by waking up about an hour earlier, making a cup of coffee, buttering some toast, and spending some time alone with God. right now, i'm reading (very slowly) the bible from the beginning (i'm only in 1 samuel, at this point). and i just ask God to show me what he wants to show me. that may not be the most i'm-a-theological-scholar-and-i'm-awesome study method, but it's helping me stay connected with God and learn more about His character. and it gives Him a chance to get me ready to get back out there and fight again.
to face my king saul again.
it's my rock of escape.
Created almost 2 years ago
