Day 34- Crying Out
Since I had my study Bible out today,
I glanced over the notes for the chapters I read yesterday
describing Saul’s pursuit to kill David. I came
across a few of the Psalms that David wrote during
this time. I’ve always thought the Psalms were
nice poetry and I understood them a bit, but knowing
that David wrote these during this crazy journey I’ve
been reading about, really just brings it all to light.
David wrote Psalm 34 and 56 after he
pretended to be insane to escape from a Philistine
king (1 Samuel 21:10-15). In 1 Samuel it says that
David was very afraid of the king. He was trying to
take refuge from Saul among the Philistines, but they
turned on him. At this point David must have really
been fearful for his life because in kind of a last
ditch effort he started drooling on himself, scratching
the gate and just acting nuts. This madness act worked
because the king sent him away at that point.
In the two Psalms where he describes
this incident, they each have a very different feel.
In Psalm 34, David is rejoicing and constantly praising
the Lord. It talks mostly about God delivering those
who trust Him. In Psalm 56, David is upset and talking
about his enemies oppressing him and out to get him.
But even in his distress he says this (v. 3-4), “Whenever
I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise
His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not
fear. What can flesh do to me?” I love
that in the midst of his fear, he finds even more
confidence in God.
Psalm 142 was written while David was
hiding in a cave (1 Samuel 22:1). You can tell at
this point David is feeling at the end of his rope,
despair. He has been running and evading Saul for
quite some time now, and has narrowly escaped being
killed multiple times. Now he’s hiding up in
a cave for who knows how long feeling trapped. The
beginning of this Psalm I feel like I can totally
relate to, “I cry out to the Lord with
my voice; with my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.
I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before
Him my trouble.”
The Psalm reflects many times in my
life. I’ve been here before, crying out to God
in desperation, even to the point of yelling at Him,
questioning Him, even demanding answers from Him.
That crying out starts to turn into a complaint of
everything going on, how no one is there for me and
I feel so alone. Then I start asking God to help me,
deliver me, strengthen me. By the end I find myself
thanking God, not for the situation I’m in,
but thanking Him for being with me in the middle of
this storm of life, for never leaving me but walking
with me through it.
Lord,
I know there will be bumps on the road, sometimes
it seems like cliffs. I get scared and feel desperate.
Sometimes I wonder why you let these things happen,
how they can possibly be of any good. But the bottom
line is Lord, I trust You. Thank You for allowing
me to go through difficult times that I have to depend
on You and draw close and exercise my trust in You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
