Psalm 55 A Psalm of David,
when he was driven from Jerusalem and from his throne, by Absalom’s rebellion
and conspiracy. Read 2 Samuel 15-18:17. Comments by Dennis Edwards.
55:1-3 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not Yourself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I
mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of
the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
David’s
first reaction in times of trouble is to call upon the Lord with all his heart
and soul. In Jeremiah we read, “You shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall
search for Me, with all your heart,” Jeremiah 29:13.
When the
Amalekites had attacked the town of Ziklag, where David and his men’s wives and
families were; “David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice
and wept, until they had no more power to weep,” I Samuel 30:4. The
people were so grieved that they spoke of stoning David. “But David encouraged
himself in the Lord his God,” 1 Samuel 30:6.
The beauty
of David’s Psalms is that they teach us to cry out to the Lord in our distress,
to poor out our complaint before the Lord, and trust that the Lord will hear,
respond, and save. David teaches us to encourage ourselves in the Lord and in
His word. “Great peace have they that love Your law, and nothing shall offend
them,” Psalm 119:165.
Psalm
55:4-5 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are
fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.
I remember
at the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic seeing various YouTube posts out of
China of many people dying from the unknown sickness. On viewing these posts,
my heart was overwhelmed with fear. A spirit of fear came upon me, as I faced
the unknown menace.
However,
knowing God’s word, I knew that the emotional fear that I was experiencing was
not of God. God’s word over and over again tells us to, “Fear not.” Some
scholars say that over 365 times the phrase or idea of “fear not” can be found
in God’s word.
Apostle
Paul wrote, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love,
and of a sound mind,” 2 Timothy 1:7.
Apostle John similarly stated, “There is no fear in love; but perfect
love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made
perfect in love,” 1 John 4:18.
I had to
call out to God with all my heart to rebuke the fear I was feeling and claim
God’s word for peace. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto
you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heat be troubled,
neither let it be afraid,” John 14:27. “These things I have spoken unto
you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world,” John 16:33.
Reading,
studying, praying, and remembering God’s word helped me to overcome that spirit
of fear.
Psalm 55:6-8 And I said, Oh that I had wings
like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off,
and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.
That’s exactly how we feel
with all the troubles we see daily in the world around us. We would like to fly
away to some safe place, some Shangri-La, free from the problems of the present
evil world. Similarly to what C.S Lewis wrote, “If we find ourselves with a
desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is
that we were made for another world.”
However, there is no safe
place in our present world. For that reason, Jesus has sent us the Holy Spirit,
to be a strength and comfort in times of trouble and distress. We can find our
hiding place through prayer, through reading and meditating on God’s word,
through listening to His still small voice. We can find our Shangri-La in the
arms of Jesus.
God has promised to be a “strength
to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm,
a shadow from the heat,” Isaiah 25:4. He has promised to be “our
refuge and our strength, a very present help in time of trouble,” Psalm 46:1.
He has told us that we shall
dwell under the shadow of His wings. He shall be to us as a refuge and a fortress.
He shall deliver us from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence. He shall cover us with His feathers, and under His wings shall we
trust. His truth shall be our shield and buckler. Psalm 91:1-4.
We shall not be afraid for
the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; nor for the
pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at
noonday. A thousand shall fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand;
but it shall not come nigh us. Psalm 91:5-7.
Only with our eyes shall we
behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because we have made the Lord, which
is our refuge, even the most High, our habitation (and desire); there shall no
evil befall us, neither shall any plague come nigh our dwelling. Psalm
91:8-10.
Psalm 55:9-11 Destroy, O Lord, and divide
their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief
also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Wickedness
is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.
As David was moved and in
anguish with the sins of his own people, so we should be in lamentation over
the sins of our own culture or nation. When God was ready to judge Jerusalem
for her sins, He sent an angel ahead to place “a mark upon the foreheads of the
men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst
thereof,” Ezekiel 9:4b. Those with the mark would be protected from coming
destruction.
We should never become
comfortable with evil. We should sigh and cry for all the abominations committed in the midst of our nations. Apostle Paul admonishes us to, “Preach the word; be
instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine,” 2 Timothy 4:2.
Apostle Peter, also, advises,
“You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things (the coming judgment)
before (hand), beware less you also, being led away with the error of the
wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” 2 Peter 3:17-18a.
We need to be sober and vigilant because the devil as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour, 1 Peter 5:8.
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