Have you ever felt trapped, hemmed in, or cornered? Not too long ago, I watched the movie “San Andreas”. There was a very intense scene where a young woman became trapped in a car that was being crushed by giant chunks of falling concrete. A massive earthquake had caused parts of the roof to collapse and fall on the vehicles in the parking garage. With her legs trapped under the floorboard of the front seat, the roof of her car began to cave in. There was no way for her to pull herself out. She needed HELP! She needed RESCUE!
I imagine this type of thing commonly happens in horrible earthquakes. There is always footage of rescuers scouring caved in buildings looking for signs of life. Miraculously, there have been people rescued after being trapped for days in very small, tight spaces. As for me, I’m a bit claustrophobic, so that just sounds horrific!! Buried under an immense pile of rubble, trapped in a tiny space, not even room enough to move around, sounds like a nightmare! Thank God for the brave men and women who often risk their own lives to RESCUE those who are TRAPPED!
Many Biblical heroes felt “hemmed in”, in jeopardy, trapped in a tight circumstance, and the Lord heard their cry, reached down, and delivered them into WIDE OPEN SPACES. Many of the Psalms were written with this kind of language.
Psalm 18: From on high God reached down and grabbed me;
he took me out of all that water.
17 God saved me from my powerful enemy,
saved me from my foes,
who were too much for me.
18 They came at me on the very day of my distress,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out to wide-open spaces;
he pulled me out safe
because he is pleased with me.
Psalm 118: In tight circumstances, I cried out to the Lord.
The Lord answered me with wide-open spaces.
6 The Lord is for me—I won’t be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?
In the book of 1st Samuel 24, the Biblical hero David, who would later become KING DAVID, is squirreled away, trapped, hiding in a deep, dark cave from the wrath of King Saul, who sought to take his life. At one time, David and Saul had been very close friends, but Saul grew jealous of David. Learning of Saul’s murderous intentions, David fled. Saul gathered together 3000 men (army) to pursue David with the intention of killing him. Can you imagine? Three thousand men to pursue just one man? Saul and his men arrived at the cave where David and his friends were hiding. Not realizing that David was inside of the cave, Saul stopped there to “relieve himself”. In so doing, he made himself completely vulnerable should David decide to launch a surprise attack.
1 Samuel 24: 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.
In that moment, David learned of Saul’s vulnerability and realized that he had a prime opportunity to take the life of his enemy. As a matter of fact, David’s men even informed him that Saul had been “delivered into David’s hand”. What did David do? Did he kill King Saul when he had the chance? He had been hiding in that cave for some time. I can imagine that David had a strong desire to be free of the fear that had him bound up, hemmed in, confined to a small space.
1 Samuel 24:4 The men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly.
David was able to sneak out of the cave and secretly cut off the edge of King Saul’s robe. However, David then felt badly about cutting Saul’s cloak, so David determined in his heart that he would NOT harm Saul, even though Saul, had sought to kill David. David would not allow his men to lay a hand on King Saul, because Saul had been anointed by God.
Psalm 105:15: “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”
Because of David’s obedience and respect for God’s Word, God did indeed deliver Saul into David’s hand, and David was brought out into a wide open space.
1 Samuel 24: Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept.17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you. 18 You have declared today that you have done good to me, that the Lord delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day.
David left the cave that day! King Saul, appreciating the fact that David did not kill him when he had the chance, gave up trying to kill David. Because David had been obedient to God, he no longer had to run and hide in a cave, he was FREE! God delivered David into a “wide open space”.
When we feel trapped, hemmed in, surrounded on every side, sometimes it’s hard to even breathe. But, when the situation changes, we feel we can breathe again, that we are no longer constrained—we are free to roam the wide open spaces of God’s deliverance and grace.
The Hebrew for salvation is yasha, which means ‘to bring into a wide open space.’ יָשַׁע yâshaʻ, yaw-shah’; a primitive root; properly, to be open, wide or free, i.e. (by implication) to be safe; causatively, to free or succor; avenging, defend, deliver(-er), help, preserve, rescue, be safe, bring (having) salvation, save(-iour), get victory.
The name “Jesus” comes from the Hebrew word Yehoshua , which is derived from yasha’, which is the Hebrew word most frequently translated “salvation.”
Sometimes our flesh bodies can feel like a trap, like we’re hemmed in with pain, with disability, with illness. God understands our pain. Jesus Himself suffered severe pain and anguish on the Cross, one of the most painful, torturous ways to die. While He was literally being suffocated from the weight of all of our sin, He only thought of one thing...RESCUING US! Because Jesus was willing to walk the narrow path, the difficult path, and die the suffocating, painful death, we can be RESCUED and delivered into a wide open space. No longer trapped by our circumstances, no longer confined by our pain, no longer under the penalty of death for breaking God’s Laws, we have a LIFELINE in Yeshua (Jesus), our SAVIOR. Soon and very soon, the Trumpet will SOUND and we will be changed, fully delivered into a Wide Open Space, FREE to RUN, and DANCE and REJOICE! Pain, suffering, sickness, death, will be a thing of the past.
Psalm 91: Because he (or she) has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 “With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.” ( yĕshuw`ah – Delivered into Wide Open Spaces )
When we love Jesus, when we KNOW Him and are KNOWN by Him, He will RESCUE us from our penned in, trapped circumstances where enemies surround us on every side! He will set us SECURELY on High, into a WIDE OPEN SPACE. Best of all, God will let us SEE, let us EXPERIENCE HIS YESHUWAH, HIS SALVATION! (JESUS)! Hallelujah!! (Praise be to YHWH)!
Revelation 21:4: and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
1/25/2021…..This was written almost two years ago, and boy does it have special significance today! I don’t know about you, but the Covid and the lockdowns have me feeling very “penned in” and TRAPPED. That’s the word for it….TRAPPED! That silent enemy “Covid 19” is LURKING around every corner, seeking whom it may devour! We’re in the “Long dark winter” where we can’t even go out and sit in the sunshine. Our normal routine no longer exists because we are risking our lives to go into a store, a restaurant, or any of the usual places that we go. We are isolated from friends and family, TRAPPED….HEMMED IN! Yes, this describes EXACTLY how we feel! But soon and VERY SOON, the Lord Jesus Christ will be bringing us into WIDE OPEN SPACES! This sounds SO GOOD!!! Come Lord Jesus!!! 💖🙏🥰
