Psalm 25:15-19 - Snagged in Seim Seaweed

During a trip to Russia, four friends and I went to the River Seim {Сейм} to swim. One was a former student, now a pastor, his brother, and one of his parishioners, a doctor. Only our translator and I actually got into the water. The temperature was great; the current wasn't too strong, I thought... until I drifted into some seaweed, hidden just beneath the water's surface. Not just my feet but both legs got tangled up in plant stems that refused to break. The more I struggled to free myself, the more enmeshed I became.

Obviously, I finally broke free and didn't drown. But it did panic me for a moment. 

David knew the sensation, if not the experience when he wrote,
"My eyes are continually toward the Lord, For He will pluck my feet out of the net." (Psalm 25:15, New American Standard, 1995)

Psalm 25 doesn't give all the details, but he hints at a couple reasons for being trapped:
verse 18: "Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins."
verse 19: "Look upon my enemies, for they are many, And they hate me with violent hatred."

It may be troubles that he's brought on himself, even his own sin. Perhaps someone else has set him up, and he fell right into it.

Whether it's of our own doing or someone else's, it's a helpless feeling indeed to be stuck and not be able to break free of what holds onto us, what holds us back. Even when we cry out to God, sometimes deliverance isn't immediate. And yet...

And yet, David was constantly looking to God to rescue him.

Father in heaven, you know the traps we fall into--sometimes we've tripped into a situation set up by other people. Sometimes we're enmeshed in difficulties created by our own choices. Either way, we're helpless to break through the cords wrapped around our feet. We keep looking to You to free us in Your time. In Your Son's name we pray, Amen.