A Brief Psalm:
The LORD holds the pen in His hand
and I am His character.
He guides me with His mighty quill;
He writes my story.
“I am your author. Trust me.
I will protect you,” says He.
I take hold of His sovereign pen.
Into darkness, I descend,
but the LORD does not abandon me.
He takes care of me.
His strength overwhelms me,
and I am able to stand.
When I am blind, He gives me sight.
The LORD is faithful.
He moves His pen, and the sun shines
from behind the clouds.
The LORD has brought me from the dark.
He knows my story from beginning to end.
He continues to write, leading me and
developing me into who
He means for me to be.
Explanation:
In Psalm 23, David says, “The Lord is my shepherd.” In that day, it was a great metaphor, and made sense to the listener. Shepherds watched their sheep; they took care of them. When one sheep went missing, the shepherd would go looking for it. The shepherd gave the sheep protection and he provided for them as God watches over mankind.
This metaphor, however, is out of date. The occupation of a shepherd is rather rare in today’s modern urban society. Today, it is more understandable to many if God is thought of as a storywriter. In Hebrews 5, Christ is referred to as the “author of salvation,” which is also a well-known lyric in the popular worship song by Hillsong, “Mighty to Save.” This makes the role of God as a writer appropriate.
Everyone’s stories are written by God. He is the writer and people are the characters; each person is the main character of his own story. God is holding the pen in His hand, and with the pen, He writes the story for the character. This leads the character through life — good and bad.
In Isaiah 49:1, it says, “…from within the womb he called me by name.” This resembles the brainstorming process of a writer. In the way a writer must know the characters before writing the actual story, God knows His children.
Another aspect of writing that is crucial for the authors to realize is the type and amount of struggles the character must go through in order to develop. God allows His people to struggle so that they may develop into Christians and individuals ready to do His will and bring Him glory. Through difficult times, Christians have the opportunity to learn from the struggles and further their relationships with God. They learn to trust in Him and rely on Him during their times of need.
A writer truly cares for his characters and will do whatever it takes to get them where they need to be. The writer may let the character face trials, but he protects them during times of danger. God is the same way. Even when He leads His characters into darkness, He never abandons them, even if the characters stray away from Him for a while.
Most stories have happy endings, and after all the trials and hardships, God leads us to grand victory because through Him, anything is possible. He is faithful, and after the fire and the storm, He allows His characters to enjoy the peace and sun after a job well done.
