Read through the Psalms and you can't help but see that David had his share of detractors that gave him plenty of grief. Surrounding nations, people in his own administration, and even his family made his life miserable and at times tried to kill him or dethrone him. Whoever said it's lonely at the top must have experienced the life of David. David constantly is talking about those who are out to get him in one way or another.
Maybe growing up the youngest of several brothers caused him to be a little paranoid. I mean, after all, you have to think that he got picked on. Typical sibling rivalry would tell you that. What his older brothers thought of him was very evident when he came to delivery supplies to them the time he eventually fought and defeated Goliath. Maybe that's why David developed his scrappy personality.
There is no doubt in my mind that David felt many times that it was him against the world. The only one David had learn to count on was God. Ps 62 is a reflection of David's heart and emotion. He talks about the fact that God is the only one in whom he can find rest, refuge, solace. God was the source of David's strength. He was his salvation.
For David, I think salvation was more than eternal life. Salvation was immediate. He had his enemies. People had and were trying to kill him throughout his life. People, including his own sons, were trying to dethrone him. He even had some very difficult moments with at least one of his wives. Salvation to David extended to his life, his position, his kingdom, his family and his sanity. God even saved David from himself.
I don't know about you, but sometimes I have and do feel abandoned by God. He seems so far distant as things are falling apart all around us. Where is His voice? Where is His direction? Why doesn't He do something? Is He even there? Does He even care? I want to run into His gates, His tower, but the door seems locked.
My guess is that David had those same emotions. Things didn't always go smooth for him. He didn't get everything he wanted. There was apparently a lot of tension in his own family. Yet, somehow he hung onto the fact that God had come through for him in the past and would do so in the future. When you can't trust your co-workers or peers or even family, who do you trust? David found that God was reliable and always aware of his predicaments and needs.
That's why he kept pursuing God. David's own wealth, power, accomplishments, wisdom, reputation, good looks, talents, brashness, boldness, will power, charm wasn't enough to deal with everything he faced. He had to trust God. That's a hard place to come to for some of us. And sometimes God knows that we have to be stripped bare before we turn to Him and recognize that He alone is the only one that we can trust for our salvation, and I don't mean just eternal life.
God, when you're quiet it's hard to trust you. I want immediate action. I want immediate clarification. I want immediate relief and resolution. Waiting on you is really tough. I don't understand why you don't just do something. Sounds a little childish, I know. I really want to trust you. I really want to believe that you will act. I guess it's the silence that's so disturbing. I don't really have any place else to turn but you. I need your salvation. I'm crying out to you. I pouring out my heart to you, because I know that you alone are my only true refuge.
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