Days 12 and 13 Summer Psalms 56-65

"When I am afraid I put my trust in thee... In God I trust without fear." In Psalm 56, we find David fleeing from his enemies again. I swear that guy spent half of his life hiding out. This time he is held up in a cave asking God for protection from Saul. In Psalm 57 he cries, "O God, be merciful to me, for in thee my soul takes refuge, in the shadow of thy wings I will take refuge." The reminder again that God is our "refuge", too, is an important message to take with us from this Psalm

Why is it okay for David to talk smack on his enemies, when we are supposed to love our enemies? David asks God in Psalm 58 to "break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!... Let them be like the snail which dissolves into slime." He basically is asking God to be his hit man. David continues his bashing in Psalm 59:13, "consume them in wrath, consume them till they are no more." David's hostility towards his predators shows that David has the ability to be a very dangerous man if confronted face to face. I'm wondering more and more who David really is? He is a murderer and an adulterer, I learned, and now so vicious that he asks the Lord in heaven to pretty much annihilate is enemies.

They say you can't understand a person until you walk a mile in his shoes, so I'll avoid casting any stones at David. But I have  to wonder in Psalm 60: 1 when David cries out, "O God, thou hast rejected us, broken our defenses; thou hast been angry; oh, restore us," why God is ignoring David. Could it be that David has issues he needs to address. In 60:7-8, David sounds egotistical, "Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my sceptor. Moab is my washbasin." It sounds like all of his power has gone to his head. Now he wants God to give him Edom and Philistia, and he wonders why God is rejecting him, huh! Maybe someone is a little power hungry!

Through David's descriptive language in his prayers, we are given many sensory images of God. In Psalm 61, some familiar terms for God are "rock", "refuge", "tower," as a "shelter" with "wings".  In Psalm 62, we hear God referred to as the "rock" three more times, then as a "fortress", and again as David's "refuge". My favorite imagery of God is in Psalm 63:7. To imagine being in the "shadow of thy wings" is so comforting to me, and the next line of the verse is a perfect response to such a heavenly place, "I sing for joy." Who wouldn't sing for joy in the shadow of His wings? I remember while hiking through the narrow streets of the holy village of Sienna in Italy how my friend Kathy and I just felt like singing. The holiness of the place filled us and our response was to sing out, we were floating, "On Eagles Wings."

Psalms 62 through 64 are sad. David's son Absolom is forming a rebellion against him. Absolom is spreading rumors about his father all over the land and David is devastated. David knows that his son is plotting against him so he prays to God once again to "hide me from the secret plots of the wicked." Even when his adversary is his own son, David asks God to destroy the enemy. In verse 7, "God will shoot his arrow at them, they will be wounded suddenly. Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin." Couldn't he just talk to Absolom and come to some peaceful agreement? I guess I just don't understand the penchant for killing inherent in men. Does God go along with war and annihilation? David makes it sound like God has no problem with it.

Psalm 65 is a beautiful Psalm for ending today's readings. The descriptive language, here, is both rich and lyrical. I want to remember this one for reading on special occasions before holiday meals with family.The author of this psalm is unknown, but it is clear that he credits God with all things, especially for the life giving food we eat:





Praise is due to thee, O God, in Zion; and to thee shall vows be performed,
^2. O thou who hearest prayer! To thee shall all flesh come
^3. on account of sins. When our transgressions prevail over us, thou dost forgive them.
^4. Blessed is he whom thou dost choose and bring near, to dwell in thy courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, thy holy temple!
^5. By dread deeds thou dost answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation, who art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of the farthest seas;
^6. who by thy strength hast established the mountains, being girded with might;
^7. who dost still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples;
^8. so that those who dwell at earth's farthest bounds are afraid at thy signs; thou makest the outgoings of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
^9. Thou visitest the earth and waterest it, thou greatly enrichest it; the river of God is full of water; thou providest their grain, for so thou hast prepared it.
^10. Thou waterest its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.
^11. Thou crownest the year with thy bounty; the tracks of thy chariot drip with fatness.
^12. The pastures of the wilderness drip, the hills gird themselves with joy,
^13. the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.