Category: Psalms

I remember enjoying the last day of school before summer vacation when I was in elementary school.

There was an old rhyme I learned at that time.

No more pencils, no more books.
No more teacher’s dirty looks.

I remember being so excited about being free from school, that I actually wrote two or three more verses to it.

And as I went down the stairs from my class, I actually recited those verses to myself.  (Don’t ask me what they were now, though).

Well, that’s probably how David felt, although on a much deeper level.

Here he was, captured by the Philistines, thinking he was probably going to die, but by acting crazy in front of the king, David convinced him that he was just a harmless kook, and was set free.

And you can see his jubilance in the first few verses of Psalm 34.

I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34:1-3)

I can’t help but think, however, that David sang this Psalm at other times in his life, to remind himself of God’s goodness despite his circumstances.

As he continued to be on the run from Saul.

As he faced the overthrow of his kingdom by his son Absalom.

How often did David sing these words to remind himself, “God is good.  God will take care of me.”

In particular, I love these words,

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (7-8)

And,

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all. (18-19)

Truthfully, I love the whole psalm.  And it must’ve been a reminder to David that:

1.  God hears our cries (4-6, 15, 17)

2.  God is always with us in the midst of our trials.  He never leaves us lonely. (7, 18)

3.  God is good.  (8)

4.  God will provide our every need (9-10)

5.  We shouldn’t turn aside from God because times are tough.  Keep doing what you know is right  (12-14)

6.  Everything will turn out all right if we put our trust in him (5, 19-22)

Whenever we are going through trials, let us never forget this song of deliverance.

It probably helped David through many tough times.  And it can help us if we’ll just believe as he did.

In America, written on all of our coins and bills is a simple phrase written that says, “In God we trust.”

It seems a little ironic to me, considering that nowadays, people tend to trust money a lot more than they do God.

It seems to me that Americans would do a lot better keeping their priorities straight if they would actually look at the words on our money and live it, rather than killing themselves trying to get it.

For David, although he had his lapses, he put his trust in God.

On the run from Saul, he decided to hide in the land of Israel’s enemies, the Philistines.

Unfortunately, the Philistines had a long memory. And they recalled how David was not only the one who had defeated their champion Goliath, but had also led many military campaigns against them for Israel.

So when they found David in their land, they immediately seized him and brought him before the king.

Perhaps it was as they threw him into a dungeon, waiting to see the king, that David wrote Psalm 56.

In the midst of his troubles, not knowing whether he would live or die, David wrote,

When I am afraid,
I will trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can mortal man do to me? (Psalm 56:3-4)

Why could David say these things?  I think it was a combination of things.  First, he was desperate.  He had no choice but to put his trust in God.

But also, he could look back at times in his life when God had delivered him in the past.  When he had defeated the lion, the bear, and Goliath.

The other thing that he knew was that his life was in God’s hands.

He knew through Samuel that God had a plan for him.  He knew that as long as he put his trust in God, God’s hand would be upon him.  And even if he died, he knew that while men could kill his body, they could not destroy his soul.

And so in the midst of his trials, he sang “In God I trust.”

What trials are you going through?  What hardships or sorrows?  Don’t lose hope.  Take courage.

Look back on what God has done for you in the past.  Look back on his goodness towards you.

Know that God has a plan for you even now.  And know that whatever happens, whether in life or death, you are and will always be in his hands.

I will trust you Lord when I don’t know why.
I will trust you Lord ’til the day I die.

I will trust you Lord when I’m blind with pain.
You were God before and you never change.

I will trust you.  I will trust you.
I will trust you Lord.

–Twila Paris

“I really shouldn’t have said that.”

How often do we look back and say that?

The tongue is very small, but also very powerful, as the book of James points out.  It has the power to give life, building people up and encouraging them.  But it also has the power to destroy.

And Doeg, Saul’s chief shepherd used it to destroy.  Perhaps in hoping to win favor from Saul, and perhaps also desiring a financial reward, he told Saul about how the priests in Nob had helped David.

Not only that, when the rest of Saul’s men refused to kill the priests, Saul had Doeg do it.

And so David wrote Psalm 52.  And in it he talks about how evil the tongue can be.

It boasts about the evil we do (Psalm 52:1).

It plots destruction, and practices deceit (2).

It speaks lies instead of truth (3).

It brings harm to others (4).

But behind the tongue is the heart.  And in Doeg was a heart that trusted in money and which desired more and more of it.  And it didn’t matter to him who his words destroyed.  (7)

How about you?  What is in your heart?  Jesus said,

For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.  (Matthew 12:34-36)

For David, what mattered was his relationship with God.  That was what was in his heart.  His trust wasn’t in money or anything else.  Instead, he said,

I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. (Psalm 52:8)

So what came out of David’s mouth was not words that destroyed.  Rather it was words of praise and encouragement for the people of God.  He said,

I will praise you forever for what you have done;
in your name I will hope, for your name is good.
I will praise you in the presence of your saints. (9)

What kind of words does your heart bring forth?

“Why is this happening to me?  Don’t you care God?  Where are you?”

When bad things happen in our lives, that’s typically how we respond.  And if there were someone who had a right to say that, it was David.

Here he was an innocent man, and yet for no reason that he could see, Saul was trying to kill him.

And so we come to the first Psalm he wrote that we can tie to an event in his life.

Saul had just tried to spear him to the wall and then sent men to watch his house to kill him.  But Michal his wife warned him of what Saul was planning and helped him to escape.

Now on the run, David wrote Psalm 59, saying,

Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
protect me from those who rise up against me.

Deliver me from evildoers
and save me from bloodthirsty men.

See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire against me
for no offense or sin of mine, O Lord.

I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Arise to help me; look on my plight! (Psalm 59:1-4)

In other words, “HELP!”

But in the midst of this, he wrote,

O my Strength, I watch for you;
you, O God, are my fortress,
my loving God.
God will go before me. (Psalm 59:9-10)

And,

But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.

O my Strength, I sing praise to you;
you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God. (Psalm 59:16-17)

The words that strike me most here are the words, “my loving God.”

Despite his circumstances, he never questioned God’s love for him.  Instead, when everything seemed to be going against him, he rested in God’s love and took refuge there.

Instead of constantly focusing on his problems, he focused on God.  Instead of constantly complaining about his circumstances, he worshiped God.

And God delivered him, using Jonathan, Michal, and Samuel to help him.

How about you?  How do you respond when everything seems to be going against you?

Do you question God’s love?  Do you question God’s goodness?  Or do you instead watch for him as David did?  Do you take refuge in his love, and worship him?

Remember that he is your loving God, that he will go before you, and he will deliver you.