2 Samuel 22:20 (NIV)
He brought me out into a spacious place;
He rescued me because he delighted in me.
The picture I see when imagining the spacious place is of a beautiful
mountain meadow. It stretches as far as the eye can see with beautiful
vistas of spacious places beyond the one I find myself in. Mountain
peaks and valley depths both visible from this vantage, remain at a
distance. The spacious place is neither a lofty height nor a dreary
depth. It is a wide-open field, a safe place (2 Sam 22:20 MSG), a place
of comfort, a place without restriction (Job 36:16 NIV).
And in this safe place there is a table prepared for me (Job 36:16
MSG). God has wooed me from the jaws of distress (Job 36:16 NIV) and
danger (Job 36:16 MSG) and drawn me to the comfort of a table laden
with choice food and blessings in that spacious place.
God’s motivation in rescuing me is not some dysfunctional need
to rescue and enable, but rather just the delight he has for me. So
when I find myself in the jaws of distress and danger it’s not my
“goodness” and obviously not my wisdom that somehow merits my being
rescued. It is simply his delight in me, at my most vulnerable, undone,
at the end of my rope, messy and ugly moment. It may be easy to delight
in me when I’m on my best behaviour, but when I’m in the jaws of
distress and danger, I’ve probably done something stupid to find myself
there! And still he provides a place, spacious and safe, free of
restrictions and full of good things, just for me, because he delights
in this woman in all her humanity.
Job 36:16 says that he is wooing me to this spacious place. He doesn’t
demand my presence or take advantage of my precarious situation, he
woos me. He is calling me away from the jaws of danger and distress and
inviting me to a table filled with choice food and blessings. But I
have a choice, and as obvious as the choice may seem, I have often
turned my back on that invitation and chosen to stand dangerously close
to those jaws of distress. But his delight in me continues to compel
him to woo me to that safe and spacious place, and when I finally turn
towards his warm and persuasive voice and take those first steps away
from my peril, I have already begun to enter that spacious place. I
imagine him taking both my hands in his, him walking backwards, keeping
my gaze, and drawing me to a most wondrous sight, the spacious place.
I wondered if this spacious place God has prepared for me is really
himself? It is a place that is wide-open, free of restrictions,
comfortable, safe, and a place I am loved. I imagine that being in
God’s presence would be very much like that. And within this spacious
place, my God, is a table laden with choice food, a table burdened with
blessings waiting for me.
I see him, not at the end of the table, but right in the middle, with
room on either side of him for me to come close. Gone are the dangerous
jaws of distress, instead I sit beside my rescuer, as close as I can
possibly get. His compassion for my foolishness, his mercy for my
folly, his delight in my acceptance to his invitation is evidenced by
the grin on his face. I am about to partake of the things he has
prepared for me. These choice foods and bountiful blessings have been
provided for me and he waits for me to enjoy them. I battle my
unworthiness in being invited to such a lavish display of love and yet
he continues to woo me to the table and all the blessings that await me
there.
I survey the blessings before me and wonder where I might start. What I
see before me is a banquet of good things. There is favour in a large
glass bowl. There is freedom on a platter. There is healing in a
pitcher that doesn’t seem to empty when being poured. Piled like fruit
in a bowl are blessings of mercy and grace, joy and peace. Blessings of
acceptance send off a fragrant aroma. Baskets of kindness and goodness
flow over onto the table. And still more is arriving! The table is
laden with blessings for me.
I look up from this overflowing banquet of blessings and look around me
at this most glorious spacious place. I don’t see fences or barriers of
any kind. I only see freedom as far as the horizon, and then I see
grace. This place that has been provided for me away from danger and
distress is the very heart of God. He is wooing me there, to his heart,
to his table, and asking me to taste of the blessings that he has
prepared there for me . . . because he delights in me . . . the one he
has rescued from the jaws of danger.
Eden Jersak is on the leadership team of Fresh Wind Christian
Fellowship and author of the book, Rivers From Eden: 40 Days of
Intimate Conversation With God.