In the King’s service
What happens when God disciplines you, you repent, and he forgives and restores you to fellowship? Does he then sideline you or reassign you? This psalm asks God for mercy, protection and reassignment too.
A David psalm.
1 Hear my cry, O God
listen to my prayer!
2 I call to you from the end of the earth
my heart fainting.
Lead me to the rock that towers above me
3 for you’re my refuge
a fortress against my foes.
4 Let me stay in your tent forever
safe in the shelter of your wings.
5 For you’ve accepted my vows, God
and granted me the heritage
of those who revere your name.
6 Lengthen the king’s life
so it spans future generations!
7 May he reign in God’s presence forever
with your unfailing love and faithfulness
guarding him.
8 So I’ll sing my praise to you forever
and fulfill my vows to you day after day.
Traditionally associated with Absalom’s attempted coup, this psalm finds David once more far from home and hanging on for dear life.[1] With only God between him and death, he asks him to guide him to the kind of rock that’s untouched by the flash flood’s chaos. Not claiming to be blameless, David longs for the refuge of God’s sanctuary, the ark of the covenant’s outspread wings picturing God’s gracious shelter.
In verses 6-7, David refers indirectly to himself, asking God to lengthen “the king’s” life. Currently dethroned, David takes nothing for granted[2] and implicitly asks God to reinstate him as king. He uses the royal court’s hyperbolic language, asking to reign forever. He may also be thinking of his eternal dynasty and the Messiah to come from him.[3] In any case, he envisions ruling on God’s behalf, in fellowship with him, protected not by mere mortals, but rather by God’s unfailing love and faithfulness.
Believing God has granted him a place in Israel’s commonwealth, David has vowed to make thanksgiving offerings to him when he returns home. He thus ends anticipating that holy scene in the tabernacle, his praises rising to heaven as he and his people celebrate God’s goodness together for endless days to come.
However far I’ve wandered, you hear me when I call you, Lord. You graciously forgive and reassign me in your service—to reign under you. Though the way ahead be hard, I want to obey you. Help me to please you, protected by your unfailing love and faithfulness. Amen.
In your spare moments today, pray this prayer:
Lead me to the rock that towers above me
for you’re my refuge, a fortress against my foes.
[1] 2 Sam. 15:13-19:8.
[2] 2 Sam. 15:25-26 (cf. 2 Sam. 16:10-12).
[3] Some scholars think verses 6-7, written in third person, were spliced into the psalm by a later editor. But I see no need to resort to such an explanation.
The prophet Nathan promised David his dynasty would endure forever (2 Sam. 7:16).
