“Daddy!” The piercing cry made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Toby, my five-year-old, had been sitting quietly watching me work. I spun round to see his arms flailing. The angry buzzing told me all I needed to know: wasps. Everywhere.
Wrapping my body around his, I ran to the house. After applying ointment and checking for major reactions, we counted the stings—four ugly red blobs. We’d had no idea there was a wasps’ nest at the end of our garden.
King David feared hidden dangers too: “The arrogant have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net” (Psalm 140:5). He couldn’t anticipate every secret scheme by his enemies to destroy his rule and reputation.
Perhaps you know this fear too—people in your home or workplace wanting to trip you up in your faith because you follow Jesus. Or maybe you are conscious of the daily hidden dangers of illness, accidents and loss.
Yet our hope is the same as David’s: “Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle” (v. 7). No danger is hidden from Him. God is never unprepared for battle. He uses the plans of those who wish us harm for His own purposes, and He carries us protectively through the storm of life’s ‘stings’.
We don’t know what dangers lurk today, but we cling to One who does.
By Chris Wale
REFLECT & PRAY
What hidden dangers are worrying you at the moment? How can you entrust them to the Lord and rest in His deliverance?
Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that You are always with me. No dangers or problems can sneak up on You; in Your presence I find refuge, strength and peace.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The book of Psalms is Israel’s poetry and songbook that captures the human experience and emotions of the psalmists as they seek to trust God in the midst of life’s struggles and pains. David wrote many of the psalms during difficult seasons to remind himself that the Lord was his refuge and shield. Despite the dangers and threats to his life, David was fully confident of God’s protection, deliverance and sustenance: “I lie down and sleep. . . . I will not fear” (Psalm 3:5–6). David experienced the “perfect peace” promised in Isaiah 26:3 that comes through trusting God.
K. T. Sim
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