PSALM 54
Part of a series on David and Jesus
Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your strength. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me, and oppressors have sought after my life; They have not set God before them. Selah. Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is with those who uphold my life. He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth. I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has delivered me out of all trouble; and my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.
Psalm 54: 1-7 (NKJV)
In his continuing flight, David could have sought refuge in a neighbouring country. But apart from an ill-advised foray into Gath and a journey to Moab, where he left his family, he stayed in the relatively small area of the kingdom of Judah – about the same size as Wales, often retracing his steps in a journey recounted in 1 Samuel 23. Why? Possibly because he never forgot that Samuel, responding to God’s command, had anointed him king of the country he was now hiding in.
He got to intimately know some of the more remote parts: the caves, the forests, the wilderness, part of the kingdom he had been called to. He did not run from that calling, trusting God’s timing. He did run from those who would deny him it. And Jesus was steadfast in not running from his calling, and not just the horrific finale. He had been anointed king and was now waiting to replace the corrupt rulers. Jesus moved around some of the same areas that David had moved around, gathered a few faithful people to himself, but was rejected by many who sought to destroy him. When the final battle came near we are told he ‘steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem…’ (Luke 9:51). He had set the date, time, and place, for the final showdown with the physical and spiritual rulers who surrounded him, and he was not to be distracted.
And then, in 1 Samuel 23:19-23 there is a story of betrayal. Seeking reward from Saul, the ‘Ziphites’ told him where David and his people were hiding and offered themselves as guides, “…and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.” (v.20). Matthew 26:14-16 tells of another betrayal, this time by Judas Iscariot, offering to ‘deliver’ Jesus to the chief priests. He grossly underestimated the value of Jesus’ life by agreeing to a fee of ‘thirty pieces of silver’ (v15).
David wrote Psalm 54 in response to the betrayal, and God’s subsequent saving intervention. It’s a psalm of pleading, followed by confidence in God’s intervention in his life, and thanks for deliverance. It’s a psalm that would not be out of place on the lips of Jesus as he faced his persecutors, the ‘friend’ who had betrayed him, and the final deliverance: the triumph over the ‘last enemy’, death (1 Corinthians 15:26). He went into his trial and crucifixion knowing that it was a certainty.
Prayer
Remind us Father, that you are our helper, and let us continually praise you for our deliverances, even if they are not what we expected. Your answer will be perfect for our needs. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
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Study by: Maggie Mitchell About the author: |
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GCI Market Harborough
9 The Point
Rockingham Road
Market Harborough
LE16 7QU
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Sunday 4.00 pm
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Sinead Henderson
Email: sinead.henderson@gracecom.church
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