Come, You Children, Listen to Me...

"The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them." Psalm 34:7

I remember learning this verse as a child. Often in church during children's story. In fact, I've even used it before. 

It was Girls' Club camp out, my freshmen year. A group of high school girls, a handful of parents, and both our deans. We headed into the the mountains of western Maryland. 

Even today I can picture our camp site. Surround by trees, up on a hill bordered by a creek down below and a road running around the other sides. 

Those were our boundaries. It was Saturday night, we had worship about  end time events and we were  going to "run to the hills" to play a version of hide-and-seek. 

Just imagine the flurry and confusion as a group of high school girls went running into the woods. As the small group I was with went running down towards the creek, we noticed the light of the campfire dim the further down the hill we went. That was when we realized no one in our group had a flash light. 

But because of the excitement and hide-and-seek adrenaline running through our bodies, we decided to continue on our course instead of heading back to the campsite to get one. We knew we were still with in our boundaries. We hadn't reach the creek yet, we could see the beams of other flashlights down below, we could hear nervous voices of other girls around us.

Then I heard it, "Stop." 

It was as audible as if it had been one of the my friends I was running to hide with. "I think we should stop, " I told the girls, unsure if I had made up the voice out of fear when you're playing hide-and-seek. We stopped, we all hunched down and waited. As we were waiting we watched down below small beams of light bobbing between the trees. We starting hearing the occasion scream followed by laughter as the dads found some of the girls hiding in the woods. 

One of the girls in our group said, "I think we too close, lets keep going." So we got up and started heading towards to creek, trusting our own instincts as we headed down. 

Then I heard it again, just as clearly as the first time, "Stop." 

Sheepishly I said, "I think this is far enough, we should stop." Again we stopped, hunched down, and waited. The voices and laughter of other being caught up the hill seemed to get closer. The flash lights down below starting turning off one by one as if they could sense the nearness of those looking for us. 

"I still think we're too close," said one of the girls in the group. Knowing we were still with in the boundaries we got up, and once again starting fumbling our way down the hill.

This time more clearly, more urgently I heard it, "Stop!" 

"I really think we should stop." So for a third time we stopped. This time hunkering down, we waited. The waiting, mixed with anticipation, a bit of fear and excitement seemed like forever.

Then we knew our wait would be much longer, we could hear and see other groups around us getting caught. The beam of light from one of the dads got brighter as he approached our group. 

He found us. The feeling of anticipation and fear in me was replaced by relief when he came to our group. Our questions and chatter mixed with nervous laughter from the running and hiding, "How many girls have you found? How long have we been out here? How much longer till the game is over?" 

As we were brushing ourselves off getting ready to head back with the one who had the light, there we one more questions. "Can you shine your light down the hill, so we can see how much further we have till the creek?"

As he changed direction of his light to point down the hill, that's when we saw it. No further than about 5 feet down the hill, a tangled line of barb wire stretched across our path, with a 3 foot drop off just beyond it. 

"The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,And delivers them." Psalm 34:7

There in the woods we stopped. He prayed and thanked God for watching over us.

As I think back on that story I praise the Lord that even in our ignorance He watches over us.  In our walk with Him, whether immature or deeply-rooted, He meets us where we're at and has so much more then we could even imagine in store for us.

The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Psalm 34:7-11

But am I ready to listen? Am I ready to obey? Do I have the fear of the Lord in me?

~kartini r. maxson