DEVOTION
PSALMS
LOVE ALWAYS TRUSTS
Ps 55
55:1 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 at the voice of the enemy, at
the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me
in their anger.
4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail 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; Selah 8 I would hurry to my
place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm."
9 Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, 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 raising
himself against me, I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as
we walked with the throng at the house of God.
15 Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the
grave, for evil finds lodging among them.
16 But 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 ransoms me unharmed
from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. 19 God, who is
enthroned forever, will hear them and afflict them — Selah men who never change
their ways and have no fear of God. 20 My companion attacks his friends; he
violates his covenant. 21 His speech 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 fall. 23 But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the
pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live out half their
days.
But as for me, I trust in you.
NIV
David was most likely talking about once having a sweet relationship
with Saul and now it is Saul who is trying to kill him. The idea of what can
happen in the heart of man compared to the heart of God is at the center of
this song. People are fickle and change as does the wind. One day best of
friends the next there is strife. There will always be the ebbs and flows in
relationships, even within marriages, but in the marriage a covenant was made,
one that should not be broken. God has made such a covenant with man. He sent
Jesus to die for our sin, which is the foundation of the covenant. If we accept
his provision of salvation through Jesus Christ, then he will give us eternal life.
Although David did not have this kind of covenant with God, he was still in a
covenant relationship with him. God was his refuge, his strength, his ever present
help in time of trouble. David says that he calls to God and the Lord saves
him. Here we also see that men will never change their ways. Does that mean us
as well? Perhaps in the sense that we will never stop having some sin in our
life no matter how much we say we don’t. But most likely this has more to do
with a comparison again between those whose trust is in God, and the wicked who
say there is no God, or say God is someone other than the Most Holy God,
creator of all that is created. They either curse God by rejecting his
covenant, or admit who he is, but only give him lip service still living
according to their own desires. Nevertheless David sees them as speaking words
as smooth as butter, but have war in their hearts. These are the lip service
people with words soothing like oil, but have drawn swords. In general people
have corrupted their hearts with the ways of the world. There is violence and
strife in the city. Day and night they prowl the city streets, malice and abuse
are within the city. This is condition of the heart of man without being in
fellowship, in harmony with God. David cries out to us from this song, cast
your cares on the Lord, he will sustain you. He will never let the righteous
fall. This should be the condition of our lives. We cry out to our Lord, we
cast all our cares on him, for he cares for us, he sustains us, and he never
lets us fall. This is a promise, if only we trust him one hundred percent. How
can we expect anything from God if our trust is less than one hundred percent?
Can we say we trust God fifty percent and trust ourselves the other fifty, or
how about eighty, twenty or ninety-five, five? No, we have to have absolutely no trust in ourselves and all our trust in him, then his promise to us works. According
to his word as recorded in 1st Corinthians 13, love always trusts.
If we say we love the Lord then we will always trust him. So I say, as for me,
I will trust the Lord.
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