After God’s Heart (Part 5) (Psalm 54)                                                                     2008.11.23    Pastor Edward Cheng

Do you know someone in your life that you would consider a “Super Christian”?  This is a person who, as we’ve already seen in the life of David, seems to seek God first in her life, always has the right priorities, and always strives to do the right thing.  I think we all probably know someone like this.  If you’re like me, in your mind, this person not only has the right heart, but is also probably upbeat and joyful all of the time.  But is that really the expectation of someone who is “after God’s heart”?

David seems to tell us otherwise, as we look at his psalm (54).  This is a psalm David wrote while being chased by Saul who desires to kill David (1 Samuel 23).  In this instance, David goes to a neighboring country to hide away, but the people of the land sell him out and tell Saul that he’s hiding among them (see supe◎rscription of Psalm 54).  Knowing the circumstances of the psalm really helps us understand the meaning of the psalm more deeply.

As we read Psalm 54, a lament psalm, the first thing that jumps out at us is the fact that David is in a state of despair.  Up until this point in his life, the book of 1 Samuel really depicts David as being blameless.  We certainly know that David is guilty of tremendous sin, but that doesn’t come until much later.  For now, he is the innocent one, the one that has been following the Lord faithfully all of his days.  And yet, he’s on the run.  He’s lonely, being unjustly hunted down by the person he is loyal to, and struggles to find joy.  This tells us one basic truth about life, that as hard as we try, we are never going to avoid difficulty in life.  In fact, being faithful to the Lord and following “after His heart” has never been and will never be a guarantee of smooth sailing for Christians.

There is a lie being propagated by some in the Christian world who want you to believe that faithfulness to the Lord will always be accompanied by good fortune, good health, and happiness.  However, as I say, this is a lie.  Is David not living proof of this?  He was blameless all of his days up until then and yet is still being pursued and is constantly hiding.  Even super Christians will face difficult trials in life, especially from those who have no regard for the Lord.  David makes it clear to us in v. 3 that those who pursue him do not regard highly the Lord.  In other words, they have no faith in the Lord and are hostile to him.  The world is full of people like this and as long as we are determined to follow after him, these people will be hostile to our goal.  While we know that God promises us ultimately victory over this world, that victory is not a temporary one with temporary and material plunder.  The victory we wait for has eternal consequences with eternal, spiritual blessing.

Secondly, we see that as David is struggling to find joy, he recognizes that his hope has to be in the Lord and nothing else.  He asks the Lord for strength according to His name and His might (v. 1).  Others have a tendency to turn to material things to rescue them.  In the case of David running from Saul, hope might be found in military strength – the number of weapons, the number of soldiers, and the number of horses.  However, David doesn’t turn to these external things because he knows that his one true Deliverer is the Lord Almighty.  He calls out to the Lord and lifts up his prayer to the Lord only (v. 2).  As David does so, he recognizes that in the Lord, he finds sustenance.  “Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me” (v. 4).  This word has the idea of holding one up, as if one were injured and his friends come and serve as a crutch for the injured to lean on.  The Lord is David’s crutch in this time, and David knows to lean on Him.

Finally, David ends this psalm with a declaration of thanksgiving.  He promises to present to the Lord a “freewill offering.”  This was actually a thanksgiving offering, one that David looks forward to doing while still in the midst of this trial.  This is the key for us, that we shouldn’t wait for the trial to pass before we offer thanks to the Lord.  David offers his thanks knowing that God is on his side and will deliver him.  His thanksgiving comes even before the danger has passed, teaching us that a heart of thanksgiving is appropriate not just when things are “hunky-dory.”

As we prepare for this Thanksgiving, let us also take a lesson from David’s example knowing that even if things are perfectly smooth, there is always room for the giving of thanks to the Lord.  The thanks we offer to Him are based on the fact that He is also our crutch, our help in times of trouble, that He hears our prayer, and that He is always good to us.  All praise and thanks to Him this Thanksgiving!