Psalms of Honesty and Truth

We are not a patient people. I hear myself saying often in traffic, waiting on a microwave, inline for anything, “Come ON…” I am sure I am not the only one, for when I am saying it inside my head, others are nearly shouting it…with more words than I was taught!

We pray passionately and then God makes us wait for reasons only He knows. We rejoice when answers come but do we rejoice in the wait time before situations are resolved? David teaches us prayer and patience in this next Psalm. We see and feel his impatience and then he takes around the corner of dark situations and into the light of God’s blessings and work. God gives us strength to endure and protection in the wait. He teaches more than we imagine as He works out His salvation in us.

Like David, do we feel judged as criminals while waiting for God to act in ways WE think are best? We should remind ourselves that the Father allowed His own Son to be unjustly treated like a common criminal (Isa. 53:7-8, 12; Luke 22:37). David’s prayer was not an expression of personal revenge but a call for God to fulfill His covenant and bring righteousness and peace into the land. “Let them reap what they have sown” was his request.

Who do we praise first when the corner is turned, we give up and give it all to God? Suddenly, the scene changes, and David is singing instead of sobbing! The reason is given in verse 7: “My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped”. Faith in Jehovah made all the difference. The hands of the enemy were busy doing evil (v. 4), but when David believed God and lifted up his hands in prayer (v .2), then God’s hands went to work and met the need (v. 5). Faith moves the hands of God, and God’s hands control the universe.

How wonderful that David turned a painful experience into a song of praise to the Lord and that he left behind a witness that has encouraged other believers for centuries.

Psalm 28, New Living Translation
A psalm of David.

1 I pray to you, O Lord, my rock.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you are silent,
I might as well give up and die.
2 Listen to my prayer for mercy
as I cry out to you for help,
as I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked—
with those who do evil—
those who speak friendly words to their neighbors
while planning evil in their hearts.
4 Give them the punishment they so richly deserve!
Measure it out in proportion to their wickedness.
Pay them back for all their evil deeds!
Give them a taste of what they have done to others.
5 They care nothing for what the Lord has done
or for what his hands have made.
So he will tear them down,
and they will never be rebuilt!
6 Praise the Lord!
For he has heard my cry for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him with all my heart.
He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.
I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
8 The Lord gives his people strength.
He is a safe fortress for his anointed king.
9 Save your people!
Bless Israel, your special possession.[a]
Lead them like a shepherd,
and carry them in your arms forever.

Something to think about…

–David closed his song by encouraging his people with what he had learned from the Lord. Not only had God saved His anointed king, but He would also save His people Israel. Indeed, the nation of Israel is God’s inheritance, for He has invested in them the spiritual treasures that the bankrupt world needs (Rom. 9:1-5). “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). God has not forsaken His people.

–God has not forgotten us. Prayer and patience. Virtues we must polish and refine.

–When has unjust treatment ever worked for your spiritual good? If so, how?

Dear Heavenly Father, You often turn our sobbing into singing much like David. You work in and through us in every situation. Thank you for the many times you have pulled us out of the fire and protected us from our enemies. And you are still doing it! To YOU be the glory for salvation, protection, provision and blessings undeserved and plentiful! In Jesus Name, Amen