Psalm 18: ¹ I love you, O Lord, my strength. ² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies. ⁴ The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me; ⁵ the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. ⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 

Verses 4-6 particularly get my attention this morning. The heading of Psalm 18 in the NRSV translation says, “A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.”

Saul was the king of Israel before David. Saul, feeling threatened by David, tried to have David killed – despite the fact David had faithfully served Saul for years. Saul came very, very close to catching David, but he never did.

Read v.4-6 again.

We see this sort of thing over and over in scripture. God honors the covenant with Israel for protection and provision, but often at the last possible moment. Are you in need right now? Don’t give up brothers and sisters in Christ. Call out to the Lord, for the Lord is listening. Lord let it be so. Amen.