Day 108 (Psalm 17, 35, 54, 63) - Year 7

Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Today we read more of the songs David wrote in response to what he's been going through since Samuel privately anointed him as king.
You'd think it would be a much easier path for those who were chosen to be royalty, but David's life has only gotten tougher. We started today with Psalm 17.
I don't know about you, but I had a hard time with verse 1 where he claims his lips are free from deceit. I can't help but think of his pattern of lying to Achish, even though that may have been considered acceptable by wartime standards.
Either way, it's probably important to note that in this psalm, David isn't saying he's morally perfect, but that he's innocent of the things he's been accused of by Saul and perhaps others. In this instance, Saul is the liar.
David trusts that God will come to his rescue and even acknowledges subtle ways God already has done that. In verse 4, David says, With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips, I have avoided the ways of the violent.
This has been true for him with Nabal and twice with Saul. Verse 10 in particular reminded me of David's encounter with Nabal.
It says, They close their hearts to pity, with their mouths they speak arrogantly. In verse 14, David affirms that worldly men often see benefits on this earth, and both Saul and Nabal certainly did.
But it's all they'll get. They have no eternal treasure.
David knows that being in the presence of the Lord is the only place where true fulfillment exists. In Psalm 35, David's prayers take a military turn.
He uses battle imagery, some of it literal, and some of it spiritual spiritual and some of it may even be both. For instance, he asks the Father to send the angel of the Lord to his rescue.
As we've talked about before, the angel of the Lord is often a reference to God the Son before he came to earth to live among mankind as a man named Jesus. Sometimes in the Old Testament when the angel of the Lord shows up, it's as a means of protection against enemies or as a force in battle.
God the Son was gentle and humble when he walked on earth as Jesus, but he's also a warrior. David speaks promises of future praise.
He preaches the truth to himself here. He also knows God is attentive to the needy and weak.
And David himself has demonstrated those godly characteristics toward his enemies when they

were sick and mourning.

But now they're falsely accusing David, and he asks God to come to his rescue.

If you've ever been misunderstood or misrepresented, you can probably relate a lot to his pleas.

And he asks God to vindicate him according to God's righteousness, not his own, and for

God's name's sake, not his

own. David has a proper perspective on what needs to happen here.
He acts in humility while boldly

praying for justice. This is not a contradiction.
This is trust in God's character. Psalm 54 is

about David's encounter with the Ziphites, who have twice exposed him to Saul. I wonder if it'll

be hard for him to serve them well when he finally is king over them, if it'll be difficult not to hold a grudge, particularly because of what he prays in verse five. He says, he will return the evil to my enemies.
In your faithfulness, put an end to them. It seems like he doesn't just want them to know the truth.
He wants them destroyed.

And of course, some of this may be hyperbolic language.

It's poetry after all.

So we have to hold it with a bit of an open hand.

Our last psalm today was Psalm 63.

It's a psalm of confidence in who God is, even though it opens with longing.

David's likely living in the wilderness when he writes this, and he starts out by saying, My soul thirsts for you.

My flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. David recounts the days when he wasn't living in the desert, when he could go to worship God in the sanctuary, and he remembers those times with fondness.
For those of us in the Western world, this is a hard concept to grasp. Most of us have easy access to Christian communities, and we have a church on every corner.
But David has no idea how long it will be for him before he's able to worship God in the ways the law requires of him. He longs for that day when he'll be able to participate in the feasts and the sacrificial offerings again, instead of being a fugitive and an outcast.
In the meantime, though, he clings to God. Because even though he's removed from the presence of the tabernacle, God's presence is still with him.
And that's where

my God shot came in today. In the midst of the wilderness, when everything God has promised to

David seems so impossibly distant, David closes this psalm with a verse that shows us how God is

still upholding him. He says, David's faith is strengthened, and he knows that these three things are true.
First, he'll be the

king because God has promised it. Second, God is trustworthy and praiseworthy, and you can stake

your life on it. And third, in the end, that trustworthy, praiseworthy God will work justice.
In the midst of David's desert wasteland, he opens his parched mouth to praise God. David knows he's where the joy is.
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