From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke,
O LORD,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
The past couple of months have just seemed like a blah time for me. I just felt so unhappy without reason. I could look at all of the good things happening in my life, but I didn't feel excited about any of them; I just felt like I had started drowning in this deep sorrow that I didn't understand. This past weekend was the one of the worst times. My emotions were on a roller coaster and I didn't understand what was going on. And then Sunday night I just gave up. (I am so grateful that God never gives up on me and that he has also blessed me with friends who won't either.) I talked things over with a friend and started to feel hopeful. Then this week has just steadily improved. But, if someone asked I couldn't put my finger on what had happened to make it change--and to be honest, I was a little worried at first and didn't want to enjoy this new sense of peace because I was afraid it wouldn't last. But, it has. And it has only increased since then.
There were two nights this week when it was storming all night--thunder, lightning, the works--and I felt such peace in listening to it. Then tonight I read Psalm 18. As I was feeling like the waters were closing in on me, the Lord stormed down from heaven and rescued me. This is an incredible affirmation of his love for me. And now I know why this week has improved--why my general outlook on life has improved--he has saved me!! He delights in me. He doesn't want to see me drown and so he has defeated my foe and given me peace and hope in place of fear and depression.
Hallelujah
