The God of My Cramp

657- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:3, “The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. (2 Sam 22:2,3) In case you haven't figured it out by now, I love the richness of the words found in Scripture. One of my favorite verses is 2Ti 3:16, which states that, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” This tells me that every word in Scripture has been carefully chosen by the Holy Spirit and can be very helpful for me as I follow Jesus. You should also know that there are many different translations of the Bible and these various translators often come across words in the Hebrew and Greek that are very difficult to translate to the English language. Such is the case for the word I am looking at today. “The God of my strength.” The King James says, “God of my rock,” The word used literally translates to the word rock, but David has already stated the fact that God is his rock, and here he says God is the God of his rock. A different Hebrew word is used and the important thing to note is the root from which this word is taken. It comes from a word that means “cramp or confine.” That changes everything and puts a whole new meaning on what David is trying to tell us. God is the God of his cramp, his confinement, his pressure cooker. Ever have a cramp? Your muscles become constricted and tight. It's very painful and immobilizing. Have you ever felt like your very soul is experiencing a cramp? You know, life's circumstances are closing in on you and you feel like you are in a trash compactor with no relief in sight? David often experienced these “squeezings“ but God delivered him from them all as he learned to endure and wait on the Lord. Here is the lesson for us today from this one single word. God is the God of David's cramp and He is the God of your cramp too! 1Co 10:13 says, “No temptation (no trial, dare we say no cramp) has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted (trialed) beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (trial, the cramp) will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Feeling cramped? Keep walking with the Lord. It may be painful, but He will help you walk it off and get through it.