II Samuel 22:19: “They prevented me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay.”

Many years ago I taught English in a Middle School.  I was told the Middle School age group was the most difficult age group to teach.  There is good reason behind this logic.  Stop and think about your memories at the ages of 12-14.   You don’t have many memories of that period of your life do you?  That is because that period of your life is the most difficult time of your life and you tend to forget the bad things. This is the time you are going through all the physical, mental and emotional changes of making that transition from childhood to adulthood yet still treated like a child.  It is this age group that you face defiance at its worst.  Handling Middle School age kids is not for the faint of heart.

I remember attending a seminar where I received the best advice I ever received in handling Middle School kids, as well as handling many other of life’s situations.  When a kid gets into your face and starts mouthing off to you, you must immediately become professional.  In other words, learn to recognize there are two of you.  One is the real you, the one that either dissolves into tears or turns into a raging Incredible Hulk.   The other you is the professional.  That is the you that you step into.  That you is the totally unemotional, unaffected, by the book android you.  That is the Star Trek Mr. Spock who raises one eyebrow and says: “Curious!”  I think that best illustrates II Samuel 22:19.

David has now been delivered from the hand of King Saul.  He starts to praise God in the way that is so natural to him, he writes a poem.  This poem bears striking resemblance to Psalms 18.   It is a praise of deliverance.    Verse 19 speaks of a special type of deliverance.  One in which I need a daily deliverance from as possibly many of you who happen to read this.

The word  prevented in the Hebrew is “qadam” which is rendered in some translations as confronted.  It literally means to attack early or to ambush in a hostile manner.  In other words: “They ambushed me in the day of my calamity.”   You know that feeling, once they get you down they stomp on you.   I think I’ve  been able to reached the point where I can let people walk all over me, but still, when you get that old boy who stops to wipe his feet, I usually end up overhauling his engine.

The word calamity in the Hebrew is h’ed, which is a metonymy.  Hebrew is full of metonymy’s.  A metonymy uses the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related.  For instance we say “He is on the bottle.”   Bottle is a reference to a strong drink.  Another example of a metonymy is lend me your ears.  Here ears is a metonymy for attention.   I was reading in the Talmud this evening in Abodah Zarah 2a that h’ed is a metonymy for festivity, strength and rest. 

Almost forty years ago on Yom Kippur, a coalition of Arab nations (Egypt, Syria and Iraq) ambushed Israel in a pincer move, right in the middle of their festivity and rest. They “prevented Israel in the day of their calamity,” or more clearly, “they ambushed Israel in the midst of their festivity.”   The enemy knew that on their most holy day Israel would be the most defenseless and they were. The world was convinced Israel was finished.

Do you somehow relate to this? Boy I sure do. This week when I was at my most defenseless point the enemy used that as an opportunity to blind side me and hit me with an all-out attack.

During the Yom Kippur War there was a news blackout for four days.  Everyone thought and fully expected that Israel, which was out numbered 3-1, would be destroyed.  Yet, when the smoke cleared Israel’s enemies were totally humiliated. God sent help from a totally unexpected source, the United States.  Richard Nixon was in the throes of Watergate and to send aid to Israel would have threatened all-out war with Russia. Yet, Nixon with a Quaker background felt the urgent need to come to Israel’s aid at possible great personal cost. When the enemy ambushed Israel during their time of festivity, the Lord proved to be their stay.  The word stay is sha’an which means defense or support.   When the enemy attacks at our most defenseless point, God will be our defense.  As I found myself blindsided by the enemy the Lord proved to be my sha’an my stay or support in a most unusual way.

Oh, just one more thing.  The word sha’an for defense has a numerical value of 420.  You switch the shin and the ayin and you have the word ’ashan which also equals 420 and this means smoke or camouflage.  When you are at your most defenseless point, and the enemy steps up to you and starts mouthing off, you need only to step out of the natural you and into the spiritual you and God will create a smoke screen so that the mouthing off will only be directed at the natural you and not the spiritual you. You will be unaffected.  You will only raise an eyebrow and say: “Curious.”  When the smoke clears, like modern Israel, you will stand victorious.