During a recent period of sickness, as in the — every family member takes a turn because we share everything — kind of sickness, my whole clan and I snuggled ourselves into the couches and searched Netflix for a respite from coughs and fevers. We came upon a new-to-us series called Brain Games and we were immediately intrigued.

Focusing on stunts of visual distortion, focus and distraction, shadows and light, we were tricked over and over again. We sat completely entertained by the palpable tension of what we knew to be true and what we were seeing with our very own eyes. The clash of those two truths felt irreconcilable; the very element of a trick well played.

And yet, it was all just for fun.

But what happens when it’s not?

What happens when the clash between what we see and what we know to be true isn’t just an entertaining show on television but rather our reality, our life?

In Psalm 57 David is there, parked right there in that tension. You see, Saul and his men are pursuing David something fierce. They are on his heels, and he is getting weary. He knows God is his refuge, but what he is seeing with his own eyes looks quite different.

My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men who are set on fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword . . . They have prepared a net for my steps . . . they have dug a pit before me {Psalm 57:4-6}

Kind of intense, right? And yet intermingled with these verses, amidst David’s description of what he is seeing, he also pens the knowing — the very truth he knows about his God.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You. {Psalm 57:1}

Be exalted O God, above the heavens; Let your glory be above all the earth. {Psalm 57:5}

My heart is steadfast, O God . . . I will sing and give praise. {Psalm 57:7}

Do you see it? The seeing and the knowing.

David is able to trust God, even praise God, because of the relationship built long before the battle. David knew who God was, so even though what he what was seeing was real (and really scary!) he defaulted to what he knew to be true.

He wasn’t distracted by shadows or distortion. Although the fear was real, he was not tricked by optical illusions. David had built a relationship with God that went deeper than what his eyes saw in front of him, deeper than the physical fear he felt inside of him. His soul trusted in God, his heart was steadfast and from that truth so he moved boldly and bravely, that God might be glorified in all of it.

The difference between the seeing and the knowing is just that — a trusting soul, a steadfast heart and praise — all built before, during, and after the trial, that He may be glorified.

May we be wholly devoted to the knowing.

Leave a Comment