“Why is this happening to me? Don’t you care God? Where are you?”
When bad things happen in our lives, that’s typically how we respond. And if there were someone who had a right to say that, it was David. Here he was an innocent man, and yet for no reason that he could see, Saul was trying to kill him.
And so we come to the first Psalm he wrote that we can tie to an event in his life. Saul had just tried to spear him to the wall, and then sent men to watch his house to kill him. But Michal his wife warned him of what Saul was planning, and helped him to escape.
Now on the run, David wrote Psalm 59, saying,
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
protect me from those who rise up against me.2 Deliver me from evildoers
and save me from bloodthirsty men.3 See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire against me
for no offense or sin of mine, O Lord.4 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Arise to help me; look on my plight!
In other words, “HELP!”
But in the midst of this, he wrote,
9 O my Strength, I watch for you;
you, O God, are my fortress,10 my loving God. God will go before me.
And,
16 But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.17 O my Strength, I sing praise to you;
you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.
The words that strike me most here are the words, “my loving God.” Despite his circumstances, he never questioned God’s love for him. Instead, when everything seemed to be going against him, he rested in God’s love and took refuge there. Instead of constantly focusing on his problems, he focused on God. Instead of constantly complaining about his circumstances, he worshiped God.
And God delivered him, using Jonathan, Michal, and Samuel to help him.
How about you? How do you respond when everything seems to be going against you? Do you question God’s love? Do you question God’s goodness? Or do you instead watch for him as David did? Do you take refuge in his love, and worship him?
Remember that he is your loving God, that he will go before you, and he will deliver you.
Lord, sometimes, the world seems like chaos around me, and it seems like everything is going wrong. But Lord, I choose to believe that you still love me. I choose to believe that you still care. So Lord, in the midst of trouble, help me to worship you as David did. And help me to trust you. In Jesus name, amen.
