Redheaded Jill

I once heard a sermon comparing Bible characters to the enneagram. The preacher said that Saul as an enneagram four and was very into feeling things. I think David must have also been an enneagram four because his words ring true today, hundreds of years later.

Psalm 55 sticks out to me for four different reasons.

1. Psalm 55:6-8 “And I say, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.
   • I have felt this so strongly over the last month. All of September my theme could arguably be: isolation, avoid crowds, find peace (more than usual that is…) #introvertprobs
   • I have had thoughts of, “if only I were invisible”. I would love to soar above the world like a bird, to escape the tedious day to day interactions with strangers and acquaintances alike.
2. Psalm 55:12-4 For it is not an enemy who taunts me, then I could bear it, it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me, then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, a familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together, within God’s house we walked in the throng.
   • The intensity of betrayal. We expect our enemies to hurt us, we are often shocked when a friend hurts us. I have felt that in my life. I felt it strongly after college. I felt it after various people I considered friends decided to cut ties with me in business. I have felt it when people I had considered friends implied that I was taking advantage of them or stealing. It’s taught me to guard my heart a little more and not to be too trusting.
3. Psalm 55:16-18 But I call to God and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan and he hears my voice. He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
   • This is a reminder to take things to God first. Yes, a comforting friend can be helpful, but God is ready to hear you 24/7/365. When your heart aches in the dead of night you can talk to God. When you are hiding in the bathroom at work fighting off an anxiety attack and the verbal barbs from passive aggressive, micromanaging coworkers God can hear you. There is never a time when you can’t take something to God.
4. Psalm 55:22-23 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved. But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.
   • David had to deal with things 10,000 more intense, traumatizing and dangerous than I do. If he can always remember to take it to the Lord I need to follow that example.

Nothing I read here is new information, but it’s comforting all the same. These reminders are so important.