Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered. . . . for human help is worthless. (Ps. 60:5, 11)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 60
We all have scars. Some of us have physical scars from accidents and injury. It is obvious to anyone who sees them that we have been hurt. The day before my first birthday, I pulled a percolator of coffee onto my lap. My scars still readily identify me as a burn victim. Others have invisible scars. Trauma and pain from emotional or physical abuse are hidden from view. Those scars are no less real than mine.
King David and his armies fought the Arameans of northwest Mesopotamia and Syria. After the battle, he wrote a song to teach the Israelites the lessons learned. He honestly and humbly confessed to battle scars. David knew that God had been angry with their idolatry and apathy and his presence was no longer with them in battle. His absence made victory impossible. David carried the emotional scars caused by his separation from God’s protection and was confessing his need for God.
Sometimes it takes disappointment and defeat to make us realize that there is only one who can deliver us. Reliance on human help shows us just how fallible we all are. There is only one who never fails. We walk in wisdom as we trust in the Lord and lean on him, the Rock eternal (Isa. 26:4). He saves us in the battle and his grace is greater than all our scars.
Trust Jesus to heal and to save.
Priscilla Hammond is an ordained pastor and associate professor in the Benson School of Business at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
