Resting in God alone

How can we get ahead without somehow cornering the market on money and power, even playing dirty now and then? This psalm says, no, we truly get ahead by trusting ultimately in God alone.

A David psalm.

¹ My soul finds rest in God alone—
in God who rescues me.
² He alone is my rock and my deliverance
my fortress where nothing can tear me down.
³ How long will you attack a person?
Are all of you going to bash me to the ground
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
⁴ Their only plan is to topple me
from my high position.
They love to deceive—
outwardly blessing, inwardly bashing.
⁵ Find rest, my soul, in God alone
because he’s your only hope.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my deliverance
my fortress where nothing can shake me.
⁷ My deliverance and my honor come from God.
My refuge, my strong rock, is God.

⁸ Everyone, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your hearts before him
because God really is our refuge.
⁹ Ordinary people are just a breath
the rich and powerful pure delusion.
Put them together on the balance
and they add up to nothing.
Less than one single airy breath.[1]
¹⁰ Don’t try to get ahead by oppression
or entertain false hopes of theft.
If your wealth multiplies
don’t set your heart on it.
¹¹ Here’s something God has clearly said—
two things we can be sure of:
that power belongs to God
¹² and your love, Lord, never fails.
You repay everyone
for whatever they’ve done.

David rests in God, his calm in the midst of the storm. He’s being mercilessly pounded by enemies determined to remove him from his high position. In fact, that’s all they can agree on since they’re otherwise totally given to duplicity, outwardly commending, inwardly condemning. Such evil makes getting pulled into the hurricane’s havoc far easier than resting in God, which requires holding onto him tightly.

In our weakness, we’re tempted to hope others will shore us up or else to amass wealth and power for ourselves, through manipulation or theft if need be. We’re also tempted to view material wealth as trustworthy. But David refuses all such God-substitutes. Looking to people—whether crowds or the biggest powerbrokers around—is folly since all of humanity doesn’t even weigh enough to register on the scales. And getting ahead through oppression or extortion sets you back in the long run.

David urges his people to trust God as their true source of peace and pour their hearts out to him—easier said than done when it seems he doesn’t care. But three interrelated truths form the basis of David’s call. That God is powerful, his love never fails and, implicitly, he defends his people and opposes their enemies.

Lord, I often wish you’d support me as I think you should, but your thoughts are far higher than mine. You call me to wait humbly on you, love as you love and give up my small ambitions for your kingdom’s sake. Help me believe your all-powerful love won’t fail me now or ever. Amen.

In your spare moments today, meditate on this truth:

My deliverance and my honor come from God.
My refuge, my strong rock, is God.

[1] This doesn’t mean people—created in God’s image—are worthless, but only that they’re nothing at all to rely on.

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).

When human help is worthless

How can you trust God after he’s left you wounded, hurt and shaken? How can you go on fighting for good when it didn’t work out well last time and you suffered loss? Why trust God again?

 A David psalm. When he clashed with Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah, and Joab returned and struck down 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.[a]

¹ O God, you’ve rejected us
and wrecked our defences.
You were angry, but now revive us.
² You rocked the land and ripped it open.
Heal its wounds before it founders.
³ You made your people suffer hardship
and drink a brew that sent us reeling.
⁴ Raise up a banner for those who revere you
where they can rally out of bowshot.
⁵ Stretch out your right hand and help us
so your loved ones may be rescued. 

⁶ God has spoken in his holiness:
“In triumph I’ll parcel out Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
⁷ Gilead is mine and Manasseh mine.
Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter!
⁸ Moab is my washbasin
onto Edom I toss my shoes
and over Philistia shout triumphant!”

⁹ Who will take me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom
¹⁰ if not you who rejected us, God?
You no longer lead our armies to battle.
¹¹ Help us fight against our foes
for human help is worthless.
¹² With God’s help we’ll fight courageously
and he’ll trample down our enemies!

David needs to strike enemy nations preemptively on their home turf, which gives them the natural advantage. What makes it harder is that David’s army has been badly beaten. He describes Israel’s defeat in cataclysmic terms, of God’s having wrenched and torn the land apart. David sees their defeat as God’s abandoning them, making them down a medicine with serious side effects.

Demoralized and facing a stronger foe, military strategists always look for more soldiers, better weapons, smarter strategies. However, David knows such things will never do for the battles they must fight. So he cries out for God to heal the nation and lead them into battle. Yet it’s really hard to trust God after he’s roughed you up. That’s David’s struggle: how to trust God after he’s sent them reeling.

The psalm’s core quotes God on his declared ownership of the entire region. It’s all his home turf to do what he likes with. Moab is his laundry room, well fortified Edom his mud room![b] He calls Ephraim his helmet and Judah his scepter because he reigns through them. This reassures David that he can count on the same God who wounded them to heal them, lead them and rescue them now.

It’s hard to believe you’ll come through for me, Lord, when you’ve just deserted me—though it was my self-reliance that messed me up. But my foes are way bigger than me. You’re my only hope, and all my battles belong to you. So I trust you to heal me and reign through me. Amen.

Meditate on this during your free moments today:

With God’s help we’ll fight courageously
and he’ll trample down our enemies!

[a] This psalm may have inspired David and Joab to trust God prior to the battles mentioned.

[b] Sela (Petra), Edom’s capital city, was arguably the best fortified city in David’s world.

With God in the real world 

People say it’s a dog-eat-dog existence in “the real world,” that you must hit first in order to get ahead and hit back when you’re hit. This psalm advocates a different approach, one of trusting God to fight for us.

A David psalm. When Saul put his house under surveillance in order to kill him.

¹ Rescue me from my foes, my God—
protect me from those attacking me!
² Rescue me from these thugs—
from these hitmen protect me!
³ See them lurking to ambush me.
The powerful conspire against me
but not for anything I’ve done, Yahveh.
⁴ No, they hurry into position for no fault of mine.
Wake up, God!
See what’s happening and help me!
⁵ Yahveh, Commander of heaven’s armies
you’re Israel’s God.
Wake up and punish all your foes!
Don’t spare any of these traitors who plot evil!

⁶ Every night they’re back roaming the streets
like a pack of howling dogs.
⁷ They spew a stream of abuse from their mouths
snarl razor-sharp words and chortle
Who overhears anything we say?
⁸ But you laugh out loud, Yahveh—
you scoff at all the nations.
⁹ My Strength, I wait for you to rescue me
because you’re my fortress, God.

¹⁰ The God whose love never fails
will come through for me.
God will make sure
I look down on my enemies’ lifeless bodies—
not they on mine.
¹¹ But don’t kill them suddenly
lest my people forget just as quickly.
No, make them stagger and reel.
Take them down in slow-motion
O Lord, our Shield.
¹² May all the arrogant curses and filthy lies
that pour out of their mouths
bring about their own downfall.
¹³ Obliterate them in your anger.
Decimate them so that everyone everywhere
knows that Israel’s God reigns supreme.

¹⁴ Every night they’re back
like a pack of howling dogs.
¹⁵ See, they roam and scavenge all night long
growling if they don’t get their fill.
¹⁶ But I sing of your power.
Every morning I’ll shout
about your unfailing love.
For you’ve been my fortress
my refuge when I had nowhere else to turn.
¹⁷ O my Strength, I’ll sing praises to you
for you’re a high fortress to me
the God who shows me unfailing love.

Sure that David threatens his supremacy, Saul determines to get rid of him and puts him under constant surveillance. David can’t convince Saul of his innocence and, so, is left to live in Saul’s trap. His enemies control everything outside his house, like a pack of wild dogs with the run of the city’s streets at night. So David cries out to God for protection, asking him to rid the world of his enemies, and in such a way that people don’t quickly forget what it says about the true way to get ahead.[1] David repeats his refrain about God’s being his strength to counter his repeated description of the menacing dogs and emphasize God’s faithfulness and unfailing love.

Like Psalms 56-58, this psalm declares that God rules the world. Though evil persists in it and often seems to be in control, God’s love constantly works to counter it, blessing those who live by not the lust for power, but rather the power of love.

You reign, Lord, though evil often has the upper hand, leaving those who please you struggling. Help me to believe your love reigns and live accordingly, to walk by faith even when I can’t see what you’re doing. And help me praise you for your unfailing love and shelter. Amen.

Meditate on this in your free moments today: 

O my Strength, I’ll sing praises to you for you’re a high fortress to me, the God who shows me unfailing love!

[1] This seems vengeful to us, but David saw it as a practical necessity since someone was going to die—either him or his assassins. Disturbed by the evil example his enemies set for the nation, he asks God to make a memorable example of them in their deaths. But he doesn’t take vengeance into his own hands.