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PSALM 56
For the director of music. To the tune
of ‘A dove on distant oaks’. Of David. A miktam. When
the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
1.Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all
day long they press their attack.
2.my adversaries pursue me all day long, in their pride, many are
attacking me.
3.When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.
4.In God, whose word I praise – in God, I trust and am not
afraid. What can mere mortals do to me??
5.All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my
ruin.
6.They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, hoping to take my
life.
7.Because of their wickedness do not let them escape; in Your anger
God, bring the nations down.
8.Record my misery; list my tears on Your scroll – are they
not in Your record?
9.Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I
will know that God is for me.
10.In God, whose word I praise –
in the Lord, whose word I praise –
11.in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere human beings do
to me?
12.I am under vows to You, my God; I will present my thank offerings
to You.
13.For You have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling
that I may walkbefore God in the light of life.
What a Psalm!! For David to have fled from Saul…
straight to Gath (the hometown of Goliath).. goes to show you how
down David was feeling, and how he had no confidence in who he was
in the eyes of the people. His own followers at this stage were very
few, the four hundred mentioned in 1st Samuel were yet to be gathered.
The first couple of scriptures definitely indicate that David is
encountering tremendous pressure…interestingly enough, he
is not yet crushed!! He says in faith, that when he is afraid.. he
puts his trust in God. I think you’ve got to realise here how
great a statement of faith this was for David… he really had
nowhere to hide. As I was studying this scripture, I read this great
line which said… ’FAITH IS SEEN HERE AS A DELIBERATE
ACT, IN DEFIANCE OF ONE’S EMOTIONAL STATE’. That is such
a powerful statement…
How often do you deliberately approach your circumstance with radical
faith??This week, as we remember the magnificent legacy of David
Cartledge… we are given an excellent example of what absolute
Faith looks like. Never, in all the years I have known David, did
he ever speak in a language that did not represent the faithfulness
of God well… And in his hardest days of late… he spoke
of the kindness and the goodness and the supreme loyalty of his heavenly
Father… we will ever be grateful for his outstanding life
of a radical disciple of Christ.
So what do you need to overcome?? Sickness, mindsets?, your language?
Habits? Overwhelming pressure such as David was confronted with this
day?As we’ve seen so many times, when David’s language
recognises the promise of God, his stance as far as his situation
always changes too. When he states… I TRUST IN GOD… we
find him sharing how the enemy continues to hunt him, to intimidate
him, to weaken him, but now compared to God, David observes that
the enemy is as frail flesh… and can ultimately do nothing
to defeat him.
Probably the words, ALL DAY LONG, are the hardest ones to read, as
we all know how to handle pressure in small or intermittent doses,
but pressure with NO END is what causes so many to break down, as
their emotional, physical and spiritual state gets to the end of
itself. He is not only pursued, but also misrepresented…which
is often the kind of pressure you can do nothing about, so you need
how to rise above it!
So often, when David writes, I hear his melancholy, creative heart
expressed, as he talks to the Lord in the way that is pure and true
for him, while he talks about his bottled tears, his burden which
will be ever lifted by the Father… how I love the heart of
this man. Yes, He is one of the greatest warriors ever, but the heart
of this minstrel is so awesome… no wonder the Lord called
him a man after His own heart.
We come to the crescendo of this Psalm, the thanksgiving offering.
It is being offered to celebrate answered prayer AND the promise
made in adversity. Thank offerings can be a term for literal sacrifices
(Lev 7:12) and for songs of gratitude (Psalm 26:7)… a great
example of how to live… thankful and faithful. We have seen
David travel through a journey of discovery, from being under great
pressure,to feeling an unyielding onslaught of attack, to understanding
the reality of supernatural protection, and now, the importance of
bringing offerings deliberately, and sacrificially.
I pray this will again be a great and practical example to you all
at how to encounter and overcome adversity.
While I prepared this study, I thought of our own Miffy (my PA) who
after many health challenges… continues to glare at the enemy
in the eye, and not take this pressure presented to her as her lot
in life… in fact she chooses daily to get up and stay strong
in her faith, and in the glorious word of God. Many days I think,
if Miff can do it, so can I…such a great inspiration.
Charge on team… greater is He who is in me, than He that is
in the world!!
Love you all so, Darls.
P.S.Had the best time in the US… the conferences were amazing,
worship was so powerful, people were stunningly filled with the Holy
Spirit…even a high priestess witch was radically converted
amongst the many saved… the team were incredible, you would
have been so proud!
United guys had a great time in Columbia…
dangerous as it was, this church has a membership of half a million
people… around 60 000 youth turned up in the rain to worship!!!
God is moving!!!
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