You Gave Me Room

In reading for a short term study on the Psalms this month, a note in Fr. Roland Murphy’s book The Gift of the Psalms caught me—not just my eye, but my heart. In a section on salvation in the psalms, he noted that salvation is many things--redemption, safety, healing, relief, release, and more. Then he cited from Psalm 4: “You gave me room when I was in distress.”

Room—not a room, but room. It is more than giving someone space; it is space that is defined, but not by boundaries that are to keep one penned in. The sense I get is having a safe place that allows me freedom from being pressed in.

Immediately, my thoughts went towards being a parent. I know there were, and even still are on occasions, times when I dealt with a son’s distress by hovering close, and by asking too many questions. I realize that I was trying to alleviate my distress over their distress. I have found it is more important for me to let them know I am here, close by, but not hovering, giving them room.

I think about how much room God gives me in my distress, not jumping in to resolve difficulties, and yet not leaving me without any moorings. What a gift of grace this is!