THE SNARE IS BROKEN

"Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped" (Psalm 124:7).

Imagine a little bird trapped in the fowler's net. Lying helpless, its little heart throbs with terror and its wings beat wildly against the net—to no avail. The more it struggles, the more battered and bruised it becomes. Frightened, the bird begins to cry and screech but escape is impossible. It is completely at the mercy of the fowler.

Beloved, that little bird is you—snared by the net of sin! And the fowler is the devil, the wicked one. He laid his trap and caught you in it.

Now, consider that trapped little bird. How he could possibly get free by his own strength and power? If he fights to break through the net, he will become even more entangled. He may even break a wing or bleed to death. He can't deliver himself.

Isn't this a picture of us when we're trapped in sin? We make all kinds of promises to God. We struggle and cry, trying to break free from our bondage. But we have lost our freedom and remain trapped!

Think of that little trapped bird again. That night, the fowler goes to bed dreaming of this special little bird he's been after. He can hardly sleep and is anxious to go out the next day and see if he caught it.

As the fowler comes near the trap, he sees it has been sprung and he gets excited. He expects to see a worn-out, bleeding, frightened, half-dead little bird in the net but, lo and behold, when he examines the trap, he sees the net is torn, broken. The bird has soared!

We find the little bird perched on a limb in a tree high on God's mountain. He's free, and his wounds are healing—all because the Lord came and ripped open the net!

That little bird is saying to itself, "If it had not been for the Lord—if He had not rushed to my side—I would have been swallowed up and devoured. But God broke the snare and plucked me out of the trap!"

The snare is broken—and we have escaped!