The Holy Snatch

“But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me.” Psalm 49:15 (NKJV)

One of the most helpful tools in my daily journey with the Lord has been the One Year Chronological Bible put out by Tyndale Publishers. Through the pages of this amazing book, the Bible has become a fascinating, captivating story that unfolds before my eyes. It has allowed me to understand the events of Scripture from the first glimpse of God’s encounter with Adam and Eve to the final chapter of Revelation. Rob found this particular Bible right after Jordyn was born. This is my tenth year of reading through this incredible book.

Because I am not a speaker of Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic–the languages the Bible was originally written in–I have become obsessed with finding out what those original languages say. I have found an online tool to show me what those original words mean when I find a verse that jumps out at me.

I used that online tool today after I read this verse out of my Bible this morning:

“But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me.” Psalm 49:15 (NKJV)

Here is what I found when I looked up the following words out of the above verse:

redeem (bring back, snatch)

soul: (mind, being, desire, emotion, passion)

power: (hand, strength, wrist)

grave: (the place of the dead, hell, pit, without praise of God, exile, abandonment)

receive: (take away, fetch, lay hold of, receive, buy, acquire)

My nephew, Luke, was snatched from us on the evening of May 27th. His baby cousin, Audrey Caroline, left us just seven weeks before. Since that time, each of my siblings and I have felt as though we have been walking in the place of the dead. Our souls have felt exiled to a place of loneliness we have never known before. I have felt as though something evil has had a vice grip on my emotions, desires, and mind. Reading the original words above gave incredible meaning to what I am experiencing over missing those babies.

But my God has the power to snatch me from the powerful grip of the evil one. My soul, my inmost being which feels so deeply, will be rescued by the Holy Snatcher away from this dead place where there seems so little to praise my God for. I am not exiled; I am not abandoned. My Jesus has bought me with His own blood. Because of that, He Himself will take me away from this black pit of depression and despair, from these morbid, obsessive thoughts that threaten to make me wonder if I can ever climb out of this black pit. I do not grieve as those with no hope! One day, Jesus is going to rip open those earthly graves that hold the precious bodies of Luke and his cousin, Audrey Caroline, and they will be changed. The grave only gets to hold their little bodies for such a little while. One glad morning, Jesus will say to Audrey and Luke, “Little [ones,] “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little [ones,] I say to you, get up!” ) {Mark 5:41}

On that resurrection morning, there will be a holy snatch. The hand of the grave that right now holds my darling nephew and niece in its death grip will have to release its hold. Never again will we feel as though we walk in the place of the dead which seems far from the praise of our God. We will be reunited with them as we look on the face of the One who conquered death’s sting forever because He redeemed us with His own body on a cruel cross two thousand years ago.

Jesus, You are the Holy Snatcher. You will receive those of us whose names are written in Your book to Yourself in that beautiful place where You will wipe away all our tears. I praise You for that hope that sustains us in the wait.