February 9, 2014
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Trust, not Flight

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Opening Prayer

Father, often my thanks and praise to You is unspoken. I now lift my voice in praise to You.

Read Psalm 55:1-23

[1] For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; [2] hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught [3] because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked; for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger. [4] My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me. [5] Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. [6] I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. [7] I would flee far away and stay in the desert; [8] I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.” [9] Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words, for I see violence and strife in the city. [10] Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it. [11] Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets. [12] If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. [13] But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, [14] with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers. [15] Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them. [16] As for me, I call to God, and the LORD saves me. [17] Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. [18] He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. [19] God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change- he will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God. [20] My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant. [21] His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords. [22] Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. [23] But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.

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

Reflect

“Psalm 55 is the spiritual case-history of a man who learned to bear his burdens. Ultimately he cast his burden upon the Lord after he found other things didn’t work” (A. Leonard Griffith). The psalm is a reminder that God does support us.

I take a pencil and paper and trace on it the triangular shape of David’s thoughts as they jerk back and forth from himself towards God (called “you” or “he”) and towards his enemies (called “they” or “he” and, most painfully, “you, my close friend”). It would be best not to underestimate his desperate personal straits (“distraught,” “anguish,” “terrors of death”) and the anarchy abroad in the city (10-12), presumably Jerusalem, which makes him think, first of all, of flight. Am I tempted to run away from some situation, some struggle, some person, which I ought to face?

Worst of all is the treachery of a former soul-friend who has violated the covenant of friendship and whose smooth talk now stabs like a sword. I recollect that the Gospels draw attention to the fact that Judas was “one of the twelve” (Mark 14:43), Jesus’ innermost circle. I also sorrowfully recall David’s own fatal treachery towards Uriah, one of his top 30 friends (2 Sam. 23:39). Am I myself guilty of some practices that I publicly deplore?

In this psalm we observe with relief how sorrow and anger, fear and desperation, and panic and faith interact in a psalm of lament which is also God’s revelation. God is not a stranger to our sorrow; he is the best destination for vengeful thoughts–justified or not. This psalm and others like it set before us a path to follow away from selfish flight and avoidance, through constant prayer (17), to a God who reigns (19). It leads me to the conviction that I may cast “whatever my lot is” (22, literally) upon the Lord, not so that he will swiftly remove it, but so that he will sustain me through it. Yes, Lord, I will trust in You (23).

Apply

How do you tend to respond to problems? Deny they exist? Blame someone else? Escape? Tackle them head-on? What can you learn from the psalmist?

Closing prayer

Loving Father, life serves up problems large and small. May I always trust You, not as a last chance but as a first choice.

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