“In my distress I called to Adonai;
yes, I called to my God.
Out of his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry entered his ears.”
-2 Samuel 22:7
We are continuing on with the visions of distress David is expressing as he cries out to God for help.
He speaks of the “ropes of Sheol” binding him and dragging him down.
Recall that Sheol was considered the underworld of death, located deep in the bowels of the earth.
David is expressing the ultimate degree of anguish here when he was certain he was about to take his last breath.
Yet, just at that instant when all hope was lost, David cried out to the Lord to be rescued.
David refers to God as “my Elohim.”
This is powerful.
David is distinguishing between his God and all the other gods of the nations around him.
The strong imagery continues.
We’re told the Lord heard David “out of His Temple.”
To substitute some key Hebrew words here, what David really uttered was…
“The Lord SHEMA David out of His HEKAL.”
SHEMA is heard, and HEKAL is the temple or the Lord’s heavenly abode.
Remember, no earthly temple had been constructed at this time.
The Lord sees the trouble David is in.
And that the evil one is trying to destroy him.
So He acts.
And when the Lord acts, all of nature reacts!
So that’s your takeaway for today.
I love how personal this is!
David didn’t just call on a god.
He called on his God.
That’s covenant language.
That’s relationship.
And that’s what I want to remind you of today:
If you’ve entered into a covenant relationship with the Almighty…
And you call on the Lord to rescue you…
All the forces of Heaven lean in.
So the next time the ropes of Sheol start tightening…
Don’t panic.
Pray.
Because the same God who SHEMA’d David…
Still listens from His HEKAL today.
Done.
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