Situations in life put us in a position in which there is a tension between fear and trust in God. During times of difficulty, it’s a time to reflect. It’s good to have a place to enjoy the beauty around us and pray for the endurance to make it through. This photo was taken about two miles from my house at Lake Waco.
David is in one of those positions when the poem was written in Psalm 56. He was fleeing from Saul and decided to go to Achish king of Gath (1 Sam. 21:10). The servants of Achish recognized David so he had to fake insanity because Achish was not exactly a friend to David.
In current times, there is this tension between trust in God and the government. On coins, there is a heads side and a tails side. On one side is written “In God We Trust” which is the heads side. On the tails side of a coin is usually something symbolizing government.
Throughout the world, there are these two different thoughts of how a society should be ruled. Either by trusting in the Spirit of God inside individuals to make common sense decisions about how best to live together in their community or trusting government agencies to tell a society what they have to do and how to act which takes away freedom.
Unfortunately, there is socialism, communism, and dictatorships that are ruled either by a single person or by a government of censorship, political correctness, and corruption at the highest levels. Think of the system of collecting taxes which is so complicated that even accountants disagree on what credits or deduction people can use. Each individual tax payer can be questioned by an army of auditors with unlimited resources.
These auditors have no expertise in how an individual family or particular business operates and thrives but can now tell families, the owners and managers of businesses how they must run things. If they follow the restrictive regulations the auditors are demanding, they begin to not be able to balance their budget or loose profit resulting in bankruptcies, layoffs, and economic downturn.
In today’s poem, we learn that God was gracious to David and eventually David was able to escape to the cave of Adullam (1 Sam. 22:1). David’s response was to praise God and this day, let our response be the same. Let us never get discouraged for opportunities often come disguised as difficulties. Let us keep thoughts of God’s compassion in mind as we pray to the ONE that can calm the water and has the power to grant relief.
This day with You Lord, each day the sun rises, and we can count on You to bring us out of darkness into a new and brighter day. Even David faced storms and we are grateful for the poem we read today about the difficulty David was going through. He trusted You to get Him through and we should too. We trust in You Lord as we endure distress by knowing You will bless. Amen.
