Tested But Rested
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, I praise You that You are always with me and nothing can ever separate me from Your love.
Read PSALM 3:1-8
[1] A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! [2] Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah [3] But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. [4] To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah [5] I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. [6] I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. [7] Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. [8] From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
Where does David get the confidence expressed in v. 8?The weather is definitely getting worse for David. As a charismatic leader, his job is to finish what Samson started and deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. But his own personal life impinges on his leadership and, in one of the most painful episodes of the Bible, he is forced to flee Jerusalem, weeping. Absalom, his son, has turned against him, seducing the loyalty of David’s subjects. Together they plot to kill him in order to take his throne. Reading 2 Samuel 15-18 will help you to understand how David must be feeling at this moment.
Could you sleep well with all that going on around you? It would seem impossible. And yet David remains remarkably upbeat. Not only that, but as a compulsive writer he records what he feels. Bill Hybels says, “Character is who you are when no one’s looking.” David’s psalm shows us what he was like when no one was looking—and what we find is an immense depth of trust in God.
Apply
Does your character reflect the depth of trust in God you want it to? If not, what will you do?
Closing prayer
Lord, You are entirely trustworthy. Help my life to show that I have a real and deep trust in You.
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