Pray to the One who Rescues You

Psalm 32:7

You are a hiding place for me;
From distress you deliver me;
With shouts of rescue you surround me.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking…” Y

ou will find these words familiar when you’re on board a plane that is about the take-off or land. All the passengers have to do is to stay in their seats (with seatbelts on of course), obey instructions, and let the pilot fly them to their destination.

My reflection on Psalms 32 gave me this image of deliverance. As much as the psalmist agonized over his sins (vv. 3-4), he is also assured that the Lord will deliver him when he confesses. All he needs to do is to obey instructions to admit his iniquities (vv. 5-6), then he will know that God will surround him with shouts of rescue (v. 7)

The word “rescue” (palat) in Hebrew is in the Piel form, which is used causatively in this case. This means that the psalmist will be caused to be delivered by the Lord, emphasizing that it is God who does the rescuing. The psalmist only needs to sit back, relax, and receive this rescue from God.

Me, I am quite a doer. I like to occupy myself, fix things, and help fill in gaps if I can. I would want to get things done and figure out solutions. Think of how you would self-medicate when you see the first symptoms. And self-medicate was what I did, as just this week I was having a terrible pain in my lower rib area. I was unable to sit or sleep well. I was drained mentally and not able to focus on my studies. I tried all ways to remove the pain. I stretched, took painkillers, and tried to mentally distract myself, all of which did not work.

Then I decided to pray instead of just relying on my own cleverness. As I prayed, I felt the pain subsiding, and I was able to sleep. I am not saying that one should not see a doctor, but ultimately, we need to turn to God, and this is what the Lord wanted to convict me of. “Ladies and gentlemen, listen to your Creator speaking…”

Ilango Yagambaram
(M.Div., Yr 2)