It’s been a tough few weeks, and my contemplation about work and relationships has started to rule over my meditation of the Word, both spoken and written. So this morning as I started with the second part of James 4, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me back to psalms.
The title of Psalm 108: A Prayer for God’s Help… perfect!
David wraps this psalm with the core of His relationship with God:
Verse 1:
“My heart, O God, is quiet and confident, all because of you.”
Verse 12-13:
“… For to trust any man is an empty hope,
With God’s help we will prevail with might an power.
And with God’s help we’ll trample down our foe!”
So what is he going on about?
David is embattled with the moabites, the edomites and the philistines and he is calling on God. Rather an extensive theme of much of the old testament, pretty much their “day job”
The Holy Spirit is gracious! And then it started to open to me…
(Sometimes I think God just watches my face to see the moment the penny drops!)
David and his men were facing real battles every day. Blood and guts, to the death… not a snarky attitude or a manager that has no people skills. And how does he start his day? He wakes up early…
He says in v2 to himself, “awake, oh my soul… Arise, oh my soul, and sing his praises… I will wake up the dawn with my praises!” And then for more than half the psalm he goes on about how awesome God is. He worships, he praises, he boasts of God, and just soaks up God’s Glory…
Then he calls on God, WE NEED YOU… and God responds by reminding david of his promises: “I will secure the land, as I promised you.” But God is gracious to David as well. He doesn’t just remind him of the promise of victory, but also of where the future will go. “Judah will continue to produce kings and lawgivers” (aka the line of Jesus)
But I am starting to love David. With all of this, God answering him directly, he just ads in a “you are sure? Right? You haven’t left us for some reason? Ok then! Lets do this!”
“… For to trust any man is an empty hope,
With God’s help we will prevail with might an power…” (verses 12 & 13)
This is so beautiful!
David is so into God, that he proclaims in another psalm “I am prayer” not that he will pray, but that he will pray until all that he is becomes prayer. Wow!
