“Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.”
– Psalm 54:4
Hi James and Ellen,
What would you do if you were falsely accused by a kid – or a guy or gal, of doing or saying something that you did not do or say? What would you do if you knew that a kid – or a guy or gal, was demeaning you because he or she is angry with something that you purportedly said about him or her? Where would you go if you know that a guy or gal is wanting to kill you because you are an alleged threat to his or her power or prestige? Would you pull a David if you are ever wrongly accused, degraded and/or the target of a death threat? If you should decide to pull a David if . . . you would find a dark, dank cave to hunker down in until . . . while you are hiding in the hidden murky, clammy grotto, you will have plenty of time to think about your unfair, unjust predicament, you will have a constant gnawing fear that the locals will find out that you are lying low in their micro world and you will hopefully plead with God for Him to change your life’s playing field. Why do you think that God has in each one of His unalterable life schematics that He individually and flawlessly designed for each earthbound guy, gal and kid before He orbited a barren orb – which would be given the name of Earth, difficult moments, tough experiences and cave times? How do you think that your lives would be shaped if you were to spend literally hundreds of nights looking up at a star studded canopy that testifies of the existence of a Divine Creator? What would you do with your time and thoughts if there was nothing more for you to do than to herd a flock of sheep to various grazing sites, to lead a flock of sheep to watering holes, to keep a sheep from wandering away from the rest of the flock and to protect – with your life, a flock of sheep from marauding lions and bears? While God had David do shepherding in a peaceful, tranquil place, God taught David the joy of listening to His still, quiet voice. While God had David do shepherding as a minuscule entity, God taught David how to soak up the overwhelming majesty of His majestic creation. While God had David do shepherding alone with a flock of meek, obstinate sheep, God taught David how to put his thoughts into psalm songs to articulate whatever it was that David was thinking about or going through at the time.
David scribed Psalm 54 during a cave allocation that had been ordained by God. When an impulsive behavior sin spirit was permitted by God to influence Saul – who God had be the first anointed and positioned king to reign over His specially chosen guys and gals, Saul had an uncontrollable, internalized desire to do whatever he could do to defame, denigrate and destroy his giant killer, sheepherder nemesis. When David found out that a local family clan – the Ziphite family clan, had gone to Saul to tell Saul that he was hiding on their land, David scribed a prayer psalm song to God to ask God to rescue him from his untenable situation. One of the unique tendencies that God hardwired David with was an obsessive compulsiveness to scribe symmetrical, enlightening psalm songs. God had David start scribing this prayer psalm song with a desperate crying out to Him to listen to his pleading words to be vindicated using His might to do it. God had David end scribing this prayer psalm song with a confident thank you to Him for delivering him from his antagonists. God had David scribe in the very center of this prayer psalm the words that are found in verse 4, “Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.” Immediately before this verse, God had David scribe his enemies as rogue strangers, ruthless guys and rabid cads who had no regard for Him. Immediately after this verse, God had David scribe precisely what His plans were for ill-disposed foreigners, hardhearted dudes and self-seeking louts who were doing everything that they could do to do in David. God had David scribe that He will have the spirit of slander – that He had embedded in them, to recoil and then because of His faithful acceptance, affirmation and approval of David, He will destroy these guys.
Your grandpaa is kind of feeling right now like God has him doing cavern time. Even though age, aches and uncertainties are all inevitable components of becoming an old goopy geezer, your grandpaa has God having him wish for more opportunities to be more proactively involved in the lives of guys and gals who He is leading into cross-cultural ‘ministry’ locations, for a body that has more energy and less pain and for a future that has minimal stressors and a caring ‘church’ community. Even though your grandpaa clearly hears the voice of God telling Him to praise Him for the 35 years that He has had him and your grandmaa doing ‘missions’ as a vocation, your grandpaa also knows that God is telling him that there is more that your grandpaa – and that your grandmaa, are going to do for His ‘kingdom’s’ sake. Your grandmaa right now is preparing a self-discovery workshop that she is going to present to six gals who are going to Cambodia to spend time coming alongside prostitutes. Your grandpaa has God telling him to be thankful for this prayer psalm song because of what He had David write – which is that it is okay for your grandpaa to grouse to God about His life situation because He wants to know that your grandpaa knows that his only resource for help is Him. (Almost 15 years have gone by since your grandpaa sent you this missive. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have been for the past four years living in Quarryville Presbyterian Retirement Community. Your grandpaa knows that this is where God wants him and your grandmaa to be now to continue to serve Him.)
Psalm 54 (1174)