When you need to be pulled right out of that net

I open the Word. And the psalmist speaks. “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in thy righteousness.” Inside, I’m nodding.

“Bow down thine ear to me.” The old, familiar cadence, it wraps me like a comforter, warming, peaceful. “Deliver me speedily…for thou art my rock and my fortress.”  In a world that’s shifting and changing, this –this – is security. For God is a rock and a fortress strong.

“Pull me out of the net that they have laid, for thou art my strength.”  Ah, yes. Yes!  The net…

“Lord,” I breathe into the coming autumn chill, heart thrumming with the shepherd boy’s plea, “I beg You – do this for me. Pull me from the net.”

Now He speaks. “You don’t have to beg.” In my mind’s eye, the Lord Christ is smiling, leaning forward. “I’m eager to do it. I can’t wait to do this for you!” He’s light, radiant, straining, as though He’s been holding back. And maybe He has.

But now I’m desperate. And He is thrilled. He can’t wait to pull me from the net. He, the rock and fortress, is my deliverer, my strength.

I read on. “I will be glad and rejoice…for thou hast considered my trouble. Thou hast known my soul in adversities and hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy.” Oh, He knows. He knows! Knows the trouble. Knows the trials. Knows the net, the misery and the enemy. He knows.

In grand crescendo, the shepherd boy and I, we’re singing, “And you have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large room.”

The sun, it’s crested the trees and the chicken coop. It’s shining full, spreading warmth over the broad and spacious green. And its beams, reaching in to the place where I sit, kiss my face.

I don’t know what your ‘net’ is today. Fear? Depression? Gossip? Hatred? Strife? Poverty? He knows.

I don’t know who’s laid it for you, either, whether it’s the enemy of your soul and his henchmen or whether your adversaries, they wear skin. No matter. For God, your rock and redeemer, can pull you out of the net. He has not shut you up into their hands, but He will set your feet in a large room. Ask Him. He can’t wait to do it.