Flickr photo by stuant63

There are times in life when troubles surround us, stresses choke us, problems overwhelm us. There are times when we simply cannot see the way ahead, and each day feels like a struggle to survive.

The cry of Psalm 56 is the cry of God’s people facing immanent destruction. Will God forsake us in the hour of our deepest need? Will his silence continue even while the wolves devour us? Will He abandon us to the fire?

David articulates the desperation of God’s people in the midst of the terrors that hound us by day and night. And in his cry, we discover the possibility of trust that clings to God even as the flames rise around us.

David is running for his life.

The wolves are baying for blood. Terror on all sides. Death looms. God is silent.

In response to the peril of Achish’s bloodthirsty court, David writes a psalm celebrating the unshakeable faithfulness of the Lord. But first, it might be helpful to back up and understand how David found himself in the lap of enemy dogs ready to devour him.

David is king of Israel. Or at the least the “King elect.” The house of King Saul has been judged and found wanting. Samuel strips the kingdom from Saul and pronounces it’s inevitable demise. Under the guidance of God’s Spirit, Samuel anoints a new king: the unlikely son of Jesse.

David comes in the from the fields to go out in service of Israel. Samuel calls this shepherd-poet to serve the people and the land as King. But there is a slight catch. He will learn kingship from the house of Saul. He will become a true king in service of the king that is in rebellion to YHWH.

At first, he soothes Saul’s torments. His healing songs drive Saul’s terrors out of doors. But then another terror. From the land of Gath comes yet another raid by one of Israel’s enemies, the Philistines. Surrounded by warring tribes, this period in Israel’s history is intertwined with the threat of Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, Amalekites, and Ammonites.

Goliath, the leading warrior of the Philistines, threatens Israel and mocks Israel’s God. Saul the forsaken one has no power, no authority, no wisdom on how to fight this baying wolf.

Cowering in his tent with the rest of Israel, Saul is paralyzed in terror. David steps in for Saul and acts as the true king of Israel. He mocks the mocker of God’s people and assaults this beast in the name of YHWH of the Angels Armies. Cutting off Goliath’s head with his own sword, David delivers Israel.

The shepherd-poet turned warrior continues pursuing the Philistines. Even as David threatens the enemies of Israel, King Saul begins to believe that David threatens him. Fearing for the power of his house, he turns into a wolf and starts seeking David’s blood.

David is running for his life.

Israel hounds him, chases him, seeks to destroy him. The chosen king and deliverer of Israel is running for his life from the Saul and armies of the land. In their bloodthirsty pursuit, they chase him into Nod.

Ahimelech feeds David holy bread and gives him the captured sword of Goliath. David keeps running. Saul’s wolves catch up to Ahimelech, slaughtering him and the city of Nod, including priests, women, children and animals.

The wolves are still baying for David’s blood.

Driven from the land of promise into the arms of the enemy. He runs to the camp of the Philistines in city of Gath before King Achish. But Gath is no refuge for David. The generals are baying for his blood.

No matter where he turns, David is surrounded by wolves. Wolves from his people and wolves from his enemies. He is encircled, and there is no where to turn. He turns his faces, twists his limbs, drools on himself and plays the fool. In the face of his enemies, David humiliates himself.

Yet even as he is outwardly wasting away, David is inwardly crying out to God. After Achish sends away this madman, David will write,

Be gracious to me, O God, for man nips at my heals, tramples on me, seeks to swallow me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly. (Psalm 56:1Psalm 56:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
56 To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. Michtam...: or, A golden Psalm of David ¹ Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.  

WP-Bible plugin)

The wolves are baying for blood. Terror on all sides. Death looms. God is silent.

In the grace of God, David has stepped into the position of Israel. Just as the nation is surrounded by tribes seeking to swallow the land and the people, David is surrounded by enemies seeking to swallow and destroy him.

Even as David is crying out to God, he is acknowledging his fear.

When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?  (vs. 3-4)

He is afraid. He is trusting. Terror surrounds him. He is out of control. The deliverer has been delivered into the hands of the enemy. He is helpless. He is battling fear and trusting God at the same time.

Outwardly he is powerless, humiliated as a drooling fool. Inwardly, he is crying out to YHWH of the Angel Armies. Stripped of power, assaulted by terror, he can only rest in the purposes of God, rejoice in the word of God. In this place of pressure, of pain, of fear, YHWH is shaping a king. A king that trusts the absolute faithfulness of God’s Word even in the face of absolute terror.

Just as the Father is shaping and training David in the midst of living, he is shaping and training us in the midst. Those who trust in the Lord are not abandoned even though the wolves may consume them. We may never stand before an enemy king. We may never run for our lives as the king and his army seeks to kill us. But we may know the fear of being surrounded by problems, struggles, crisis.

We may know the flames of suffering, the pain of living, the anguish of sorrow. In the mystery of His grace our fears, terrors, and doubts cannot consume His faithful love. The terror of Saul and the terror of Achish may be the places where our Father trains us and shapes into His image.

Outwardly we may waste away. Outwardly we may know the terror of emotions. But inwardly we also rest in the objective faithfulness of a Savior who is absolutely trustworthy. In Jesus we are not alone.

In Jesus, God enters into the pain and terror of life. Like David, this deliverer was delivered into the hands of the enemy. The leaders of Israel delivered him into the court of the Pontius Pilate. Like David, they were baying for his blood. Like David he was not abandoned.

Jesus was consumed. Humiliated. Beaten. Hung. Killed. And yet he was not abandoned. The Spirit of God raised Him from the dead. In his resurrection life, we encounter the Living One. He conquered the Evil One. He overcame the curse of death. He lives and lives and lives.

Even as we stand in the midst of terror, fear, pain, suffering and overwhelming circumstances, we are standing in the midst of the Living One, the Loving One, the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

We are not forsaken. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not even death.

So we may fear, doubt and struggle. Yet we can still rest in His absolute, unshakable faithfulness. Whether we live or die, we live or die in Him.

And in his faithful love, He is ever transforming us into the image of His love.

1    Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2    my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3    When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
4    In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5    All day long they injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6    They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7    For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8    You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
9    Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I 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; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12    I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
13    For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.  (Psalm 56; ESV)

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