“I love you, Go…

“I love you, God—
you make me strong.
God is bedrock under my feet,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight.” – Psalm 18:1-2a (The Message)

I just read the above (and below) verses today from Psalm 18 in a whole new light!  The words “RESCUING KNIGHT” caught my eye.  I just blogged last week about Jesus being my “Knight in Shining Armor”!  Yes, there is such a thing as a rescuing knight, although this is so much more than just a fairy tale; it is a TRUE tale… reality, fact, certainty, actuality. HE rescued me (and can rescue you) from “the void in which I was drowning.”

I love “The Message” version of the Bible.  It sometimes just makes things so much easier for my brain to comprehend.  I like a lot of different versions, but sometimes this one just does it for me. It’s the one where I usually say “AHA!” and pull out my highlighter.  I love how the Word is so ALIVE and fresh/new.  I can read something today that didn’t mean the same thing to me yesterday or a year or ten years ago.  That’s just how cool God is.  He’s cool.  The great “I AM”… His word is eternal.  The Bible is a love story.  He is love.

Here is some more (the majority) of Psalm 18.  Just had to share it.  It means so much to me, and I feel like I could have written some of these same thoughts and feelings as David had, as if David and I would have been able to discuss life, lessons, fears, hopes, our God. David is such an example of God’s mercy, love, protection, and grace.  David was just a messed-up dude, but he had a heart for God.  We’re all just “messed-up people,” right (without God, that is)?

Here goes… a beautiful, heart-felt Psalm:

2b “My God—the high crag 
where I run for dear life,

    hiding behind the boulders,
    safe in the granite hideout.

3 I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty,
    and find myself safe and saved.

4-5 The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat;
    devil waters rushed over me.
Hell’s ropes cinched me tight;
    death traps barred every exit.

6 A hostile world! I call to God,
    I cry to God to help me.
From his palace he hears my call;
    my cry brings me right into his presence—
    a private audience!

14-15  God shoots his arrows—pandemonium!
    He hurls his lightnings—a rout!
The secret sources of ocean are exposed,
    the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered
The moment you roar in protest,
    let loose your hurricane anger.

16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way
    from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
    the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
    but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
    I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

20-24 God made my life complete
    when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
    he gave me a fresh start.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
    I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
    I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
    and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
    when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

25-27 The good people taste your goodness,
The whole people taste your health,
The true people taste your truth,
The bad ones can’t figure you out.
You take the side of the down-and-out,
But the stuck-up you take down a peg.

28-29 Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life;
    I’m blazing with glory, God’s glory!
I smash the bands of marauders,
    I vault the highest fences.

30 What a God! His road
    stretches straight and smooth.
Every God-direction is road-tested.
    Everyone who runs toward him
Makes it.

31-32 Is there any god like God?
    Are we not at bedrock?
Is not this the God who armed me,
    then aimed me in the right direction?
Now I run like a deer…

46-48 Live, God! Blessings from my Rock,
    my free and freeing God, towering!
This God set things right for me
    and shut up the people who talked back.
He rescued me from enemy anger,
    he pulled me from the grip of upstarts,
He saved me from the bullies.

49-50 That’s why I’m thanking you, God,
    all over the world.
That’s why I’m singing songs
    that rhyme your name.
God’s king takes the trophy;
    God’s chosen is beloved.
I mean David and all his children—
    always.

You protect me with salvation-armor;
    you hold me up with a firm hand,
    caress me with your gentle ways.
You cleared the ground under me
    so my footing was firm.

46-48 Live, God! Blessings from my Rock,
    my free and freeing God, towering!
This God set things right for me
    and shut up the people who talked back.
He rescued me from enemy anger,
    he pulled me from the grip of upstarts,
He saved me from the bullies.

49-50 That’s why I’m thanking you, God,
    all over the world.
That’s why I’m singing songs
    that rhyme your name.
God’s king takes the trophy;
    God’s chosen is beloved.
I mean David and all his children—
    always.”

God, thank you for rescuing me from myself! From my self-destructive ways. From my addictions. From my selfishness. I am human and I will keep messing up, and that’s okay!  You love me and you are my Knight in Shining Armor, always. You are not a crutch.  But you ARE my strength when I am weak.  You ARE my redeemer; you brought ME back from a pit.

I stood there saved—surprised to be loved! (even though I knew in my HEAD that HE loves me… but NOW I know it in my heart!) 

God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him.

Thank you Papa!