June 11, 2015

WHEN LIFE GETS HARD, WHO CAN YOU TRUST?

Psalms 55–59

Jamie Bauknight
Thursday's Devo

June 11, 2015

Thursday's Devo

June 11, 2015

Central Truth

God calls us to active reliance by trusting Him and worshiping Him no matter our circumstances.

Key Verse | Psalm 56:3

But when I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
(Psalm 56:3)

 

Psalms 55–59

Cast Your Burden on the LORD

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil 1 55:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of David.

Give ear to my prayer, O God,
    and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
Attend to me, and answer me;
    I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
because of the noise of the enemy,
    because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
    and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and horror overwhelms me.
And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
I would hurry to find a shelter
    from the raging wind and tempest.”

Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
    for I see violence and strife in the city.
10  Day and night they go around it
    on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11      ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its marketplace.

12  For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
13  But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
14  We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in the throng.
15  Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

16  But I call to God,
    and the LORD will save me.
17  Evening and morning and at noon
    I utter my complaint and moan,
    and he hears my voice.
18  He redeems my soul in safety
    from the battle that I wage,
    for many are arrayed against me.
19  God will give ear and humble them,
    he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not change
    and do not fear God.

20  My companion 2 55:20 Hebrew He stretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
21  His speech was smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were drawn swords.

22  Cast your burden on the LORD,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.

23  But you, O God, will cast them down
    into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
    shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam 3 56:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
    all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?

All day long they injure my cause; 4 56:5 Or they twist my words
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife, they lurk;
    they watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will they escape?
    In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

You have kept count of my tossings; 5 56:8 Or wanderings
    put my tears in your bottle.
    Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back
    in the day when I call.
    This I know, that 6 56:9 Or because God is for me.
10  In God, whose word I praise,
    in the LORD, whose word I praise,
11  in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?

12  I must perform my vows to you, O God;
    I will render thank offerings to you.
13  For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam 7 57:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

My soul is in the midst of lions;
    I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
    whose tongues are sharp swords.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

They set a net for my steps;
    my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
My heart is steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
    Awake, my glory! 8 57:8 Or my whole being
Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10  For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.

11  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam 9 58:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of David.

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? 10 58:1 Or you mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew in silence)
    Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
    your hands deal out violence on earth.

The wicked are estranged from the womb;
    they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
    like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
    or of the cunning enchanter.

O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
    tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
Let them vanish like water that runs away;
    when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
    like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
    whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away! 11 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain

10  The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
    he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11  Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
    surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam 12 59:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
    protect me from those who rise up against me;
deliver me from those who work evil,
    and save me from bloodthirsty men.

For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
    fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
    for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
    You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
    spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
There they are, bellowing with their mouths
    with swords in their lips—
    for “Who,” they think, 13 59:7 Hebrew lacks they think “will hear us?”

But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
    you hold all the nations in derision.
O my Strength, I will watch for you,
    for you, O God, are my fortress.
10  My God in his steadfast love 14 59:10 Or The God who shows me steadfast love will meet me;
    God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

11  Kill them not, lest my people forget;
    make them totter 15 59:11 Or wander by your power and bring them down,
    O Lord, our shield!
12  For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
    let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13      consume them in wrath;
    consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
    to the ends of the earth. Selah

14  Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
15  They wander about for food
    and growl if they do not get their fill.

16  But I will sing of your strength;
    I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
    and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17  O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
    for you, O God, are my fortress,
    the God who shows me steadfast love.

Footnotes

[1] 55:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[2] 55:20 Hebrew He
[3] 56:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[4] 56:5 Or they twist my words
[5] 56:8 Or wanderings
[6] 56:9 Or because
[7] 57:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[8] 57:8 Or my whole being
[9] 58:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[10] 58:1 Or you mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew in silence)
[11] 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
[12] 59:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[13] 59:7 Hebrew lacks they think
[14] 59:10 Or The God who shows me steadfast love
[15] 59:11 Or wander

Dive Deeper | Psalms 55–59

David is going through some pretty rough stuff in these psalms. In one, his friends have turned on him, in another he's hiding in a cave from his enemies, and in a third people are trying to kill him. Not exactly the stuff of happy memories. Yet, even in the midst of some seriously hard times, David knows that he can lean into God and trust Him for everything he needs.

During the times in my life when things get hard and I get overwhelmed, I can be quick to seek comfort from family and friends. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because God uses those relationships to point me back to Him. However, if I put more weight in the wisdom my friends offer over what Scripture says, I am not fully leaning into and trusting God. Trusting God isn't something we just give "lip service" to, it's a choice to actively rely on Him.

So what does that look like?

David reminds us to let God be the One who sustains us (Psalm 55:22), to find strength in God even in the midst of our trials (Psalm 59:9-10), and—my favorite—to find refuge in the shadow of His wings (Psalm 57:1).

When I turn to the Lord as my refuge and strength, it is much easier for me to worship Him for what He has done and what He has yet to do, which is exactly what David does here! David praises God in the midst of his suffering—even when he is fearful, even when he is cursed by friends, and even when his life is in danger.

David's response to trials should be a model for how we respond to trials in our own lives.

Discussion Questions

1. Where do you turn for comfort during hard times? (Read 2 Corinthians 1.)

2. When you're dealing with trials, do you find that you pray about them as much as you talk about them?

3. Do you trust God with your future and the plans He has for you? (Read Jeremiah 29:11 and Isaiah 55:8-9.)