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 thoughts 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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
4. 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 our 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.

Extra

Pushed for time today so I am rerunning an old blog. It is a little long but I didn’t have time to edit. We are off to B’town today. Jean Narrell is having a stint procedure sometime after lunch. David Wood is have prostrate surgery this morning. David is at Cullman. Dustin Mitchell was at worship last night and he says Melanie is going to try to fly home tomorrow.

We had another good turn out at BREAKFAST AND THE BIBLE this a.m. I was sleeping like a baby we June woke me at 4:30. I woke up at 2:00 yesterday morning but was sound of sleep today.

I hope you have a good Monday: thanks for reading the blog.