Living Understanding Pt 24: Trust

Psalm 56:3-13                        3When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? 5All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my ruin. 6They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, hoping to take my life. 7Because of their wickedness do not let them escape; in your anger, God, bring the nations down. 8Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll— are they not in your record? 9Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me. 10In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise— 11in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me? 12I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you. 13For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

Acts 13:22                              22After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ [referring to 1Samuel 13:14]

John 8:12                               12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

David was a very real person.  It is true that through God’s grace he rose to be King of Israel, but in every other way was just like us.  When he wrote these words David was not a powerful man, and in fact, he was on the run from King Saul who was trying to kill him.  David had fled into the wilderness and was living in caves alone when writing this Psalm.

When I am afraid

When the world seems to close in on us—when fear is a constant companion—the only choice we have is to give in or overcome.  David was in just such a situation prior to writing this Psalm.  In fleeing Saul, he would flee to various towns only to find Saul’s men killing everyone who helped him, or he would hide in live in wilderness caves.  In desperation, he even fled to Gath, Goliath’s hometown, where everyone thought of Goliath as a hero.  We can imagine what kind of reception David found there!  And David was alone; he didn’t have the 400-man personal protection force he would later have.  Yet he knew God was ‘an ever-present help in times of trouble’ (Psalm 46:1).  David was out of human options and so turned to God.

Whose word I praise.

David’s Scripture, his Bible, was not the same as ours.  He had before him only the first five books of our Bible, and possibly Judges and Joshua, but still he had a wealth of self-revelation from God about His character and desires for His people.  When David says ‘his word I praise’ he means all this revelation.  David is saying he finds comfort in knowing that God has his back, that He is aware and cares about David’s struggles, and most importantly, that God’s word is absolutely certain although possibly delayed.

It is significant that despite the torment of the gossipers, pursuit of his opponents, and threat of death, that David turns to God for consolation and relief.  What does that say about David’s character?  He was a normal human being after all:  He had committed adultery with Bathsheba and manipulated the death of her husband.  But here was a man who knew where true value in life was to be found.  He knew that although he was a skilled warrior and a cunning adversary, true confidence lay not in those things but in trust in God, and more specifically in the word of God.

I may walk…in the light of life.

Jesus referred to this very verse when He said that He was the light of the world.  Except that he knew of a coming Messiah, David knew nothing of Jesus.  But he knew about prayer, and he knew about trusting God.  He knew there was no such thing as coincidence or accident, but that the circumstances of life occur for a reason.  He knew that he stumbled with Bathsheba, but his grief and repentance was real (see Psalm 51, day 196).  He knew that he should have died at the hands of his pursuers, but that God had intervened.

David was a man of God; at his core his faith was the driving force of his life.  Here are just a few examples in David’s own words.

9Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. (Psalm 31:9)

1The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

6Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23:6)

What about me?

I suppose the reader is thinking, “People don’t know what I’m really like inside; I can’t live like Jesus, I can’t even live like David!”  Well, that is true:  Our sinful nature interferes with our ability to live a righteous and holy life; only Jesus can help us do that.  Really living people are those who truly trust in Jesus. But this is not an easy thing to do.  We must actuate Him in our lives and this requires that every moment in every day that we choose, actively choose, to live in the light of Jesus.

Here is an example.  I really love my job.  I love being with people, even the crabby ones.  But I’m writing this on a Holy Convocation Day, a day in the Hebrew calendar when a person should not be working but focusing on one’s relationship with God and with Jesus.  But out of habit I left the house this morning headed to work when God reminded me of the importance of the day.  I thought, “What am I doing?” And I turned around to go back home.  I don’t write this to toot my own horn, but to say every action is a decision.  We can choose to live in a way that reflects Jesus or choose to not do so.

Reader, how do you live?  Do you live in fear?  Or loneliness?  Or despair?  Or do you pray about these things?  Do you ask God to help you through them?  One of the reasons David was called a man after God’s own heart is that he exhibited many Godly characteristics; he was humble, reverent, loving, and trusting.  Happiness and joy come through these things because they remove the pressures of life.  Try living in these things.  You will find they help.