DON'T FORGET WHAT HE'S DONE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Save me, O God, by Your name; vindicate me by Your might. Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

Arrogant foes are attacking me; ruthless people are trying to kill me — people without regard for God.

Surely God is my help; the Lord is the One who sustains me.

Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in Your faithfulness destroy them.

I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You; I will praise Your name, Lord, for it is good. You have delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

Psalm 54

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We’ve covered nearly one third of the psalms now and there are several common themes emerging.

First, David is man who faced many troubles. Although he was a man after God’s own heart and was faithful to God in many ways, he still faced his share of trials and tribulations.

I know I can appreciate this in my own life because I have faced more than my share of difficulties too. They were never easy to go through but on the backside of them, I can see where God was doing some of His greatest work in and around me when I was in the most need. Maybe you can relate.

Second, David was a sinner who was in dire need of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, and pardon. We know David committed adultery which led to a pregnancy and in his efforts to try and cover it all up, he arranged a situation where his mistress’s husband would be killed. This opened the way for him to marry Bathsheba. You’ll recall that David forgot to factor into his plan that God sees everything we do and that error resulted in his actions being exposed and God’s judgment imposed.

Again, I can relate to David as I too have sinned against God and am in desperate need of His grace, mercy, forgiveness, and pardon. Without an intercessor in my life, I sit and write doomed to God’s wrath and destruction. But thanks be to God that He loved me and the whole world so much that He gave His Son Jesus as a living sacrifice to pay the price for our sins, and then after that work was done on Calvary’s cross, God raised Christ from the grace to the glory of resurrection, seating Him at His right hand. This victory over death opened the gates of heaven for anyone who would place their belief and trust in Jesus as Savior, all because of God’s goodness and His deep love for us.

Third, David trusted God. No matter how bad things got, David maintained his hope in the only One who could deliver him from his troubles.

We could learn a lot from David in this regard. Because we tend to see our faith waver or even depart when life starts to press down upon us, delivering hardship and adversity. I often wonder how God feels about us when we behave this way. I can’t help but think He utters the same words we hear Jesus say over and over again in the scriptures as He addresses His disciples by saying: “You of little faith.”

Finally, David remembered all that God had done for him. It was the very foundation for the hope he held onto in difficult times. Look at the words from the 54th Psalm:

Save me, O God, by Your name; vindicate me by Your might. Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

Arrogant foes are attacking me; ruthless people are trying to kill me — people without regard for God.

Surely God is my help; the Lord is the One who sustains me.

Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in Your faithfulness destroy them.

I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You; I will praise Your name, Lord, for it is good. You have delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

Look closely at David’s words.

He is calling out for God to hear his prayer and listen to his call. He asks God to save him and defend him by way of His almighty power. He freely brings his offering to God and praises His good name. He proclaims God as His help and sustainer.

There is no doubt in David’s mind that God would help him in his time of need, even though his foes were attacking and trying to kill him.

Why?

Because David never lost sight of what God had done. Look again at what he said:

You have delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

This wasn’t the first time David had been in trouble; there had been many times before when he faced challenges. You only need to go back to his youth and his encounter with the Philistine giant Goliath to see that. And you’ll recall even then that David, against all odds, knew he had the upper hand on Goliath because he had God on his side. And so he did as God delivered him to victory, a victory that David never forgot.

Friends, God has delivered you and me through so much as well. Take some time to recall the times in your life when you faced problems and God took care of you and brought you through. And while you’re at it, maybe think about the near misses you have had in life, times when things could have turned out disastrous but they didn’t. It’s during those times that God is delivering us as well.

In the end, I think you’ll realize how very blessed you have been in your life, all coming from the God who is for you and loves you enough to save you. Don’t ever forget what He’s done, and you’ll always have the faith and courage to carry you through anything life brings your way.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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