No More Hiding

Earth rumbled. Mountains trembled. Smoke streamed from flaring nostrils. Fire spewed from his mouth, igniting coals. He broke through the darkness with hailstones, fire, and a thunderous voice. Swift arrows flew, along with a multitude of lightning flashes. Water rushed. The world stood bare.

Sounds like a scene from a fantasy novel or movie, doesn't it?

But the image couldn't have been more real for the psalmist David who cried out to the LORD for deliverance from his enemies, and from Saul, in particular. For 20 plus years, Saul hounded the threat to his throne--David, the one God had anointed through Samuel as the future monarch of His people.

Out of the depths of despair, God, David's rock, refuge, shield, horn of his salvation, and stronghold, rushed on "wings of the wind" (Psalm 18:10b) to rescue His beloved from the jaws of the enemy. In His anger at those who would attack His chosen one, the LORD in full fury personally and swiftly arrived to vindicate and deliver David.

David's humble testimony leaps off the pages of Scripture.

He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.  
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my stay.
He brought me forth also into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
-Psalm 18:17-19

No longer did David need to cloister in caves or hide in the clefts of the rock. THE Rock had crushed his enemy and ushered him into an open place. The Benson Commentary says it well: "Out of my straits and difficulties; out of little caves in which I was shut up and imprisoned; into a large place" (BibleHub.com). Indeed, He brought David into a place of freedom because He crushed the enemy before him!

I believe the LORD wants to do the same for us who battle the enemy of our souls, the evil one who longs to defeat us with his lies and hold us captive to do his bidding. God wants to deliver us from the bondage of sin and bring us to an open place of freedom. No more hiding! Because the enemy is conquered through the power of the LORD. 

In the verses that follow, David acknowledged his righteousness, that he kept himself from his iniquity. How tempting it must've been to retaliate when pressured by Saul's pursuit. Being the mighty warrior David was, he could've easily reached out his hand against the LORD'S anointed. However, for that very reason, in the integrity of his heart, he could not, even though on at least two specific occasions, Saul was within reach and in David's power to kill. David chose not to sin against Saul and departed from those close encounters with clean hands.

We play a part in God's deliverance over sin. As the Holy Spirit sheds light on specific sins to confess and forsake, we participate with the LORD in our growth process. Charles Spurgeon, preacher and author, once wrote, "Be resolved in the power of the Holy Spirit that this particular sin shall be overcome. There is nothing like hanging it up by the neck, that very sin, I mean. Do not fire at sin indiscriminately; but, if thou hast one sin that is more to thee than another, drag it out from the crowd, and say, 'Thou must die if no other does. I will hang thee up in the face of the sun.'" That is ruthless treatment of sin in our lives, and in reality, no less will do. Otherwise, we play games, minimize, rationalize, trivialize, and criticize others for the very sins to which we fall prey. Far worse, we fail to make substantive progress as Christ followers.

With David, let's cry out to the LORD for deliverance from our enemy while working with Him to put to death the sin that so easily besets us, knowing that He wants us to experience that place of freedom. The place where we no longer need to hide because He has delivered us.

Thus, we can celebrate from a place of strength and victory. The enemy had no power over David, nor does he have power over us, as long as we yield ourselves to God who has promised to do His good work within us!