Category: Psalms

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Psalms

To be like Him

Psalms

As is often the case with David, he wrote Psalm 17 when he was in trouble, and people were pursuing his life.

One thing that strikes me about David is he refused to lower himself to the level of his pursuers. He refused to become like them. He wrote,

Though you probe my heart, though you examine me at night and test me, you will find that I have planned no evil; my mouth has not transgressed.

Though people tried to bribe me, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent through what your lips have commanded. My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled. (Psalm 17:3–5)

So many times, we think, “There’s no other choice. I have to bend the rules a bit if I’m going to deal with those who hate me. Otherwise they’re going to walk all over me.”

But David continued to do what God had said was right, and left his vindication in God’s hands. He cried out,

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me. (6–9)

Then we see the strongest desire of this man whom God called, “a man after his own heart.”

David basically said, “Go ahead, Lord. Let my enemies have the temporary treasures of this world that they seek. But as for me, this is what I want: I desire to see your face.

“And the one thing that will satisfy me is to wake up and to see that I have become just like You whom I love.”

There’s a song I love that says,

When I grow up I wanna be just like you.
I wanna learn to love the way you do.

I’d like for people to say with a smile,
“He’s surely his Father’s child.”

And when I grow up, I wanna be just like you.

That’s God’s desire for us too. Paul put it this way,

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

May our goal in life not be the things of this world. And let us not lower ourselves to the level of those who hate us, becoming like them.

Rather, let us become more like the Father who loves us, so that when others see us, they see Him in us.

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Psalms

The Path to Life

Psalms

Everyone wants a life worth living. That’s what David found, despite all his troubles, and in this psalm he shows us how to find the path to life.

In short, the path to life is not primarily a way of living. It’s a person. And so David sang,

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing. (Psalm 16:2)

There is an utter joy in these words. “You are my Lord.”

Some people think that joy comes from ruling yourself. But true joy comes from submitting ourselves to God, and making him our king.

Why? Because as David recognized, apart from God there is no good thing. He is the author of all that is good.

James agrees, saying,

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights. (James 1:17)

As such, there can be no joy apart from Him who is the source of joy.

Yet many people seek just that, joy apart from God. They seek it in the gods of this world: money, possessions, and pleasure among others.

These are not bad things, but apart from God, they prove to be empty in the end to those who pursue them.

And so David says, “I don’t idolize these kinds of people, no matter how successful they may seem, because in the end, they find only sorrow and suffering. Rather, I delight in those who follow after you.”

He then turns his face up to God and sings,

“Lord, you are what I seek more than anything else. You are my inheritance. The thing I receive from you and treasure more than anything else is my relationship with you. That’s what makes this life worth living.”

Sometimes people look at the commands of God as burdensome, but David didn’t see it that way. Rather, he said,

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psalm 16:6)

Because of his relationship with God, it was a joy to obey him. And he saw that these commands were not meant to take away joy, but to give him joy. To show him how to live the way God intended life to be lived.

As a result, he was glad to hear what God had to say. He listened to his counsel and with God by his side, he could never be shaken despite his circumstances.

Not only that, he had hope beyond the grave. He wrote,

You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay. (Psalm 16:10)

Of course, this was fulfilled in Jesus’ resurrection, but Jesus promised that because he lives, we will live also. (John 14:19)

David sums this all up by singing,

You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11)

Do you want to know the path of life? It’s not found in keeping a bunch of religious rules or by following a number of religious practices.

Rather, it’s found in the person of Jesus Christ. And when we find him and make him our Lord, that’s when we find a life worth living.

As Jesus said, “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life.” (John 14:6)

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Psalms

A life of holiness

Psalms

I once heard someone describe the word holiness as “wholeness.” That when we live a holy life, that’s when we’re whole, because we’re living the way that God intended us to live.

I mentioned yesterday how when people reject God, their view of good and evil get distorted.

In contrast, here in this passage, we learn some basic things of what being whole is all about.

Why is this important? Because of how David opens Psalm 15. He writes,

LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? (Psalm 15:1)

In other words, not just anyone can enter into God’s presence. The writer of Hebrews made this very clear when he wrote,

Without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

What is holiness?

It’s walking blamelessly.

No one can justly accuse you of doing wrong.

This is not to say that no one will attempt to. Jesus was perfect, yet his enemies still found reasons to accuse him.

The key word here is “justly.” Can anyone justly accuse you of doing anything wrong? Or are you blameless in their eyes?

It’s doing what’s righteous.

Holiness is not just avoiding doing the bad. It’s doing what you know is right. James wrote,

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. (James 4:17)

It’s speaking the truth from the heart.

Are you a lover of truth? Or do lies, even “white lies,” easily slip out of your mouth?

I’m not saying that we should callously speak truth with no regard to the other’s feelings. But we are to speak the truth to people… in love. (Ephesians 4:15)

It’s avoiding slandering people.

How often do you talk behind someone’s back, whether it’s a coworker, a customer, or even your spouse? Holiness avoids that kind of talk.

It’s admiring those who do right, not those who do evil.

Who are your role models? Who do you strive to be like?

Are you seeking to be like those who love and serve God? Or are you striving to be like those who have rejected God in their hearts? Whose values are you taking on in your heart?

It’s keeping your word, even when it’s not convenient.

Even when it’s painful, you do what you said you would.

It’s being generous, helping those in need.

It’s not taking advantage of another’s difficult situation, but touching them with God’s love.

Finally, it’s being honest and just.

Treating all as God would, no matter their station, and no matter what possible profit it might be to you to act otherwise.

David says that this kind of person will be whole and as a result will never be shaken.

How about you? Are you holy?

The good news is that if you belong to Christ, he makes you holy and righteous in God’s sight through his blood. That’s in the legal sense.

But in the practical sense, Peter says that,

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3)

In other words, we don’t have to make ourselves holy in our own strength. God empowers us to live a holy life.

So each day let us strive for holiness.

And as Peter went on to say,

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5–8)

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Psalms

When we reject God

Psalms

Psalms 14 and 53 are nearly identical with a few changes here and there, so I’m grouping them together here.

In these psalms, we see the results of people rejecting God in their lives. Who say in their hearts, “There is no God.”

The Bible calls such people “fools.” And the idea is not one of intellectual deficiency, but of moral deficiency.

Because when people reject the idea of God in their lives, it inevitably leads to moral corruption. David writes,

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good. (Psalm 14:1)

“Now wait a minute,” you might say. “I know some perfectly ethical people who don’t believe in God. And some non-Christians I know are better than some Christians I know.”

That may be true. But comparing people to each other is one thing. Comparing our “goodness” to the holiness of God is a different thing entirely. And compared to God, our stains of sin become glaringly obvious.

The unforgiveness we hold in our hearts towards those who hurt us.

The lack of consideration we can show for our spouses.

The fits of temper that we let loose from time to time.

The selfishness that permeates our actions in the workplace and at home.

Need I go further?

“But these things are only natural. Everyone does these things. Nobody’s perfect,” you might say.

But that way of thinking, that these things are only “natural,” is the result of a corrupted nature. They were not natural in the beginning when God created us. But when we rejected God, they became, “natural.”

That’s moral corruption: when what is sinful becomes thought of as natural.

We can make up all kinds of excuses for our actions. But the truth remains, we are corrupt and our actions vile in the sight of God.

And as long as we keep God out of our lives, our sense of right and wrong will remain a corrupted version of what is truly right and wrong.

We cannot separate ourselves from the source of goodness and claim that we know goodness. People have tried, and they have always failed miserably.

What is the result of all this? Death. And ultimately, judgment. Because God will come again and judge this earth.

Those who belong to Him will rejoice on that day. But for those who rejected him, they will only have fear and dread.

Because on that day, they will see just how corrupt they are compared to a holy God, and all of the justifications that they use to explain their actions will be shown for the empty excuses that they are.

So let us not be fools. Let us acknowledge not only God’s existence, but his rightful place as king in our lives. As Solomon put it,

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

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Psalms

God…Where are you?

Psalms

It’s very interesting, the timing of this psalm, if only for the reason that our church is starting a new message series today called “God…Where are you?”

And that’s exactly the sentiment that David had in Psalm 13. He wrote,

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me? (Psalm 13:1–2)

Sometimes I think we make superheroes out of some of the characters of the Bible.

We look at people like David and think that he always felt close to God. That every time he went through problems, he nevertheless sensed God’s presence in his life, and was comforted.

But everyone, and I mean everyone, goes through desert experiences in their lives. Times when they wonder where God is. Times when their prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling. Times when God seems to be nowhere to be found.

And we like David cry out, “God, where are you? Why are you hiding from me? Don’t you see? Don’t you care?

“Every day I’m wrestling with my thoughts, my fears, and my despair. How long will this go on? Help me Lord! I can’t make it without you.”

What do we do when God seems distant?

In short, just hold on. Keep trusting that he loves you though you can’t see it or feel it at the moment. More than that, choose to rejoice though you don’t feel like it.

“How can I rejoice when I don’t feel like it?”

I won’t say it’s easy. But I think David gives us some hints here. He sang,

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me. (5–6)

David recalled to his mind what God had done for him in the past and thanked him for his goodness. And as he did, he realized that this same God who had delivered him in the past would deliver him from his present troubles.

In the same way, when God seems distant, we need to recall what God has done for us in the past.

We should especially recall what Jesus did for us on the cross. That he loved us so much that he came down to this earth as a man and died for our sin.

If Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to do that, how can we think that he could ever stop loving us? And how can we not believe he will deliver us now?

There’s one other thing I think we should remember. When we rejoice even though we don’t feel like it, God takes more pleasure from that than when we worship out of our feelings of closeness to him.

What’s more, when we choose to believe in his goodness even though we can’t see it, that’s when faith truly grows.

And it’s at that point that God shows himself to us once again.

I love a song by Steven Curtis Chapman, because it captures this idea beautifully. It says,

These are the places I was so sure I’d find him
I looked in the pages and I looked down on my knees
I lifted my eyes in expectation
To see the sun still refusing to shine,

But sometimes He comes in the clouds
Sometimes His face can not be found
Sometimes the sky is dark and gray

But some things can only be known
And sometimes our faith can only grow
When we can’t see

So sometimes he comes in the rain
And we question the pain
And wonder why God can seem so far away
But time will show us, he was right there with us.

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Psalms

Who is master of your tongue?

Psalms

In Psalm 12, David laments the lack of godly, faithful men. And the one area he focuses on is the tongues of those around him. He said,

Everyone lies to his neighbor;
their flattering lips speak with deception.

May the LORD cut off all flattering lips
and every boastful tongue that says,
“We will triumph with our tongues;
we own our lips — who is our master?” (Psalm 12:2–4)

David then compares the words of his neighbors to the words of the Lord, saying,

The words of the LORD are flawless,
like silver refined in a furnace of clay,
purified seven times. (6)

If we claim Jesus as our Lord, he should also be Lord of our tongues. Is he? Are our words like silver refined in the fire until they’re completely pure as Jesus’ were?

Or do lies, boasting, deception, and slander mark our lips? Do gossip, complaining, and inappropriate jokes flow from our mouths?

Paul wrote,

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

What’s been coming out of your mouth today?

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Psalms

Refusing to give in to fear

Psalms

Psalm 11 reminds me somewhat of what happened to Nehemiah.

In an attempt to get the Jews to stop their work on the walls, their enemies bribed a priest to make Nehemiah think his life was in danger and to get him to hide in the temple. But Nehemiah said,

Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go! (Nehemiah 6:11)

In the same way, David wrote,

In the Lord I take refuge.

How then can you say to me:
“Flee like a bird to your mountain.

For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:1–3)

David and Nehemiah had one thing in common. They refused to give in to fear. Rather, they put their trust in the Lord.

People would have had them panic, saying, “Everything is falling apart! What are we going to do?”

But they stood firm, and would not be moved. David wrote about the confidence he had, saying,

The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord is on his heavenly throne.

He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.

The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion. (4–5)

In other words, “God is here. He sees what’s going on. He’s in control. He is watching over me, and he will deal with those who would do me harm.”

Then he finishes by saying,

For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face. (7)

How about you? Do you have a similar confidence in the Lord? When the world around you seems to be falling apart, do you give in to panic?

Or have you made the Lord your refuge? Have you put your complete trust in him, knowing that he has his hand on you even if you can’t see it?

As Isaiah wrote,

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. (Isaiah 30:15)

Let us not be like the Israelites who gave into their fear.

Let us instead be like Nehemiah and David who put their full trust in the Lord who is faithful.

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Psalms

Abandoning ourselves to God

Psalms

In Psalm 10, we see again many of the questions of Job. David cries out as Job did,

Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? (Psalm 10:1)

He then questions why the wicked seem to prosper, though in their pride, they reject God and cause misery to so many.

And in verse 12, he pleads,

Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted.

But after that, he says something interesting.

But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand.

The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. (14)

That third phrase really strikes me.

The victims commit themselves to you.

The word “commit” is very interesting. It is, in fact, the only time in the Old Testament that it’s translated that way. Literally, it means “to abandon.”

The idea is that these people are in such desperate straits, they come to an end to themselves. They let go, and completely surrender themselves to God.

And as they do, David says,

You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed. (17–18)

That word for “encourage” is a very rich one. The Amplified version puts it this way: “You will prepare and strengthen and direct their hearts.”

When we abandon ourselves to God, it allows him not only to encourage us, but to prepare our hearts for the plans he has in store for us and to direct our steps.

What does it mean to abandon ourselves to God? I think it first means to give up our questions, and to surrender them to God.

To say, “I don’t understand why these evil things are happening. I don’t understand why you seem to be so far off. But I will trust you, anyway.”

That was the lesson Job learned.

It also means to give up trying to solve things in our own wisdom and strength.

So often when we are hurt, we think the logical thing is to hurt the other person back.

But to abandon ourselves to God is to give up our “right” to revenge and to leave justice in God’s hands. To trust him to do what is right with those who hurt us.

Oswald Chambers sums all of this up this way,

The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, “Well, what about this?”

Beware of your own ideas and speculations. The moment you allow yourself to think, “What about this?” you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God.

But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do.

Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions…

And once you do get to the point of total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth.

God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and He will have given you your life.

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Psalms

The God who is just

Psalms

If there is one theme in Psalm 9, it’s God’s justice.

David says of God,

You have sat on your throne, judging righteously. (Psalm 9:4)

And again,

He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice. (8)

And yet again,

The LORD is known by his justice. (16)

This is not to say that we do not see evil in this world. We do. But David says of God,

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.

Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.

For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted…

the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish. (9–12, 18)

In other words, justice may be delayed in our eyes, but it will come. And though we may go through times of trouble, we can know that God is still there and has not abandoned us.

Though we may suffer and it seems that God is distant, he is not ignoring us, but he hears each cry we make. He has not forgotten us, but he will rise up to act on our behalf.

And when he does, let us remember to thank him for what he has done, as David did, who at the end of his trial sang,

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.

I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. (1–2)

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Psalms

A prayer from the Psalms: Who am I?

Psalms

Whenever I go back to Hawaii, I love to look at the stars at night. You just can’t see them so clearly from where I live in Japan.

On a normal night, you might see two or three, if that many. If you’re lucky, you might actually get to see Orion’s belt.

But whenever I see the stars in all their glory, I marvel at them as David must have as he wrote this psalm.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. (Psalm 8:1)

Then like David, I think of how big God is, and how small I am. And I marvel at how the God who created all this could actually care about me.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:3–5)

On my way to work this morning, I was listening to a song that was based on this psalm and it totally captures my feelings.

Who am I that you are mindful of me
That you hear me, when I call

Is it true that you are thinking of me
How you love me, it’s amazing.

Lord, thank you that you are mindful of me. That you actually bend down and listen to me when I pray. That you actually think of me. That though I am lower than the angels, yet you crown me with glory and honor.

Not because I deserve it. But because you love me.

Lord, may I never take your love for granted, but may I always stand in awe of your love for me. In Jesus name, amen.

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Psalms

Letting God be the judge

Psalms

One thing that we generally see in David’s life is that he let God be the judge. He rarely went out to take things into his own hands. (The lone exception being when Abigail had to stop him from taking revenge on her husband Nabal).

And here we see this same attitude. Though people were pursuing him to kill him, yet he placed himself and his enemies in God’s hands, letting him be the judge between them.

David wrote,

Awake, my God; decree justice.

Let the assembled peoples gather around you, while you sit enthroned over them on high.

Let the Lord judge the peoples.

Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High. (Psalm 7:6–8)

He then expresses his confidence that God, “who probes minds and hearts” (9) would judge justly, bringing the evil people plan back upon themselves. He then finishes with praise, singing,

I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High. (Psalm 7:17)

Let us be like David, trusting in the one who searches hearts and minds, and leaving judgment to him.

Thoughts of revenge will only consume us and take away our joy. But when we leave things in the hands of the One who judges justly, we can find peace and joy through the most difficult of circumstances.

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Psalms

When suffering seems long

Psalms

Psalm 6 was written by David, but it could’ve just as easily been written by Job for all the sentiments it expresses.

Like Job, David seemed to be suffering from some kind of physical illness and apparently, there was no end in sight.

Further, while it seemed that God was bringing discipline into his life, there seemed to be no reason for it that he could see. (David never does confess any sin in this psalm).

And if that weren’t enough, his enemies were using the opportunity of his suffering to attack him.

Despite his suffering, however, David never does question God’s justice as Job did. He recognized that God really owed him nothing, that in fact, what he deserved was God’s wrath.

And so he makes his plea for deliverance not based on his own righteousness, but on God’s mercy and unfailing love. He cried out,

Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?

Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. (Psalm 6:2–4)

And in the midst of his prayer, he finds God’s reassurance. He writes,

Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.

All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace. (8–10)

I remember hearing a Christian comedian, Mark Lowry, talking about his favorite verse. It was, “And it came to pass…”

Interpretation: “Our sufferings aren’t here to stay, they will pass.”

Obviously this is not great biblical interpretation, but it is true. When we cry out to him, God in his mercy will hear. And all our pain, all our sufferings, they will pass.

Lowry sings his own “psalm” saying,

There’s a place inside
Full of tears I hide
That I’ve only cried alone.

But I know that He’s near,
And I know He hears,
And I know these tears won’t last.

This pain today
Will be swept away because
This too shall pass.

As night turns into morning,
We will see the truth at last,
That troubles come to everyone
But they only come to pass.

This too shall pass.
This too shall pass.

And the tears that fall like raindrops now
Will finally dry at last.

This too shall pass.

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Psalms

Petitioning the King

Psalms

Psalm 5 is probably one of my favorite psalms. I still love to sing the old chorus that goes to the King James Version.

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. (Psalm 5:1–3)

As I look at this psalm, I get the picture of a person coming into the king’s courtroom, asking for justice and help.

Bowing before him, they cry out, “My King and my God, have mercy on me. I need your help. Listen to my plea.”

There is an air of utter humility there, but also of loving trust.

“Lord, in the morning when I get up, my first thought turns to you. I lay down my requests before you and wait in expectation knowing that you do love me, that you do care, and will answer my cry.”

What problem David was going through at this time, we don’t know. But as usual, when he faced troubles, fears, and anxieties, he turned to his King. And so should we.

We can come before him not because we are more righteous than the people that hurt us, but because of his great mercy towards us.

And though people may hurt us and lie to us, we can know that God will never do so. He is a good King and will grant us justice when we cry to him. And he will spread his wings over us.

David prayed,

Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. (11–12)

As I read this, I think of the parable of Jesus where he talked about a woman who sought justice from an unjust judge. And it was only after harassing him day after day that the judge granted her the justice she sought.

Jesus contrasts that judge with our loving Father, saying,

Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.

However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7–8)

There were times when David had to wait day after day, year after year for God to deliver him from his troubles. But he never lost his faith in God.

Morning after morning, he kept coming before God with his petitions. God in his love heard him. And ultimately he delivered him.

When we face troubles in this life, may we too have the faith of David, knowing that God hears, that he cares, and that he will answer.

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Psalms

Peace

Psalms

In a world of turmoil, peace can be hard to find, especially when it seems like everyone is against you. Or even just one person, be it your boss, your husband, your wife, or even a friend you’ve been fighting with.

David certainly knew that feeling throughout his life, facing adversity from Saul and Absalom among others.

And so he cries out to God,

Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? (Psalm 4:1–2)

Perhaps in the midst of his troubles, people were mocking his faith in God, saying, “God can’t deliver you from this…if there is a God.”

We face the same thing today, with people not only seeking false gods from other religions, but also the gods of money, sex, and power, among other things.

And they mock us for seeking after God, especially when they see the problems we sometimes go through.

But David tells his enemies,

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. (Psalm 4:3)

In other words, “You may mock my faith, but I belong to him. And you will see. He will answer my prayers.”

He then tells himself and us who sometimes suffer mocking and hurt from others,

In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. (Psalm 4:4)

It’s okay to be angry. Jesus himself got angry sometimes.

But in our anger, we are to keep ourselves from sin. We are to search our hearts and attitudes in silence before God, and ask him to purify us from anything that would stain our hearts.

Bitterness is one thing in particular that we need to guard against. When we allow ourselves to become bitter, it spreads out into our lives like a cancer. And so we need to ask God to take it out before it can do so.

He then says to offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord. It’s interesting to me that to Jesus, offering right sacrifices, or anything to the Lord for that matter, meant keeping right relationships.

He told us,

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.

First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23–24)

Sometimes people will hurt us, and though we make every effort to reconcile with them, they continue to hurt us.

In that case, we just need to put our trust in the Lord that he will deal with that person in his time. Revenge has no place in our lives.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t keep our distance from those who hurt us. David certainly kept his distance from Saul when Saul was trying to kill him.

But like David, we are not to harbor resentment or bitterness against those who hurt us. Instead, we need to trust in God and put the situation and that person in his hands.

And don’t be like some who would doubt God’s goodness in the midst of trouble, but daily pray as David did,

Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD. (Psalm 4:6)

Put another way, “Lord turn your face upon me. Let me know that you’re here and you care. Because when your light shines on me, ‘the things that surround become shadows in the light of you.’”

And when you have that attitude, God’s joy will fill you and like David you will say,

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8)

How about you? Do you know God’s peace today?