This morning I read a verse I’ve passed by many times. In Psalm 69:29, David writes, “I am afflicted and in pain; May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.”
I consider how David doesn’t ask for healing or an end to his affliction. He doesn’t ask for a change of circumstance, a new calling, or even rescue at this point. He instead asks that God’s salvation simply and powerfully “set [him] securely on high.”
I think of David resting securely, high above his distress.
To be “set on high” means to rest in an inaccessibly high place. I think of how the verb in translation–that inaccessible high and secure setting of a person–provides the image of somehow living above our distress or above our circumstances because we experience another secure reality.
May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.
I think of floating on water and how, beneath the surface, a turbulent undertow of debris swirls. But I’m up here, floating securely on a different current of God’s great, refreshing care for my soul. Or I think of a kite catching an unseen current and flying high above whatever’s going on beneath her. Set me on high! Set me securely on high!