rescue

a response to psalm 124

o Lord,
if you had not come to help us--
your church exults--
if you had not taken our side,
they would have swallowed us alive
like a snake swallows its prey
or like a lizard snatches an insect.
but you delivered us from their desires.

they would have ripped us apart
like a wolf rips into a herd of sheep,
satisfying their hostility
with our pain and anguish.
but you came to our rescue.

they wanted to trap us
and use us for their own purposes,
crushing us to fulfill their own ambitions.
but you destroyed their snares and nets,
setting us at liberty.
you freed us to soar skyward.

you are powerful and wise and loving.
you are the Self-existent One,
the Maker of heaven and earth.