Tag: psalms

As followers of Jesus, we know there is life after the grave.  Jesus demonstrated that with His resurrection.  Though we still live in the here and now, we must live in light of eternity.  This is the challenge of being a Christian…living for eternity.  Theologians refer to it as the “already and not yet.”  We have been redeemed and adopted, but we won’t see the fulfillment of it until we see Him face to face.  In the meantime, we live within the reality of the “not yet”.

A single blog post cannot capture this in full, but one passage of Scripture drives this home.  King David, in Psalm 21 helps us to see this.  Here is just a portion of the chapter, verses 1-7:

O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices,
    and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
² You have given him his heart’s desire
    and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
³ For you meet him with rich blessings;
    you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
⁴ He asked life of you; you gave it to him,
    length of days forever and ever.
⁵ His glory is great through your salvation;
    splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
⁶ For you make him most blessed forever;
    you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
⁷ For the king trusts in the Lord,
    and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

David was the king.  This meant he was the most powerful, most wealthy man in the kingdom.  He had need of nothing.  Anything he wanted, he could have.  Any demand he made, was fulfilled.  He was in full control.  However, King David, knows that his strength is from the Lord.  He knows the Lord is the ultimate giver of strength, gifts, blessings, riches, and life itself.  David knew there was something more than just this life.  He knew that God was the giver of all things.

On earth, the king answered to no person.  Yet David knew that he answered to the Lord.  In verse 7 he says, “the king trusts in the Lord.”  King David put his trust in the Lord.  Not in himself, his riches, his possessions, his blessings, or anything else in this life.

We are not kings like David.  However, may the Lord strengthen us to put our full trust and hope in the Lord.  May we live with the understanding there is life after the grave and eternity is a long time.

In Psalm 56, David cried out to the Lord. In this psalm, like so many others, David cries out to the Lord in his distress. King David had enemies that wanted to destroy his life. The first verse opens with him asking God to be gracious. He was going through a hard time and starts by asking for God’s grace. He goes on to say that his attackers are oppressing him and he is being trampled and attacked. However, in verses 3 and 4 he says, he puts his trust completely in God. David knew he could trust in the Lord regardless of what his circumstances looked like.

David was in a difficult place. In verses 5-7 he says that his enemies plot evil against him, stir up strife against him, watch his every move, and look for his downfall. David asks God why it seems they are getting away with their behavior. Again, he cries out to the Lord to do something about it.

He continues in his prayer to acknowledge that God knows everything. In verse 8 he says God even knows of his tossing around in those sleepless nights. He reminds himself that God knows everything in his life. He prays that those enemies will turn back. David then says in verse 9 “This I know, that God is for me.”

Like many of his other psalms, there is a turning point. David focuses on the Lord. He focuses on what God desires from him. Verse 10 he says he will praise God. In verse 11 he says he will trust God and not be afraid. With God watching over him he asks, “what can man do to me?”

In verses 12-13 David says that he will keep his promises to the Lord and continue to serve Him. David acknowledges that God has already delivered his soul from death and kept his feet from falling. If God has already done this, how will He not continue to take care of David? Paul’s words in Romans 5:8-11 come to mind:

⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Have you ever felt like David? You’re all alone and suffering while your enemies are flourishing? Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12 that our enemy is not another person, but spiritual forces of evil. As a believer, you have an enemy, the evil one. In this life there will be times you feel like David. You see the enemy appearing to do just fine while he is causing your life to be a mess! What are you to do? Cry out to the Lord like David did.

The flow of this psalm is a good model for prayer. First, recognize you need mercy from God. Second, tell Him what is going on and how you feel about it. He can relate. Third, acknowledge God’s power in your life. Fourth, praise God for what He has already done in your life.

This may not change your situation. It will refocus your thoughts on the Lord. If you are a believer, you are a child of God. He is for you.