THURSDAY 22nd
Psalm 59
NIV (vv9-10) – ‘You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.’
ESV (vv9-10) – ‘O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress. My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.’
This psalm is like many of the psalms in that the psalmist is in a spot of bother, the heading in the Bible I am using has this ‘A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.’
David’s life was at risk, if Saul had his own way, David’s death was going to arrive sooner rather than later and David cries out to God to deliver him, to protect him from those who were rising against him (v1). It seems that they would plot and fail, plot, and fail, for they would keep returning each evening to carry out their murderous acts (v6, 14-15), But David had a confidence in his God that he would come to his aid and that he would soon be able to triumph over his enemies (v10). In verse 16 he says that ‘I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a refuge in the day of my distress.’ Notice the enemy comes howling like a dog in the evening, and David is going to sing aloud in the morning, such was his confidence that the schemes of Saul would fail because God was in control of his situation. What a confidence in his God, what a demonstration of trust in the faithfulness of God. He had this confidence because he knew that God had a plan and a purpose for his life and as he trusted in God, he knew that God’s plans for him would not be thwarted.
We too can have confidence in God that as we commit our way to him, he will direct our paths, and if and when the enemy comes to thwart those plans we have to stand firm and strong in our faith and in our confidence in God who was not only the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not only the God of the Children of Israel, and of the other patriarchs and prophets, not only the God of the New Testament apostles, but is also our God. As he led and directed them of old, so he leads and directs us today, he has saved us, he has called us, he has purpose for us, and we can trust him to carry it through. Two verses we know so well are found in Romans 8:28 and in Philippians 1:6, they are, ‘And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.’ and ‘And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.’
Whatever your situation today, renew your confidence in God alone, he is also your refuge and your fortress, as he came to David’s aid, so as you call out to him, he will come to your aid, and take confidence in the words that Job declared, ‘“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted . . “’ Job 42:2.