“In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me. I will look in triumph at those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” Psalms 118:5-9 NLT
Psalm 118 opens with David’s bold declaration of trust – “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” He had decided to center on who God is and what God wanted to accomplish, not the whirlwind of threats, intentions and plans of his enemies.
After the prophet Nathan had blown up David’s life, confronting him for his triple atrocities – rape, murder and coverup. God then deconstructed his faith, judging him and stripping him of the promises God had made to him when he was a younger man. These Psalms are the rebuilding and reconstruction of a whole new life. Yet, even with this fresh start there were consequences that followed David until the end of his life.
Along with this declaration, came the familiar sense of how powerful God’s will is and how weak are the constant veiled threats of people. Why do we listen to people compared to listening to God? It’s a common, flawed theme, in our lives! David writes out his process that is worth emulating. “In my distress I prayed to the Lord.” Again, how many times do I need to be reminded to go to God FIRST? We hear it, we are quick to encourage others to do it. But why do we wallow and wander in our hearts and ruminate in our minds when it looks like bad things may be heading our way?
David’s answer came quickly, “the Lord answered and set me free.” Wait? Did the threats stop? Did his enemies stop mocking? Did his own family situation just suddenly resolve? No, no and no. Circumstances did not change. David’s perspective, conviction and confidence changed! “The Lord is with me, so I will have no fear.” Then David scripts one of the most powerful narratives in the Bible, “what can man do to me?” NIV translates it, “what can mere mortals do to me?” The Hebrew text says, “What can adam (mankind) do?” Yahweh (Yhvh) is on my side! It is better to take refuge in and trust in Yahweh than people or princes.
David in his very natural, normal process of being confronted by his own sin and failures as a man, a husband and a global leader, decided to receive both consequences AND forgiveness. He begins the slow progress of reconstructing his faith and his life. This is extremely hard to do, right? If you don’t think so then maybe you have not blown your life up and watched the shattered pieces of friends and families have to rebuild their trust in you. David didn’t stay down, he didn’t continue to roll around in the gutter of his past. When God offered a hand to pull him out of the pit of despair, discouragement and depression, David took that hand and let God lift him. No, God didn’t not let him off easy for his sins. David paid dearly through massive loss of his sons and family integrity. Yet, God gave him a chance, a do-over. Psalm 118 is a great model of active repentance and rebuilding a life with God.
Prayer
Dad,
Whew. What a rough read. To go from a happy, singing shepherd boy to giant killer to a global leader. Then, with all that power, wealth and opportunity, to see David cave to his long-battled, selfish lust and desires is so gut-wrenching. He knew better, he should have behaved better, but he didn’t and I’m not beyond making those stupid, selfish mistakes myself. Yet, in your mercy and massive long-suffering, you gave him another chance to get it right. Even then, David had to go through the consequences and climb out of his own darkness and depression to let you forgive and help rebuild his life. Thank your for your mercy and patience over me. I never want to take it for granted.