Shadows Seeking

Psalm 34:2, 6-7, 19-22

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

It has often been said that Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 describe the Lord best in all of Scripture. Yet if these are the only places you can find him, something is indeed wrong. See, the matter of the Messiah is promised often in older manuscripts, particularly those pertaining to the Old Testament. Now either the Lord was lying, or something very different was going on. Which of all things, we know the Lord cannot lie as in Hebrews 6:18. The text says it is impossible for him to do. So, in another place of Hebrews 6:13, when questions arose, he swore by himself and none greater. Certainly, these two Scriptures make up the two witnesses to him required by Mosaic law. Still, it would be nice to have a third. You know, just in case the first two had mental difficulties, were deemed unfit or found to be unfaithful witnesses. I can see this poor man now raising his head. David, still on the run from Saul, says 'you over there look sad; what is it?' The poor man replied with the following text which David will then share in between puffed breaths of praise as he is sitting by the night campfires of his own way. Often some have compared the Word to a mirror of which to look inside. Note that you can see the poor man, but he cannot yet see you. There is still some troubling going on, even if the Lord does save him from them all. Look with me at it now if you will.

My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

Now there is this matter of a soul. I am aware of the feminine gender being used here to describe it. But are these not also feminine emotions being discussed. In that day showing emotions were considered to be not quite right. Unless of course you did so with your clothes removed, hair covered in ashes, and a questionable sackcloth applied. I realize that these things might sound rather strange to us today. Nonetheless, such was the custom of those times. Even the law itself prescribed it in a few cases which tradition also dictated. See it used in Isaiah 58:5, for example, when men brought ill news from the Lord. You might be muttering to yourself, 'I fail to see what this has to do with anything.' Hold up for a moment, will you. I am getting there. See, such were outer signs of an inner thing. Just so, the body is an outer shell which holds the soul. Even so does a mirror form a reflection of the one looking deep inside. Whether male or female then, it matters not. For is not God both the mother and the father to them that need it. Look now, this soul has been captured as though in a net or a snare somehow. Yet by the Lord will it be free again. You might wonder as do I about who is speaking. Patience now. Remember as in the Song of Solomon, captured things take a little time to reveal themselves.

The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

Look on now, for these two are not alone. There is a whole camp listening to David tell the story of this man. For in it, you can also see the story of himself. Yet there also remains another to be heard. It is all about Jesus. There is something about that man and it is more than centuries of his followers, deeds committed in his name, or decades of trauma at the hands of the Jewish people. So is he more than the nail marks and the sword prints which identity him. Clerics cannot define him. The ages could not stop him. Not even death itself could hold him. Herein is the presence of the angel. At Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, the devil quoted him this from Psalm 91:11-12 which reads in part, "he will give his angels charge over thee," "lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Nor is this presence specific to the poor man only. Rather it extends to all those that possess a fear of God. It might not be much, yet it still will keep you better than anything I know. How many of you know that you might have little to nothing; but even then, you still have him. Better still, this angel knows where you are at. David and his men might be hiding in the middle of the woods around a secret campfire. Even there unknown to any, this angel pitches tent and bedroll. When you think there is no escape and no way out, God still delivers. This angel is not merely of the do-nothing sort. Nor is it a sympathy keeper as were Job's three friends. Notice how the text calls it an angel of the Lord. In those times, you could not be sure whether this meant an angel or actually the Lord. Nonetheless, should you have need of more, the Lord is present too.

He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

The missing verse in the middle describes the fate of the wicked. So seriously does God take the safety of his people as well as the actions of others. See, someone somewhere bore responsibility for the fate of this poor man. Here he is found in a campsite among David's men, a captured soul. It appears he was in such a state that even his very bones were in danger of being broken. Here this poor man has made his cry into the Lord of all. So now this angel keeps his life with such power that even his body keeps its own integrity. So, the Lord redeems the souls of them all. David and his men might be in a fix now. But when God is through, they will not be for long. This poor man also was down and out today. Yet when tomorrow comes, the Lord will redeem even his soul. You might be facing hard times right now. Nor will such be for long no matter how long the trials of the night may last. Now this poor man will have you know that his soul is captive in desolate places no longer. Due of the power of the Lord it will be so. For so should each of you trust in the testimony given by this suffering man of himself. Therein I see the sound of the broken, the testimony of the ages. Only such a man that suffered has the power to save. For as David himself testifies, "none that trust in" this poor man will "be desolate." Now I know not what you believe nor yet what your personal pet philosophies are. But only one man, Jesus Christ the Messiah meets this testimony of himself right where you are. Come and see for yourself today. He is the best Redeemer that I know.