“Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.”
I had an opportunity to write about this verse of scripture back in the spring. It’s been a verse God has used to speak to me about different things throughout my life, but back in the spring it became even more special. Please read the turkey hunt on Psalm 86:17 (Part 1) here!
If you’re not familiar with a few words in this verse of scripture, let me help you understand quickly. The King James Version was finished in 1611. The spelling of words in 1611 was a bit different than what we see today. Between 1611 and 1769 there were a handful of revisions made to help with the spelling of words with the changing of time. Today, we use the 1769 edition of the 1611 version of the King James Bible. Some of the words in Psalm 86:17 are spelled slightly different than what we are using in the present time. However, they are still accurate, and can easily be researched for the true understanding of the word. The two words that may stick out to you are “shew” and “holpen”. Shew means to show and holpen means helped. Though we don’t typically use these two words with the way they are spelled, they are easily understood!
David says, “Shew me a token for good…” The word token means a sign; something intended to represent or indicate another thing or an event. We read about the account of The Great Flood in Genesis 6-9. We see a token mentioned as Noah comes off of the ark. God made a covenant with Noah and all of mankind that He would never destroy the earth with a Great Flood again. Genesis 9:12-13 “And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.” Today, we still see that token that God set forth in His Word. Many times when it rains, you will see a beautiful rainbow appear when the sun shines through falling rain. It even appears in the cloud, just like God said it would. God always proves His Word to be faithful.
In Psalm 86 it appears that David is in distress. Psalm 86:14 “O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul…” Psalm 86:16 “…and save the son of thine handmaid.” God speaks of His love all throughout the Word of God. David knows that God is a faithful God, but when He gets to verse 17 he says please show me your loving kindness as something I can see. David is requesting that God would do something great for him so his enemies could see that he serves the faithful living God. Tokens can come in many different ways, but its important to understand that we must read and study the Word of God so we can watch God prove himself to us! “Shew me a token for good…”
Back in the spring, the Lord pressed upon my heart to leave the camera at home and go back to enjoying hunting for what it is. The last weekend of the spring turkey season I was able to take a nice bird. God used Psalm 86:17 to show me that leaving the camera at home was what He was leading me to do. I’m very thankful for the success God gave me back in the spring, but I must say, the thought of taking the camera to the deer woods has weighed on my mind. I felt the best decision to make this season was leave the camera at home and just allow God to lead the hunting as He chooses.
The beginning of October was very hot in northern Ohio. We have had some busy days on the road and with the heat, there was not much interest to go hunting quite yet, but God directed a little differently. The temps were in the 70’s and it was a bit humid. I had no intention of hunting until I realized there was work I could not do because of my computer crashing. It was a week or two before I could get business in order again, but through my daily reading I felt God was leading me to purchase some tags and hit the woods.
My first night out was very exciting. The foliage was still very heavy, but the deer herd sounded like a train as they came past the stand. Unfortunately they were 10 yards out of my shooting lane. As they came into eyesight I counted at least nine and they didn’t have a clue I was there. I slipped out of the stand thanking God for such an exciting night.
With the temperatures still warm, and hopes of the computer files getting transferred to a new laptop, I figured that was the only night I would hunt until I returned home from my next road trip. The next night, the computer was not yet in working order and it wasn’t going to be for a few more days. I had just finished a Bible reading schedule, but had not started a new one yet. I asked my wife where she had been reading and thought we could read a few chapters together before going to bed. I never gave it any thought, but as she opened her Bible, she had Psalm 84 marked for her next reading. We read three chapters together and the very last verse was Psalm 86:17 “She me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.” I felt the Holy Spirit begin to press upon my heart, “why not go hunting tomorrow”.
I woke up early the next morning still battling whether to go or not. I looked at two different weather apps and they were giving opposite directions for wind currents. The last thing I want to do is have my scent blowing right into the bedding area. I don’t mess with the whole scent free method, but I do use the wind direction any time I am hunting whitetails. I read a few scriptures and then went back to sleep!
After waking up later that morning, I couldn’t get Psalm 86:17 out of my heart, “Shew me a token for good…” It weighed heavier and heavier on my mind as the day went on. By afternoon, I felt I better go to the woods! I looked at the wind apps again and they were still showing opposite wind currents, Uhh!! What to do? I didn’t realize it, but one of the apps redirected my location to the other side of the country. Turns out my wind was just right for hunting that stand again. I didn’t want to miss another opportunity on these deer coming through, so after thinking about it for a bit I decided to wear a leafy jacket in and hunt off the ground.
I slipped quietly into the woods and tried to find some good brush and a clear shot to this deer highway from two nights before. I stayed off the deer trail and quietly slipped past the tree stand. I was about where I needed to be, but I couldn’t quite find the right tree to brush myself in. I was trying to be as quiet as possible because I wasn’t sure where these deer were bedding. As I glanced and glanced, looking for the right tree, something caught my attention. It was one of those thoughts that cross your mind, “was that a deer I just saw?” As I took a double look, sure enough, I was already within 30 yards of a bedded deer. There was a good size beech tree blocking the deer’s view of me and he had no idea I was in his bedroom. As I looked closer, I could see the right side of his antlers when he would turn his head the right way. A time or two I could even see the tip of his nose, but could never see his eyes. He looked like a shooter buck, but it took me a few minutes to determine whether or not I would shoot him because I could only see the outer edge of his antlers. I dropped my pack and chair and decided I will just stand here until dark if that’s how long it will take.
I ranged his tree at 26 yards and quickly decided my red 30 yard pin would be right on the money! I had my arrow nocked, my release hooked up, but I’m standing in the open. I am like 85% sure that this is a deer worth taking home, but I wasn’t going to be positive until I could see both sides of his rack. There was a small sapling next to the beech tree that would allow me a shot, but I really wanted him to clear either side of the tree if possible.
Twenty minutes into the wait I heard something moving over my right shoulder. As I slowly turned my head I could see a small deer moving away from me about 40 yards away. A moment later, I saw a mature doe becoming alert to my presence. They were on the edge of my wind and I’m pretty sure they got my scent. At this point the mature doe started to blow. Great!! She blew three times and the buck never moved. She became even louder with her danger sounds because he just laid there taking it easy. I could see her out of the corner of my eye, but I was waiting for just a touch of movement so I could draw my bow. She is now looking at this buck and blowing like crazy. Its like she was saying “something is wrong”. It seemed like forever, but it was probably only seconds. I saw his rack shift forward and I went to full draw. It didn’t take long for the other 15% of commitment to shine. By the time he got to his feet I knew there was no hope of him stepping out where I wanted him to, but he was perfectly broadside between the small sapling and the beech tree. As my red pin floated from the top of his back to behind his front shoulder the last thought I remember was, “easy on the trigger, follow through.” As the red lighted nock lit up the shaded forest I could see my arrow buried on the edge of his front shoulder. As he ran to the left I could see good penetration and the red nock appeared to be right in the heart. This is the part where the adrenaline starts pulsing through your body!
I looked at my phone and saw my wife’s text asking me if I had made it in yet. I made a quick call and shared with the family all of the excitement. After hanging up the phone I slowly stepped toward his bed where the arrow hit him. As I got to his bed, I glanced through the woods in the direction that he went and I could see him laying maybe 40 yards away. Praise the Lord for such an exciting hunt!
I am reminded of King Saul when God told him to destroy Amalek and everything in it. Saul thought his way was better, so he spared the king and all the good animals that were used for sacrifice. Saul disobeyed God and he lost the kingdom. In I Samuel 15, Samuel says to Saul, “…to obey is better than sacrifice…” Saul may have had good intentions, but that is not what God wanted. We are just like Saul sometimes, we have good intentions, but it’s not what God directs. God wants us to simply obey when he directs us! I do believe I have good intentions when using the camera, but there is an inner pride struggle when the success comes. Since I have put the camera down, there has been a great deal of peace in making this decision. God has again shewed me evidence that leaving the camera at home is part of his plan for the future. Can I ask you, have you seen any tokens lately? Maybe there is something you are struggling with that gets you discouraged. Ask God to show you a token to prove His Word faithful in whatever matter you are dealing with! “Shew me a token for good…” The last thing to say about this hunt is found in Ephesians 3:21, it starts out like this, “Unto him be glory…”
Memory Verse
Psalm 86:17
“Shew me a toke for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.”
