Hiding Places

For various reasons, this week has been very difficult and full of different emotions. In search of some form of encouragement, I was looking through Psalms this morning and stumbled upon (um, not a coincidence) a favorite "Lord I am in distress" psalm of mine. But as I read those familiar words something struck me differently today . . .

Psalm 55:1-2, 6-8:

1 Listen to my prayer, O God,
do not ignore my plea;
2 hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught

6 I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest -
7 I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.

The first time I read this psalm was in the midst of a very distressing time. I had actually formed the words, "I wish I could just fly away" in my head several times. The pain was so bad that I just wanted to escape, to find somewhere to hide for a while. So to find those words from the mouth of David (v. 6) was pretty comforting. Even the "man after God's own heart" craved a hiding place every now and then.

But then this is what struck me differently this morning: David says he would go far away and "stay in the desert".

Hmmm. The desert is not really high on my "Ideal Hiding Places" list. I'm thinking a nice Carribbean beach, a quiet forest, even a Starbucks would do. But not so much the desert. David was hurting so badly he seemed to actually prefer the desert to what he was going through at the time. Wow. That's some pretty deep hurt.

Well, it turns out the "man after God's own heart" really wasn't working in contradiction to his Creator in desiring a hiding place. He was just a bit off this time in the location.

Check out Psalm 57:1

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,
for in you my soul takes refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.

Actually, that's David speaking again. Sounds like he found a better alternative to the desert. Hiding under the protection of God - "in the shadow of your wings" - until all's clear sounds a whole lot better than hanging out in a desert.

When I read Ps 57:1 I imagine a huge, white, feathery wing and little ol' me huddled as far back under as I can possibly get. Outside a storm is wailing but God's promised I can hunker down right where I am until the storm has passed. How peaceful. How reassuring.

The question I have for myself now is, Why in the world do I continue to cast myself off into the desert (denial, wallowing, etc.) in an attempt to hide when I could rest under the shadow of the Almighty???

Time to dust that sand off my toes I think.