What do you do when the
pressures of daily life assail and assault you?
Since the LORD God has saved
you by His grace from beginning to end, why should
you tremble before the lesser dangers of this life?
King David tells of an
experience how he was able to lie down and sleep in
the midst of a sudden danger occasioned by his son
Absalom’s rebellion (2 Samuel 15-16).
“I lie down and sleep; I awake
again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear
the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every
side” (Psalm 3:5-6).
David went to sleep trusting
God with one of the greatest threats to his life.
God was a shield around David as he slept trusting
God with his life.
C. H. Spurgeon said, “It is the
most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear
that there is no help for us in God.” Those are the
most crushing moments in our lives. We feel as if
the very floor has been pulled out from us, and
someone has greased the rope we were holding on to
desperately.
King David in the first stanza
gave expression to the great crisis he was
experiencing. He acknowledged and deeply experienced
the deep anxious feelings. His enemies have risen up
against him. “O LORD, how many are my foes! How many
rise up against me? Many are saying of me, ‘God will
not deliver him’” (vv. 1-2).
Think about it. Sometimes we,
too, feel like our enemies are giants much larger
than life, and we are mere ants ready to be crushed.
We seem overwhelmed when we take inventory of our
lives.
David was fleeing from his son
Absalom. Are you fleeing the presence of a son,
daughter, or spouse who has turned their lives
against everything you believe in and are committed
to in life? Perhaps you face an uphill battle in
pursuing the God-given goals in your life. You may
feel like the cutthroat environment where you work
is an open warfare. Instead of swords, knives and
bullets they are swords of lying gossip, rumors,
deceit, misrepresentation, etc. As you go to work
you are dreading the living hell in the jungle at
the office. There is always that animal that is
pushing buttons trying to find your vulnerable spot.
The enemies of the gospel are saying, “God will not
deliver you.” Who hasn’t felt the assault of the
enemy?
The second stanza tells us how
David gained the victory. He put his confidence in
the LORD God. There is no other way to explain the
change. He takes his mind off his enemies and
focuses his attention on the only one who can
deliver him.
“But You are a shield around
me, O LORD, You bestow glory on me and lift up my
head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me
from His holy hill. Selah” (vv. 3-4).
Like a great crescendo of
orchestra music the psalmist says, “Pause. Just
think about it.” We often respond with “Praise the
Lord!”
Faith says, “I have committed
my soul to the LORD God in His matchless grace in
Jesus Christ. Since He has saved me by His grace
alone through faith alone in Christ alone, He is
quite capable as my sovereign God to take care of
this frightful matter at hand. This personal ordeal
I am presently facing is small in comparison to what
God has done to save my soul. I can trust this to
Him and rest.”
When we gaze at the problems we
face and see our weakness it all seems impossible.
However, when we bring God into the picture we see
Him in His true great stature as the eternal
sovereign one. Our mountains become foothills. Our
giants become ants. Our fears become occasions to
see the great hand of God in our lives.
David cried out to God for
help, knowing that God heard Him. He leaned upon the
LORD saying, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again,
because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the
tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side”
(vv. 5-6).
Are you willing to say? “Lord,
I hand this matter over to You. You are bigger than
this problem can ever become. Nothing gets out of
hand with You.”
David prayed, “Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God! . . . From the LORD comes
deliverance.” And like David, you can go to sleep
knowing the LORD will deliver you.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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