“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is by rock; in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
~ Psalm 18:2
Hi James and Ellen,
What do you do when you are really scared? Do you cry when you are really scared? Do you crawl under your bed to hide when you are really scared? Do you run to your dad and/or ma for help when you are really scared? Do you ask God for His help when you are really scared? How do you feel after you have been really scared? Do you want to cry because you are so relieved that nothing bad happened to you? Do you want to laugh because you are so happy that nothing bad happened to you? The first eight week summer team that your grandmaa and grandpaa led in Bolivia spent several days in a railroad town called San José. While the summer team was in San José, the summer team stayed in an empty house that was located across the street from the Christ-follower community church that is in San José. The Bolivia summer team did evening happenings in the San José Christ-follower community church. The Saturday night that the summer team was in San José – at just about midnight and after most every guy and gal on the Bolivia summer team had crawled into their sleeping bags, a drunk began to yell outside the house where the summer team was staying. Rita Graves – who your dad and your Aunt Lynn know, was on that summer’s summer team to Bolivia. Lisa is Afro-American. The drunk kept on yelling and yelling that he wanted the black gal. Rita and another gal were sleeping in their sleeping bags in a patio area outside the room where your grandmaa and grandpaa were sleeping. Rita and the other gal – when they heard the drunk yelling outside on the street, came hopping in their sleeping bags like a couple of bunny rabbits into the room where your grandmaa and grandpaa had been trying to sleep on air mattresses in their sleeping bags. Your grandpaa by this time was wide awake – wondering what he should do. The guys and gals on that summer’s summer team by this time were feeling scared. Todd Beck – who your dad and your Aunt Lynn also know, was traveling with that summer’s summer team. Your grandpaa decided to wake up Todd – who was still sleeping. Todd jumped up from where he was sleeping in his sleeping bag with his hands up ready to fight the drunk. Because your grandpaa could understand what the drunk was saying, your grandpaa asked Todd to listen to the drunk and . . . Todd went over to the street corner of the room and . . . after what seemed like forever, your grandpaa asked Todd what the drunk was yelling about out in the street. Todd told your grandpaa that he had been listening to a couple of drunks who were sitting on the cement steps that were right outside of where the summer team was staying. They expected that the drunk at any moment would try to break into the house where they were staying. When your grandpaa asked Todd what the drunks were talking about, Todd told your grandpaa that one of the drunks had just told the other drunk that ‘a crooked tree can never grow straight’. Your grandpaa thinks that this drunk was probably telling the other drunk that once a guy becomes a drunk, that the guy will always be a drunk. Your grandmaa was standing right behind your grandpaa when Todd told your grandpaa what the one drunk had said to the other drunk. When your grandmaa asked your grandpaa what Todd had told him, your grandpaa found that what Todd had told him to be so funny that he began to laugh so hard that he could not tell your grandmaa what Todd had told him. When your grandpaa was finally able to tell your grandmaa – and the guys and gals on that summer’s summer team, the guys and gals on the summer team thought it was funny, too. When the guys and gals on that summer’s summer team started to laugh, no one on the summer team was scared anymore of the drunk who was yelling outside the place where the summer team was staying that summer in San José.
David time after time had King Saul come after him – to kill him. In order to keep from being killed, David had to keep escaping King Saul. King Saul could never find David – to kill him. There came a time finally when David knew that he no longer had to be scared of King Saul. When King Saul was killed, David no longer needed to be scared of King Saul. What do you think that David did when David knew that there would be no more need to run from King Saul’s insane jealous hatred of him? David wrote a praise song to God – to sing to Him. Psalm 18 is this psalm song that David wrote. David wanted to tell God and he wanted all of God’s specially chosen guys and gals to know that he knew Who God was. David says in verse 2, “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is by rock; in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” David uses this psalm song to tell God that he loves Him. David uses this psalm song to praise God. David uses this psalm song to say how he felt with enemies all around him – enemies who were trying to kill him. David uses this psalm song to say how God divinely saved him from the enemies who were all around him – enemies who were set on killing him. David uses this psalm song to say how God has blessed him – by saving him from being killed and by keeping him blameless. David was a very happy, thankful guy when he wrote this psalm song.
Have you ever asked God to help you when you have been really scared? David would go to God for His help when he was scared. God protected David. God gave David victories. God filled David’s life with thankfulness and blessings. God to David was his Rock, his Fortress, his Deliverer, his Refuge, his Shield, his Horn of Salvation and his Stronghold. Rita for years now has been a missionary in Brazil. The experiences that Rita had when she was on a summer team in Bolivia helped in leading Rita to become a missionary. What has God been teaching you when you have been scared? What name would you use to describe God if God helped you after you became really scared?
Psalm 18 (214)