October 9, 2016
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Threat and Truth

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Loving Lord, You are my help and confidence. Without Your assistance, I cannot see Your workings or hear Your voice.

Read Psalm 31:1–24

For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.

[1] For the director of music. A psalm of David. In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. [2] Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. [3] Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. [4] Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. [5] Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God. [6] I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the LORD. [7] I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. [8] You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. [9] Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. [10] My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. [11] Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors and an object of dread to my closest friends- those who see me on the street flee from me. [12] I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. [13] For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life. [14] But I trust in you, LORD; I say, “You are my God.” [15] My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. [16] Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. [17] Let me not be put to shame, LORD, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and be silent in the realm of the dead. [18] Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous. [19] How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you. [20] In the shelter of your presence you hide them from all human intrigues; you keep them safe in your dwelling from accusing tongues. [21] Praise be to the LORD, for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was in a city under siege. [22] In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. [23] Love the LORD, all his faithful people! The LORD preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full. [24] Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“Look at the gifts God has given us. His Holy Spirit to dwell in you, his church to encourage you, his Word to guide you” (Max Lucado). These are resources for us when we are under pressure.

It’s comforting to know that even someone like David panicked occasionally. From the moment we meet the young shepherd he seems to be without nerves, sure of himself and bold as a lion. He faces the bear, lion and Goliath with the confidence of a seasoned warrior. Whether in the courts of Saul or the fields of his father, he seems at rest. Yet David admits to a moment of alarm when under pressure. He confesses it from the safety of victory (21), but he admits to it nonetheless. Even though David had walked with God many years, he entertained the thought that he had been cut off, that God had left him.

David allowed what he saw to overshadow what he knew. He knew that God was his refuge (1), strong fortress (2) and merciful (9), and deep down David knew that his times were in God’s hands (15). Yet he gave permission to what he saw—the strength of his enemies—to overrun what he knew—the power and faithfulness of God. His panic made his enemy bigger, their accusations louder and their threat more terrifying. The exaggeration of their influence eclipsed the glory of the Lord who had never let him down and never deserted his side.

Like David, we must permit truth to triumph over threat and to shelter us from “human intrigues” (20). What we feel and see will always seek mastery over our faith, but we have been given the weapon of truth, the “sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17), which can cut through the fog of confusion and the perception of power. When, like David, we run to the God of truth we find shelter and strength; we find encouragement and empowerment.

Apply

What does the phrase “My times are in Your hands” (15) mean to you?

Closing prayer

Lord, my refuge, my fortress, my rock: I rest in You, my hope and deliverer.

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