Hunkering down

To the Chief Musician. Set to "Do Not Destroy." a Michtam of David When He Fled from Saul into the Cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. - Psalm 57v1

Sometimes the calamities of life get so bad that we just really feel like we cannot cope. I think we have all been there. We know the truth that we have to get up, to stand, to hold on, or to fight back. That's great, it is wonderful, it is Biblical.

But sometimes the storms and calamities are just too much.

I think back less than fortnight when the storms battered North Alabama. As wave after wave hit there was nothing people in the paths could do about it. All anyone could do was to find a safe place, hunker down, and wait it out.

This is the kind of situation David addresses here. I normally kind of skip over the introductions to the psalms, but this one sets the stage for the psalm itself. The psalm was set to the tune of 'Do Not Destroy.' David wrote it when he was hiding from Saul in a cave. He was physically hunkering down.

While there he makes a wonderful application. He asked God for mercy. He trusted God. Finally, he 'hunkered down' under God's protective wings until the current calamity had passed.

I wish I was a writer sometimes. I can think of the wonderful picture of tiny birds sheltering themselves under their mother's wing when a storm hits. I can see her gathering them and settling in preparing for the winds and rains to strike. I can see the wind howling and the rain pelting down an her as she protects her children. I just can't put that down in flowery writing and picturesque words.

But hopefully you get the picture. No matter how bad the storms we can find protection. We are not just crawling into a cold, hard cave or storm shelter. While the worst storms are raging we can find protection under the loving wings of the one who can always keep us safe.

'Till the storm passes over. Till the thunder sounds no more. Till the clouds roll forever from the sky' God offers us the protection of His wing.

Sometimes we just need to shelter there.