Verses 1-11, “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men Who are set on fire, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They have dug a pit before me; Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth.”
David was fearful in the midst of his trials, but he chose to trust in God instead of obeying his fears. We can do this by changing our focus: Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2). Praising God when we are at our lowest is a great way to do this. Unfortunately, many quit serving God when they are in difficult times, only praising Him when they are being blessed and things are going their way. If trials are used to show us the genuineness of our faith, we should be clinging to God if we are true believers. Only then can we develop endurance and yield the benefit of spiritual fruit from the bad situation.
In the case of David's enemies, they were not exactly being forthcoming, but acting deceptively toward him, trying to trap him. We cannot always see the hidden motives of others, which is why we trust in the One who sees all. Furthermore, we trust God at His word that He will deal with the wicked, and their scheming will not go unpunished. Psalms 7:14-16, “Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made. His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.”
Satan uses people to attack us, but they are only carrying out his will. His schemes are aimed at getting us to abandon our faith, which is why we must be on guard.
Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” We are no match for Satan. In fact, the only way we can escape his snare is to be filled with the Spirit of God who overcomes. Then we are free from the bondage of sin and able to do the will of God instead. If you really understand this freedom you have in Christ, you will not willingly put yourself back into bondage, becoming a tool of Satan once again.
II Timothy 2:21-26, “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. Psalms 57:1-3, 7-9
ReplyDeleteHere David is again crying out to the Lord, being steadfast in his heart. Even when he was safe in a cave, he still cried out to Him because he that the Lord was the one protecting him,not the cave.
Many times we cry out to God for protection, but when we get it, we trust in that protection rather than God. The Lord is our altimate protection. There is only so much these earthly things can protect us, but the Lord can protect us with nothing. Even when we think we are safe, we still should be crying out to the Lord because He is the one, who gives and takes away. He might just take away are protection, if we are trusting in it rather than Him.
David praised God even during his trials. Men were coming against him, plotting evil towards him, yet he looked to the Lord to be his refuge. We should also be looking to the Lord who knows all things to protect us from our enemies. We will go through trials, and will be tested, and that may be from persecution from the enemies of Christ. We are blessed when we are persecuted for Christ's sake, and we know that true believers will be hated because they ultimately dislike the Lord! Matthew 5:11-12- "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
ReplyDeleteWhen we go through trials, we need to be in prayer, seeking what the Lord's will is for our life. Many people come to God only when life gets tough and there are no other options, but we should be going to Him always! He has a plan for our life and wants to use us. This means we need to be humble, knowing that everything we have comes from Him. He will often use trials in our life to humble us and show us where our faith is truly at. We are sinful human beings who don't deserve to know God! It is an honor to be used by Him and having the opportunity to serve and worship Him!
When situations look dim, may we not worry, but trust in the Lord! It's easy to say we trust in the Lord, but another to actually do it! He has a plan, and when we are in His will, we don't have to worry! Matthew 10:29-31- "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."