I recently learned something about myself. I have a fear of being trapped. It goes way back, but, until recently, I had never stopped long enough to think and pray about it. When I finally did, I was surprised by how many times it has surfaced in my life without my seeing the pattern. Example? Lying on my back on an MRI machine and being told to be still (for 30 minutes!). Are you kidding? Sitting still has never been a viable option for me. “Quit fidgeting. Be still!” AHHH. Trapped in stillness. Makes me fidget to think about it.
So, what if I were a vulnerable little bird walking along pecking up my lunch, not a care in the world, and suddenly my left leg is snagged and won’t come forward. Snared. Trapped. My worst nightmare. Then I look up to the face of the giant above me licking his lips and feel his hand reaching around my neck. It’s lunch time and I’m the main course. I am a vulnerable bird who has stepped into a snare whose captor plans to pluck, cook, and eat. No escape.
This is the image of David’s song. He had probably been the guy with the snare out in the woods taking care of the sheep and hoping for a pheasant dinner, but now he is thinking about the plight of the snared bird.
“We have escaped out of the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
God rescues the vulnerable. There have been times he set me free from the snares of slander, misunderstanding, disappointment and discouragement. He still redeems me when I wander from the path he has laid out for me. The Maker of heaven and earth, my Maker, releases the noose of the enemy’s lies and renews my mind by his amazing grace.
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” II Corinthians 3:17
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36