September 19
Psalm 54
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 Arrogant foes are attacking me;
ruthless people are trying to kill me—
people without regard for God.
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, Lord, for it is good.
7 You have delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
Before David was king, and while being hunted by Saul, who was still king, David writes this prayer. Facing the military might of Saul, David sees his protection coming through God himself. Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.
With a small band following with him, David hides in the wilderness. Saul pursues, but as he closes in on David, the Philistines raided the land. Saul had to return to protecting the people instead of trying to find David.
It is an odd way of being protected, yet God took Saul away from David. Sometimes we fail to see the good that comes in the odd places of life. Times when we are unable to do what we wanted, but then seeing it either brought us better things or it kept us from troubles where we were heading. Losses and changes that have helped us and even saved us.
I find that often the beauty of giving our troubles to God, but not giving him our sense of the solution brings better things than we were thinking. David simply prays that God protect him. That the evil, and the ones doing evil, would be kept away. He doesn’t direct how. But he knows he will praise God for the answer he will receive.
Bring the struggles of our day before God and ask for his answers. Take the troubles we see in the world to God allowing him to show us how it will be resolved. Praying for peace and the coming of his eternal kingdom. And we patiently wait for him, knowing he will give us more than we could ever imagine.
Song – Be Still My Soul
Prayer
Lord, save us from the struggles of our life. Heal us from the pain and sickness that dwells in us. Comfort us in our grief. Keep us safe from the ones who wish to harm us. Give us life now and always that we might praise you in all we do and all we say. In the name of faithful saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen.