YHWH my God, in you do I take refuge; Save me from all my pursuers and deliver me. Lest like a lion someone tears my body apart: one tearing in pieces, but not one delivering.
The contrast. The difference. Where can I hide my body and soul? I am hunted. Confronted. My Adam-born instinct is to hide in order to save my body and soul. From God? From man? They are both chasing and pursuing me.
But to be caught and devoured by the lions who seek me, that is entirely different than being caught by my Creator, who seeks me. They tear and separate and bite me to shreds. But YHWH chases me with relief.
YHWH my God, If I have done this, If there is wrong in my hands, If I have repaid my friend with evil If I plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
And from this place of rest, I can honestly assess this situation. I can call a thing what it is, a sin a sin, a mistake, my iniquity. YHWH, if I have done wrong, let the evil pay its consequence to me. From this shelter of safety, I look out our the horizon and see what is right and wrong. The chasm between righteousness and evil is clear. From this vantage point there are no blurry lines.
And yet, this is a bold death sentence I proclaim upon myself.
Because I am not blameless. I have not lived with love and compassion. I have hurt and not helped those who needed it from me. I may have done things better than the enemies of God, but can I say I’m perfect?
Selah
Exhale.
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