Psalm 18:16-20 in Two Translations

(NIV)
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

(The Message)
But me he caught—reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning. They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved—surprised to be loved! God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him.

I think I first read the NIV translation of this when I was in college. So many times since then, the phrase "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters" has gone through my mind. A reminder that sometimes I'm overwhelmed by circumstances (mostly resulting from my own choices) where I just need Him to step in. To draw me out of deep waters. To save me from myself. This verse has been a constant comfort to me that this is the God I've chosen to serve. Not that he will just 'magically' change the circumstances, but that he is that personal of a God. It doesn't read "reached down from on high and saved mankind." It says "me." It's a bit overwhelming.

So this morning I was running late for church and ran back in to the house to get something for Luke. I remembered that I'd forgotten my Bible and that it was all the way in my bedroom and my copy of 'The Message' was in the next room so I just grabbed it instead. During the service they were talking about God's Love for us being like that of a Father for his children and Psalm 18 came to mind. Really not much to do with what they were talking about, but I went ahead and checked it out in The Message translation. WOW. It's like a poem. Check it out like this:

But me he caught—
reached all the way from sky to sea;
he pulled me out of that ocean of hate,
that enemy chaos,
the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
I stood there saved—
surprised to be loved!
God made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.

I know it comes from the same original text, but I have to say I LOVE The Message translation! There is really nothing else I can say about it. Wow.