This
is yet another Psalm David had written and addressed to the chief musician or
the choir director. The content suggests that he wrote it while undergoing great
turmoil and was in a dilemma. The content indicates that David was pleading for
deliverance in this prayer. He began with pleading for God’s help before he
spoke about his struggles. So he began with a series of petition asking not to
be put to shame for his trust in the Lord. He literally asked to be delivered. He
expressed the desire for God to be his strong Rock, his foundation, and pleaded
with Him to lead and guide him. Knowing that God could see everything, he also
asked to be put out of hidden nets laid as a trap for him.
As
we petition God to intervene, we need also to anticipate His answers to our cry
for help. Here was what David did. He merely trusted the Lord and abandoned
himself to Him. He was so assured that God would deliver him because, like His God,
he also detested idol-worshippers. His whole trust was in Him and never once in
idols. Besides, his God had delivered him many a times in the past.
In
verses 9-13, David described his predicaments. He had used his days grieving
and expended all his energy, and was in extreme exhaustion. His strength was all
gone and he felt vexed. Even his bones were sapped of life and he was severely weakened.
Even his friends forsook him and were afraid to be seen in his company. Meanwhile
his enemies plotted to take his life. Here we see David, spiritually, physically,
mentally, socially and emotionally depleted.
Haven’t
we sometimes felt that way too? Here we can learn from David in the steps that
he wrote in verses 14-18. He refused to be defeated and simply placed his trust
in God. He recalled his past confidence in God and refused to waver in his trust
in Him. He recognized that all that he had been and would be, were entirely in
the hand of God. David’s only desire was for two things to take place: (1) He would
be delivered from the hands of his enemies. (2) His enemies to be totally destroyed
and removed.
As
before, after praying David would start to praise God. We know that praise is
an expression of confidence that God will deliver even before it is
experienced. In praising we look away from our problems and focus on God and
extol Him. That was what David did in verses 19-22. He was confident that God
only laid up good things and experiences for those who would trust Him. Moreover
God would also hide and shield him, although he had at times vacillated in his
trust in Him. Graciously, the Lord would not take into account this weak
moments.
God
is faithful and can be trusted to be faithful, even when we are faithless at
times. That’s the consistency of our God. All may change but Jesus never, glory
to His name! So in his conclusion to
this song, David exhorted all God’s people to love the Lord and honour Him for
his righteous dealing with us, regardless of our trust in Him. We ought to be
courageous and find strength in Him.
Like David, we should refuse
to grow weary in faith in difficult moments. We should instead trust God and
yield ourselves wholly to Him. Remember to recall His past deliverance and surrender
our present circumstance to Him in prayer. Though we may not know exactly what
outcome we will experience, we can be assured that He will help us to deal with
it. More importantly, He will transform us and make us the person He wants us
to become. Regardless of what may happen, let’s just praise Him, and encourage
others to trust and praise Him as well.
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