These verses are also contained in Psalm 18. It was written towards the end of his life, and is a Psalm of praise to the God who rescued him from all his enemies and Saul. The God whom we serve is the God who rescues us. So when we face difficulties we should rejoice, for we can be certain that God will rescue us. This does not mean things will necessarily be easy, for many of David's Psalms involve him crying out for help and telling of his anguish, but the result is certain.
The first 3 verses sum up what David has learnt about God during his life. He loves God, and God is his strength. He is a source of strength and protection in all circumstances. David has called upon the Lord many times, and each time the Lord has saved him.
David called out of his distress, and God heard him. Often when we cry out to God we may not feel full of faith, but even so God hears us. The key point is that we call out to the Lord, that in itself is an act of faith.
When God heard David He acted, and His action affected the heavens and the earth. When we call out to God things change. When He hears us He does things that change the world. We need to meditate on the wonder of this, and the implications for our life. We can often feel so small and think we are at the mercy of forces and events beyond our control. But we worship the God who created all things, and He makes decisions and takes action on our behalf.
The Lord reached down to help David. The most almighty God is willing and able to help us, whatever situation we find ourselves in.
David was not in a little bit of trouble, but in deep waters. He was facing a powerful enemy, foes who were too strong for him to deal with by himself. We should take heart from this when we face circumstances that are overwhelming us, for our God is a God who rescues us from enemies that are too strong for us. Indeed, when He took the Israelites into the promised land, it was a land occupied by people stronger than they, but God was with them, so they could overcome. The enemies confronted David in the day of his disaster, ie at the worst possible time, but God rescued him. We need not fear any circumstance.
Then we have a section where David declares that the Lord has dealt with him according to his righteousness and his uprightness. How are we to apply this to ourselves? In two ways. On the one hand we rely on the righteousness of Jesus, His perfect life, perfect sacrifice and resurrection are the basis for our confidence. On the other hand we are to seek to live lives of integrity, life will go better, and we will be stronger, if we do so. There is no conflict in the Bible between relying only on Christ's righteousness and striving to live upright lives.
People like to complain about God, but the way God appears is dependent upon the condition of our heart. If we are faithful and pure we will find God to be faithful and pure. But if we are devious we will find that God can outwit us quite easily. The Lord favours the humble over the proud. This is a fundamental tenant of the Bible.
The Lord keeps our lamps burning. In the midst of a struggle He supplies us with strength, and gives us light in dark times. So no matter what the circumstances we can have confidence that in Christ we are able to overcome.
David then continues with further attributes of God. His way is perfect and His word flawless. There is no one like our God. The Lord equips us with His attributes. Here David talks about being trained for war. Now the through the Holy Spirit we are sanctified and made more and more like Christ.
So David was able to pursue and defeat his enemies, and David reigned victorious. David endured many difficulties, and at times defeat seemed certain, but in the end it was his enemies who were defeated, because of the saving power of the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment