Near the path to a beach along the Oregon Coast, a sign says, WATCH FOR SNEAKER WAVES. I’d seen the sign many times while walking there, but never really knew what a “sneaker wave” was. One day I watched three children playing at the water’s edge as a huge wave rushed in and over them, pulling all three into the ocean. The parents were soon to the rescue, and I could see how some waves do indeed “sneak” up on a person.


Those of us who aren’t used to the ocean can find ourselves quickly in water over our heads. The enemy of our souls is like that wave, overwhelming us with cold waves of trouble that take our breath and cause instant terror. Do you sometimes feel as I do and as David expressed: in water up to your neck?


David wrote this psalm when the agony of life moved him to cry out to the God of his soul. We can cry out to God then, too. There will be times when we will thrash about, desperate for help. In the goodness of His love and His great mercy, God reaches down to us through Jesus. We will not sink.