Significance

Jesus said that the poor in spirit are blessed; He listed seven more characteristics that are blessed. These are very different characteristics; most have nothing to do with poverty. But these characteristics all have to do with need.

The picture in Psalm 18 of distress uses a metaphor of being bound with ropes, and a metaphor of floods of water. Deliverance also uses this picture: He drew me out of many waters. David made a picture of a man bound with cords being carried away in a flood of water. These are the things that David described as his enemies; these are the things that are too strong for him.

But the words of Psalm 18 speak of the cords of death, and the cords of Sheol. What binds man is the fear of death expressed in life; we are afraid of cause and effect. Little children learn that they can get hurt; little children learn to be cautious, one hurt at a time. The daily fear of a soldier in war is of actual death; the daily fear in man is the same internal mechanism, even though no one usually is seeking to actually kill us. The fears of interpersonal conflicts are the same fears as battle, even though no one is carrying automatic weapons. These fears of cause and effect in life bind us internally; we are afraid to act in many things, just as a soldier walks with fear of the next IED or sniper. The words of Psalm 18 also speak of the torrents of ungodliness; this word "ungodliness" is often translated as "worthlessness". The worthless things of life can carry us away like a flood of water. The parallel phrase uses the expression "snares of death"; these are things that can trap us in our life in a cycle of cause and effect. The torrents and snares are real parts of life.

Psalm 18 describes reality for us, using symbolic language. We are bound by our fears of cause and effect. We are carried away by worthless things; what is not evil of itself can become a flood carrying us away from what is significant. We can be trapped by cause and effect; what we did not mean to happen does happen because of a choice. We become insignificant, not because we wanted to, or because we did not try, but because our enemy was too mighty for us. We were afraid because of our fear of cause and effect, and did not try. We tried, but were carried away by the useless things of life. Or we tried, but were trapped unintentionally.

This is life. We need a Deliverer, just as David did. We need the heavens to be bowed down; we need Him to ride on the cherub and come down. We need Him to draw us out of many waters. Our enemies are too mighty for us.

What follows in Psalm 18 is a picture of significance. Using the role of a king, Psalm 18 describes a process that gives victory. Deliverance leads to significance. This is the blessing of the Beatitudes.

The unstated part of the Beatitudes is that anyone who attempts to do something significant will find the cords of death, the torrents of worthlessness, and the snares in his path. But in calling out because of distress, we are delivered from what is too mighty for us. We can do something significant, not because we are strong, but because He will come down to us.

Those who attempt significance are blessed, because He can fulfill significance. God gives a place to grow.