Psalm 124: The Fowler's Snare

Yesterday's reading came from the 124th Psalm. I have been reading these psalms in the context of Barack Obama's sterling run for the presidency of the United States of America. What strikes me is that he has learnt so much and so well. His three commandments to his team – always show respect, do things from the bottom up, no drama – are a brief and powerful body of advice that every organisation should at the very least consider thinking about.

It is these qualities that deliver one from the fowler's snare. As Psalm 124 says:

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

In Christian symbolism, the fowler is the hand of the Accuser. The Accuser's main tools are pride and wrath among all others, for these were his greatest weaknesses. Obama seems to have been saved from these by his friends and confidantes and the team which serves him. I feel humbled and I think I should learn from that too.

So I am going to do what is right and show respect to those who should be respected for what they do and why they do it. Sometimes, it is when I think I am right that I can fall most headlong into error. The only way to escape? Be respectful, do things from the bottom up, and no drama.