1 Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might. 2 Hear my prayer, O God;
listen to the words of my mouth.
3 Strangers are attacking me;
ruthless men seek my life—
men without regard for God.
Selah
4 Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
in your faithfulness destroy them.
6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
I will praise your name, O LORD,
for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
***
[Taken from research on the Net]
Psalm 54 was written when David received the news that the Ziphites had betrayed him. The reference to oppressors ‘seeking after my soul / life’ (Ps. 54:3) uses the same Hebrew words as in 1 Sam. 23:15, where Saul seeks for David’s life at Ziph. It gives an insight into the mind of David; how he perceived himself, how he understood God. He was obviously in a desperate situation- he’d been betrayed, and Saul appeared certain now to corner him and kill him. He asks God of course to save him; he doesn’t just resign himself to what looked like an impossible situation. He had the vision to believe that God can do miracles. He asks God to ‘judge’ him, to ‘plead my cause’ (Ps. 54:1 Heb.). There he was, just having received the news… and he prays, and composes a Psalm, right there and then.
King David, in the moment of desperation for his life, should have panicked and try to escape as far as possible. But what did he do?
Instead of trying to save his life, he chose to remain there and write songs to God as a prayer!
What foolishness from the eyes of man!
But what great trust in God and a great demonstration of God's faithfulness in His response!
In 1 Samuel 23, God intervened by sending the Philistines to attack Saul.In 1 Samuel 26, God even delivered Saul himself into David's hands!What can we learn from both lessons?
In times of trouble, God wants us to WILLINGLY come to Him and rely on Him, and not run away.Labels: Journey Through Psalms
