Wednesday 2nd December

The Lord reached down! - Psalm 18 vs 1 - 3
 
1 I love you, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and I have been saved from my enemies.
 
No one would have believed this time last year that by Christmas 2020 trendy facemasks would be the ‘must have’ fashion accessory. They are...and with them we find ourselves living under a dark shadow with only a glimmer of light. Just maybe this Advent season could be an opportunity to regain some sense of the true Light which shines out brightly in the very darkest of days.
 
In Psalm 18 David is reflecting on his life. It wasn’t an easy journey. There were very dark periods. He was king over a very rebellious nation who were difficult at the best of times...and who were supposed to be the people of God! His average working day was stressful plus. So, how did David cope with this?
 
He looked back at past blessings and deliverances from God and allowed these to shape his view and understanding of the world around him, rather than the things he had to face day and daily. In this Advent season of waiting for Christmas, we might find such reflection extremely helpful.
 
David re-discovered that God was his strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, horn of salvation (powerful), stronghold. He perhaps sums it all up in 18:16, “He [God] reached down from on high and took hold of me.” God was always present in the circumstances of his life.
 
In these times of human uncertainty, we might consider that God has “reached down from on high” right into our lives. Maybe we haven’t paid enough attention to how He has accomplished this; that He reached down for us, “the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us” (Gal.2:20). The Word [Jesus] became flesh in the womb of a young girl, was born in the darkest of social conditions in Bethlehem and became a refugee from a fanatically jealous petty king. Thirty years later, He began to shine as the Light of the World, and the darkness fought back but it could not put Him down. Then He delivered us...became all the things that David had discovered the Lord to be...through the drama of the cross, “...at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom.5:6).
 
This Advent season, amid all the uncertainty, what is shaping your worldview? Is it the Covid-19 news deluge, or will you look to the God who has “reached down from on high,”...Jesus...and declare that He is, in fact, all the things that David said He was? The choice you make will determine how you get through these dark days.