Playing baseball growing up, I loved running the bases. The best was when there was going to be a close play, so you had to slide and reach out your hands and the umpire called ‘safe!’
Being safe is still a very wonderful things today – even if it’s not while playing baseball. I want to be safe at home. Safe with my family. Safe from disease. Safe from harm. But how can one be safe?
Our friend in Psalm 119 is focusing his next eight verses on being safe. Before we consider how we can be safe, let’s look at the dangers facing him: Double-minded people, evildoers, deceitful, wicked. The idea here is not just that these people happen to be around our friend, but leave him alone. No, these are the people around him and out to get him. These types of people are those threatening the Psalmist. I would imagine the deceitful, double minded ones are the most difficult, because they would pretend to be your friends.
So, how can someone be safe when surrounded by such people? How do you know who to trust? Who really is your friend, and who is just merely pretending so that they can hurt you later?
Verse 117 is the key to answering this question:
Uphold me that I may be safe, that I may have regard for Your statutes continually.
Psalm 119:117
Safe is the idea of being rescued, delivered, saved. It’s pulling you away from imminent danger. This only happens because of God’s action. He is the one who upholds or supports our friend. The Psalmist prays for God to be His rescuer and savior. That doesn’t mean the Psalmist is quivering in a corner, doing nothing but praying. He is praying, but he is also using wisdom from God’s Word. But the key is that the Psalmist is trusting in God, not in himself or anyone else.
The final thought is what the Psalmist does when safe. It’s not about relaxing. Or being comfortable. Or even getting on with life. It’s about being obedient to God’s Word. He wants to be safe so that he can follow what the Scriptures tell him to do.
What about you? How can you be safe? Why do you want to be safe? What will you do when you are safe?