No Matter How Lost, We Will Be Rescued

by Eric Elkin

“Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen
you have rescued me.”

— Psalm 22:21

The ocean is a wild and mysterious thing. The view of the water from the shore is alluring and magical. One feels immediately drawn to allow their feet to be caressed by incoming waves. The scenery and feel are peaceful and calming. If you are lucky, you can see dolphins playing along the shore.

Yet, for me, the longer I gaze out upon that tremendous mysterious expanse, the more vulnerable I feel. I am not a sea person, so my fears about the ocean may seem trite to sailors. When people on a ship lose sight of the shore, how do they find their way home? Where do people go to be rescued when out in the deep water? What is under the surface that I cannot see?

Last week, our family sat on a deck in Florida eating seafood. The day was cold, and the clouds were dark. Still, it was a nice break from the brutally freezing temperatures of Minnesota. Our son, a U.S. Air Force servicemen, identified the different planes flying over the water and along the shore. After a while, it struck us; these were search and rescue crafts. Someone was lost at sea.

Our son checked his phone and learned the missing person was a kayaker—obviously, a person who drifted too far from the shore and became disoriented. Now, in my mind, the ocean became even more menacing. How will they ever be able to see a craft so small in that great big ocean? I wondered if the kayaker knew they needed rescue.

“Often, we ignore the fact that our spiritual condition and psychological state of mind are highly affected by what is happening to us physically. Sometimes depression is simply the result of exhaustion.”

— Tony Campolo

Being lost at sea is a clear and present danger. Most likely, someone knows to go looking for you. It is a different story for those lost in the daily routine of life. People in this condition feel alone. Not even those around them can see how they are drifting along, hoping for a rescue.

Not everyone who is lost is in a state of deep depression. Sometimes it is just a paralysis of conditions. Trying to live fully in the midst of COVID restrictions leaves me in a state of paralysis. While I can still see hope, I do feel a need for rescue. Perhaps, that is why the sea looked so ominous to me last week.

Theologian Joel LeMon, from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, made an interesting observation about Psalm 22:21. He noted that in Hebrew, the perfect verb tense indicates rescue activity is a completed action yet to come. Meaning, the psalmist describes confidence “in the reality of the rescue — even if the rescue has yet to happen.”

My rescue these past few weeks has been found in the silence of our Wednesday prayer service. The gift of listening to words of hope and promises of being saved brings calm to my soul. The presence of others reminds me I am not alone. Psalm 22 serves to remind us of the same thing. Wherever we find ourselves, we will be rescued. And, we are not alone. Nor are we lost at sea, desperate for a rescue craft to find us. The one searching to help is there with you.

Click to read Psalm 22: 19-31