Bible in a Year - Psalm 124 - Safe


I regularly see herons (maybe the same one) at the lake where Scout and I often walk in the mornings. And no matter what, if I get too close, the heron flies off. This image was from about a week ago of the heron as the sun was just starting to rise and I got closer than I have gotten before it flew off across the lake. The bird doesn’t know that I am not a threat and so it is just doing what it naturally should do.
Psalm 124 (which I read this morning) ends with these words...
We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
- Psalm 124:7-8
These last two verses are at the end of the Psalm which reflects upon how God had protected the people from enemies overwhelming them like a flood or like a predator attacking. It is in the context of the Psalms of Ascent - a series of songs that were thought to have been sung as people would ascend the hill into Jerusalem at the festival times. So, as they are ascending, they are recounting their experiences of God’s love, power, and protection as they prepare to offer their thanksgivings.
As I read these words, I thought of that heron. Standing there, but believing that danger was near, it escaped and flew to a place that this crazy guy with a camera and a dog couldn’t reach.
I am grateful for the times that I can echo those words of the Psalmist - times when I do feel that I have found myself safe and I can echo those last two lines - “my help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” But even as I write that and give thanks, I am praying for those who don’t feel safe for whatever reason it might be. People who are under threat simply because of who they are. People in war-torn regions where safety is short lived. People who are in relationships that they feel no way to escape. People who have been victimized in the past and the echoes of that trauma continues to grip them. I could keep going.
May you find that place of safety. May you be able to fly off from that danger to a place that the danger can no longer reach you. Or even more so, may the danger be taken away so you no longer need to fly away and you can live in peace and in rest.