Scripture
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
~Psalm 55:22, NRSV
Quote
It is infinitely better to have the whole world as an enemy and God as a friend than to have the whole world as a friend and God as the enemy.
~John Brown
David had his share of enemies but Psalm 55 is about the rebellion of Absalom. Ahithopel, one of David’s trusted counselors betrayed David by defecting and joining Absalom’s rebellion. David didn’t consider either as an enemy. Absalom was his son and Ahithopel was his confidant. David uses three words in the first four verses to describe his emotional state of mind. David said he was [1] troubled. The AV translates it restless. The word describes a restless state of mind where our thought ramble. We can’t focus on anything for any length of time because our mind is restless. The second word is [2] distraught which means to be agitated or distracted. In simple English, David’s mind was disturbed and he was unable to focus on the business at hand. The third is a word used often by David, he said, “My heart is in [3] anguish within me.” The Hebrew word khül [anguish] is hard to define. It can mean to twist and spin as in a dance but David was not referring to a dance. He is describing ‘stress’ which is a twisting of the mind that creates excessive tension. His emotional distress is causing physical pain.
So what we have here is David under attack but not from the Philistines are the Syrians: the attack is coming from his own household, his own staff and his own tribe. Even the Elders of Judah are supporting Absalom. Everything seems to be against David and the dynasty that God has promised seems to be slipping away. Understand, this threat is real, not imagined. If Absalom and company get to David, he is a dead man. This storm is real; not something David conjured up in his mind. So the question is: What do we do if the face of such an overwhelming crisis?
David did four things and three of them are sound advice.
- The first thing David did was PRAY— [v.1] “Give ear to my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my supplication.” Jack Taylor said ‘Supplication’ is an S word for prayer but it is actually a particular kind of prayer. When we supplicate, we beg or ask for personal favor. Intercession is when we ask in behalf of others. Unfortunately, most of my prayers are supplications.
- Next David DREAMED or fantasized–[v.6] “O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; truly, I would flee far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; I would hurry to find a shelter for myself from the raging wind and tempest.” The dove is a peace-loving creature that hates storms. When the dove senses danger, it flies away from the supposed threat. Doves can fly long and high. They can find a place of refuge in the high country in a matter of minutes. It is human nature to want to flee from trouble. Of course, David did not have wings and he could not fly because he was just an egg like you and I but there is coming a day when we will hatch out of these old egg bodies and we will have wings. The glorious Eagle, a symbol of our free nation, was once an egg. I don’t think a little dreaming of heaven hurts anyone.
- Then David CURSED–[v.15] “Let death come upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol; for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.” David pronounced a curse on his enemies and it came true. Ahithopel committed suicide and Absalom was killed in the prime of his life. Both men died prematurely which Stephen Lawson thinks was a part of the curse. Jesus taught us a better way: we are to pray for our enemies, not curse them
- Last of all, David CAST–[v.22] “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” The same message is conveyed in the N.T. [I Peter 5:6-7] …Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
Bottom line: We are not to curse or enemies but the other three are good advice when storms and difficulties arise: Pray, think about your refuge in Christ and cast your anxiety on HIM. He can handle it and we can’t.
What An Honor To Have Junior Hill at DBC
Junior is taking a quick nap and I am the deer in the headlights. It was not my nor Junior’s best photo but it is the best I have. Junior preached a powerful evangelistic message and we had one come for Baptism. I am afraid I will get her name wrong but here goes: DBC welcome Brianna Collette. I chided Catfish for not getting a pic but I didn’t think either until it was too late. [Judy: send me the picture with Keith for the Digest. I am sure Junior doesn’t want me to use this one]
- Joe David, Charlie and myself made a quick run to B’Town yesterday morning. We were thrilled to get good news. Thomas Pickens is not going to need surgery: that’s the good news–the bad news is they don’t know have to relieve him of the pain.
- Keith Jenkins hurt his shoulder during his sleep and that has set him back. They were planning to come to church Sunday am but he injured it during the night. We have some new friends who have been worshiping with us for awhile; Their names are Susie and Tommy. They also have a prayer need so you can add them to the list: pray for Thomas, Keith, Susie and Tommy this week.
- Jessica Hogan gets back to Danville Thursday after serving faithfully at Glorietta for the Summer. We are proud of Jessica. She gets a few days rest and then leaves for Guatemala on the 27th, I think.
- BLOCK PARTY in 18 days. Be sitting aside your stuff for the GRACE BARN but do not bring it until August 3. We have moved the BP up a week but it will still rain. We don’t know what time of day it will rain but we have had rain on the last four BP’s. We moved the GRACE BARN inside to avoid the rain. We got a rain on BP day last year and then it did not rain another drop until December. We don’t want that, do we?
- We are going to have to send a visitation team to check on Eddie and Sue; they have missed two Sundays in a row. They only live 642 miles from church.
- Seth has another full week in the Ukraine. I think he begins his trek home on the 27th. By the time he gets here, Joe David will be gone to Guatemala. It may be August 6th before we get our herd back together.
- Between now and the BP, I am going to hang put my Hawaiian Shirts on display in the foyer. Some of the young people want first pick before I put them in GRACE BARN. I have so many that Big Mama says she is not storing them for winter. I am still upset that I could not wear the one Joe David brought from Asia. You can’t get a shirt like that here and Jason is saying “Thank God!“
- I know the BLOGS are getting longer and some of you hate long blogs. I am doing a study of the Psalms in my morning meditations and I have more time to study than most of you. I am sharing some of the highlights of each Psalm and I’m not concentrating on brevity as much as I have in the past. There are two reasons for this: [1] It helps me discipline myself and [2] Two young men that I think a lot of have come to me lately and said, “I read the blog every morning and they have been encouraging.” So, I will try to put a little in the extra for the curiosity seekers but continue to share theological truths for the truth seekers. I will put names in BOLD so they will be easy for the scanners to spot.
- Today is Mother’s birthday…she would have been 102. She got her promotion is 2010. My mother saved me from prison and death: she beat the hell out of me, literally and I praise her.
- Indians win 5-3 over Bill Harrison’s Giants. Giants made two errors leading to 2 runs. It was a gift but we will take it.
Things You Don’t Share Online
1. Home Address
2. When You’re Going on Vacation
3. Stuff about your kids
4. The layout of your house
5. Post copy and paste status updates
6. Complaints about your Boss
7. Personal Information involving family and friends
8. Ask People to Like your Page
9. TMI…Too Much Information
[oversharing indicates a lack of self-esteem and a search to find one’s true self. In indicates weakness, not strength. Those who overshare will lose followers quickly. There intent is to get more attention but it works just the opposite.]
The above is not my opinion: I got it from an online source… https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/study-people-who-overshare-on-facebook-just-want-to-belong/372834/