Janice and I are grateful that we were able to meet our grandson shortly after he was born, before all the chaos of this pandemic was unleashed. At one point he was a little fussy and I took him and wrapped him tightly in his blanket and held him close and rocked him to sleep. It brought back memories of when Scott was a little guy. To get him to settle we would often do the same thing, wrap him tightly and hold him close, rocking him until he fell asleep. As a toddler, I used to pick him up and hold him close. He would squirm and say 'ti...ght' and try to escape. But eventually he would simply settle into my arms.
Friends, we are all like that, we long to be held close and to know that everything is going to be okay. We long for the comforting embrace of God. In Psalm 131, David acknowledges there are some things he does not understand; things that are beyond his ability to comprehend or that may trouble him. I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. (131:1) But, he says...I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. (131:2)
It's David who wrote the familiar words of Psalm 23, in which he says of God: He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. (23:2-3) Such rest, while it may seem elusive at times, is available for all who trust in the Lord. Maybe some of us just need to run to our Shepherd!
David ends Psalm 23 this way: Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (23:6) It is a wonderful picture of being wrapped in the goodness and love of God and speaks of the eternal security we have in Him.
My friends at Valley, I pray that you would hold on to that image of being held close by God, wrapped in His goodness and love, forever secure in Him.