I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
This past week I noticed something I'd never seen before, concerning verse 6:
The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
There's a deep spiritual principle here, not just to do with being rescued from demoralizing life situations. To see this principle, it helps to read the whole verse in the present tense:
The Lord preserves the simple;
I am brought low, and He saves me.
The Lord preserves and saves those who bow low in reverence before Him, who come to Him empty of their own agendas, surrendering everything at His feet. This isn't just a nice doctrinal truth to me, it's how life is beginning to play out now, as I look to Him in complete dependence and trust. He still allows me to go through difficult things, but He is always there for me in the middle of them, and lifts me onto His path in ways I had never thought possible before.
He won't debate this with us or compete with us. All He asks is everything. But in return He invests His everything in our lives.