Author: Jon Green

God welcomes our grief. We can acknowledge His goodness while still mourning the broken world we live in and plead with the creator of this universe for mercy and clarity. In this psalm we see a raw cry of despair that lays out the author’s sorrow and sin in the form of a desperate prayer to a God that is bigger than our pain. Written by Heman the Ezrahite, who was known as a wise and talented man, this dark song is evidence that even the faithful experience doubt and angst. 

In the midst of confusion, the writer acknowledges God’s power and goodness from the very first line. “Oh God of my salvation.” Before anything else, he recognizes God has already delivered him and then he can proceed to wrestle with his own agony. He attributes his troubles to the power and acts of God:

“You have put me in the lowest pit” (v. 6).

“Your wrath lies heavily on me” (v. 7).

“Your terrors have destroyed me” (v. 16).

By doing this, he acknowledges his own sin and wrestles with the righteous wrath and justice of God. He feels alone and weak, but his greatest despair is in verse 14 when he feels God has left him. “Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?” The greatest consequence of our own sin and sorrows is that God feels far from us in them. This psalm isn’t a plea to change his circumstance, but just to be near to the presence of God again. 

Doubt doesn’t disqualify or distance us from God, but it’s an opportunity to lean in and seek His face above all else. Our prayer, along with the psalmist, is to be near to God and to trust that He is constant when our situation is not. 

It’s hard to imagine many things worse than drowning. The claustrophobic, desperate feeling of the floods engulfing us and the waters coming up to our necks sounds miserable. And while we may not know the literal, physical experience of drowning, we all know what it’s like to feel metaphorically like we’re drowning. We know what it’s like to have no foothold and to feel like we’re sinking. Whether it’s financial pressures, a semester’s worth of papers and finals, the challenges of a failing marriage or difficult children, or loneliness and depression, we all know what it feels like to be worn out, wondering if God even sees or hears us. In Psalm 69:3, David writes, “I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.”

Cognitively we know He’s there and we know He sees and hears us. But some days it feels like He’s distant, uncaring, mute, blind, or just plain tired of us. Life doesn’t seem fair—we defend Him, endure scorn and shame (v. 7), and when we even do things like fast, we’re still picked on, mocked, and scorned (v. 10-12).

Fortunately David knows what’s right and true about God, and we would do well to remind ourselves of the same. He loves us (v. 13), is merciful (v. 16), can rescue and deliver us (v. 16), and will execute justice in His time and His way (v. 24). When we feel alone, unseen, and forgotten, we need to remember what’s right and true about the Lord. We can be thankful for David who was human just like us and can follow his lead when we struggle. And not only does David cry out to the Lord, He also praises and glorifies Him (v. 30).

Today when you feel forgotten or alone, remember we are NEVER alone. Be encouraged by the truths of who God is today and remind others of what’s true and right about God. Whether you’re standing on firm ground or sinking in the miry depths, God is with you always (Matthew 28:19-20).

Psalm 63 takes place in the wilderness of Judah as David is fleeing from either Absalom or Saul. This wilderness is hot, dry, and desolate – a fitting image for longing. David describes his seeking after God as thirsting for water in the midst of the desert. This was a feeling he was well acquainted with, to be sure. His soul longs for the Lord, his God, because he knows that God is the only one who can satisfy his longing–much like water is all that can satisfy our thirst. In the midst of physical desperation, David earnestly seeks after God and worships Him for who He is. 

Water is necessary for life. But David confesses that there’s something much more necessary than water, and greater than life itself. The steadfast love of the Lord is the focus of David’s attention. Because his mind is fixed on God’s love, he is able to honestly and confidently pen these words. 

Because your love is better than life:

• My lips will glorify you 
• I will praise you as long as I live 
• I will be fully satisfied 
• With singing lips, my mouth will praise you 

David never sees himself outside of the love and protection of God. His perspective is what allows him to praise. He continues to remind himself of God’s character and it brings forth singing. 

Because you are my help:

• I sing in the shadow of your wings (a place of protection) 
• I cling to you
• Your right hand upholds me
• Those who seek my life will be destroyed

Our perspective enables our actions. David’s perspective of who God is and how He cares for him allows him to praise God in the midst of the desert and in the midst of being pursued by his enemies. In Acts 16 when Paul and Silas are unjustly thrown into prison, they also sing hymns to God. No matter the situation we are in, we can choose to praise God for who He is and how He cares for us, knowing that His love is better than life. 

Many of the psalms being with the psalmist (in this case, David) describing a present need or plea. Psalm 62, however, is different in that it is written as an expression of confidence. The most literal translation of the opening line of this psalm is “My soul finds rest in God alone.” When we hear the word “rest”, we often go straight to a physical rest. What David is describing here is a bit more complex than that. It’s a rest that comes from confidence in who God is and what He will do. When our souls have confidence in God, it is easy for us to exhale.

At the beginning of this psalm, David makes some declarative statements about God’s character and God’s nature. He calls God his fortress and his salvation (v. 2). Just a few verses later he describes God as his refuge (v. 7-8). Refuge isn’t a word that we use a lot, but rarely do we seek out refuge when things are going well. When we have this feeling that life is in turmoil and we can’t tell which way is up or down, we look all around us to find ways to either numb the pain, provide a false sense of stability, or help us forget that we feel this way to begin with. Instead, here David is giving us this template for what it means to call these things out for what they are, while also bringing them before God and saying, “Here’s what I’m feeling, and in spite of all of these things beyond my control, you are my refuge.”

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus invites all who are weary and burdened to take His yoke and learn from Him, and, He says, “You will find rest for your souls.” We may not have a clear understanding of what a yoke is, but the people Jesus was talking to definitely would have understood what He was saying. A yoke was much different than a harness. Harnesses are used to multiply “horsepower” from the animals. A yoke in Jesus’ culture was used as a tool to train young animals how to do their job and be useful to their master. This distinction is so important. He is saying, “Come to me and learn from me. That’s how you’ll find rest.” The good news for us is that we don’t have to keep trying to figure it all out on our own! We can look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), yoke ourselves to Him, and find rest and confidence in Him.

In Psalm 59, we have an opportunity to behold David’s sincere, trial-tested faith and see the trust he has in God on full display. This psalm was written at a time when Saul sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him (1 Samuel 19:11). Imagine the unrest! Because of a jealous man, David was no longer safe in his own home. David’s immediate reaction is to cry out to his most trusted confidant: God Almighty. David’s words are characterized by a deep, personal relationship with God. He refers to God as his personal source of defense, strength, and mercy. 

Yes, there were evil men plotting his demise, but David recognized that he was protected by God. After asking God for deliverance from the rising dangers (v. 1), he set his mind and heart to watch for Him (v. 9). Somewhere between the written pages of the Bible, David spent time talking to God, walking with God, worshiping God, studying and meditating on His truth. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of, and David can’t help but sing to his God.

Through the person of Jesus Christ, we have complete access to this mighty, comforting, and awesome God that David loved so dearly. The author of Hebrews describes Him as “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” God has a name for any and every need that arises in our lives. We can and should read about the names and attributes of God in the pages of Scripture. But there is nothing like when God, in His sovereignty, allows us into circumstances where His name is our only source of hope.

Just like David, the words we have read and mediated on truly come alive as we experience them as our reality. How honored our Lord must be when our hearts exclaim praise in the middle of trails and opposition. Ignoring dangers is not asked of us. Notice how David refers to his pursuers in this psalm. He compares them to dogs. Not biting dogs, but howling, prowling, and growling dogs. They can make as much noise as they want to; David has chosen to trust in his Lord. Oswald Chambers wrote, “We are not fundamentally free; external circumstances are not in our hands, they are in God’s hands, the one thing in which we are free is in our personal relationship to God.” What a gift we have been given!

David’s self-awareness of the true enemy stands out in this passage. His plea with God is clear in his desperate language, “deliver me, preserve me, guard me [from evil, wicked, and violent men].” Our culture today minimizes the idea of a true enemy while maximizing the small offenses. We often act as if we are on a playground rather than a battlefield. This passage reminds us that the enemy of our souls is after us. He has hidden traps for us, spread out nets, and set out snares all in hopes to bait us into sin. These traps, nets, and snares look different in each of our lives. These are the things we hold onto white knuckled , that we idolize, and look to to tell us our worth.

David’s response to this stress is prayer and communication with God. David isn’t seeking to be right, he is seeking righteousness. He is striving for the enemy to be defeated, not for his own gain or self-preservation, but for the Kingdom of God to be advanced. In verse 9 and 10 we see how seriously he takes his opponent and how desperately David desires for evil to be demolished. In today’s world we often tolerate or minimize the work of the evil one. Our prayer should be the same as David- that evil would be defeated and that justice would prevail. David was confident that the Lord would defend His people who were being afflicted. 

We try to manipulate God into aligning Him with our own agenda, when, in reality, the battle belongs to God and justice is His. He is righteous, and  just, and we’d be wise to align our hearts with His rather than trying to manipulate Him into our small offenses and entitlements. 

Imagine what our world would look like if our posture was the same as David’s. Our hearts would be surrendered to the only One who sits on a throne of righteousness and justice (Psalm 89:14). Our minds would be committed to memorizing His words (Psalm 119:110). Our wills would be submitted to His agenda and plan (Romans 12:2).

Psalm 35 is easily recognized as a cry for justice and a declaration of trust by David. David was being attacked by the very ones for whom he had mourned, by those he had loved, and by those for whom he had prayed. He feels betrayed and mocked and recognizes that he needs the Lord to come to his defense. 

Importantly, verses 7 and 19 tell us that David had done nothing to deserve the treatment he was receiving. His enemies’ aggression was “without cause.” That’s why in verse 8 he asks God to let destruction fall on them. Make no mistake, David wanted absolute and complete destruction. Verse 5 and 6 tell us that David even calls upon the angel of the Lord to chase and pursue his enemies. This was the same angel that destroyed 185,000 Assyrians in one night (2 Kings 19:35), so David is asking that the angel of the Lord persecute his enemies. In fact, the Hebrew word for “destruction” that is used twice in verse 8 is shoah. Shoah is the word modern day Jews use to describe the tragedy of the Holocaust. What David is asking for is comparable to what we would understand to have happened during World War II at the hand of Hitler. 

While that might feel uncomfortable and overly vindictive for someone who is a man after God’s own heart, we have to put ourselves in his shoes. David was experiencing heartfelt sorrow because the people he had loved and served were seeking his disgrace, his shame, and his ruin. Not only that, they were willing to lie, cheat, and kill to make it happen. It was complete and utter betrayal by those he loved, but do not be confused. David did not seek personal vengeance. Instead, he asks God to be his defender. David did not go on the offensive. He trusted the One who had fought his battles before to protect him from his enemies in the very way that they sought to destroy him.

Two important ideas stand out in this psalm so far: First, David is nothing if not honest in his prayers, and second, he trusts God to be his defender in all situations. When we are unjustly accused, do we trust God like David does or do we lash out quickly with a detailed defense of our actions? Over and over in the Psalms, David models the type of faith we should have: honest, authentic, and unwavering. Even when faced with immediate, physical threat, David trusts that the Lord will come to his aid. So much so that he ends his cry for justice with a praise on his lips (verse 28). 

David knew that while he only saw the battle, God saw the victory. May we have faith like David’s that speaks openly and honestly with our Creator and that trusts Him completely to take care of our needs. 

Here we have another lament from David as he is in great anguish over the betrayal of a close friend. That close friend could have been his son, Absalom, or his counselor, Ahithophel (2 Samuel 15:1-14, 16:15-23). These two men conspired to overthrow and humiliate King David.

Have you ever had a friend betray you? While we might expect betrayal from an enemy, when our closest friends turn on us, it often hurts the worst. Sadly, this is a reality of our fallen world. People we think of as a brother or sister can betray or attack us in some way. But isn’t it great that we have a God who is never-changing? Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Our God is steadfast in His love and faithfulness (Psalm 86:15). In this psalm, David rightly calls on the Lord to save him because he knows who God is (v. 16-19).

We can put our faith and hope in God because He is constant. While people will let us down, God’s love and the presence of the Holy Spirit are forever. 

Verse 22 is one that we often hear when talking about anxiety. Reading it in its full context offers depth into its meaning. David writes while living through an incredibly hard season of intimate betrayal, even attack. Yet, he still proclaims with confidence that God will sustain him and “never let the righteous be shaken” (v. 22). Even in the darkest valley, David trusts in God, knowing that He will bring justice in due time.

Trusting in God can be difficult when it seems like our world is caving in around us, but we can take heart in knowing that despite “anguish,” “terrors of death,” “fear and trembling,” and even “horror,” that “the LORD saves” (v. 4, 5, 16). God hears our voice (v. 17). Our God is not far off in a distant place when we hurt. Rather, He is near to the broken-hearted (Psalm 34:18). Like David, we can trust Him. 

We most often hear Psalm 23 at funerals, but this Psalm offers life-giving words for us, the living. Perhaps we miss the beautiful peace and comfort offered in these verses because we struggle to relate to the comparison: a shepherd and sheep. 

In verse 1, David proclaims, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” So what makes a good shepherd? Modern Farmer, an online source for food producers and consumers, shares: “Shepherds, like the sheep themselves, learn quickly that the path to success depends on tending to the flock but caring for the individual.” A good shepherd guides and provides for the group as a whole and never loses sight of the specific needs of each individual, just as our God guides and provides for humanity and remains faithful to the specific needs of each of us.

Verse 4 describes, “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” The rod and staff were tools of a shepherd to protect and correct sheep. A rod is a wooden club used to defend the sheep against attacks and to prod the sheep to move in the right direction. The staff, also known as a crook, is a long stick with a curved end used to redirect individual sheep or pull them from harm’s way. A good shepherd uses these tools to protect the herd as a whole and individuals that stray. God uses His tools–His Word, His Spirit, His children, His creation–to protect and correct us. Let’s be honest: being protected or corrected may not seem comfortable in the moment! We may feel restricted, frustrated, or angry because we want to do what we want to do. But God knows more than we do, and we can trust in that, just like David. 

David sings of God’s glorious guidance and perfect provision through Psalm 23. Let us listen to His voice and follow His guidance, so we can rest in the peace of His protection and settle in the comfort of His correction.

We are made for life with God. Without God’s presence in our lives, we have an insatiable desire in our hearts for more. It might be more money, more pleasure, or more comfort; whatever it is, we think it will satisfy but it never does. We’ll always need more apart from God because our needs aren’t met apart from Him. 

But in this psalm we get to see what life lived with God looks like. Since David was a king, he could get whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. All he had to do was snap his fingers and he would be given anything he desired. But in this moment, as he surveyed all he had, he realized that he truly didn’t want anything other than God. Indeed apart from God, he had no good thing (v. 2). 

David isn’t the only one who felt this way. In John 6 after a hard teaching, many of Jesus’ disciples turned back and stopped following Him. Jesus then turned to His closest friends and asked if they were going to leave Him too. Peter replied to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68). Peter couldn’t fathom leaving Jesus for anything else because in Jesus was life itself. Apart from Jesus, Peter had no good thing. 

This is the story of following God. The more you live with Him, the more you realize He is all you need. You don’t need all that this world is trying to throw at you. All of those things are just temporary pleasures– they won’t ever satisfy. The deepest joys and the greatest comforts will only be found in God.  Your heart will only find rest when you give it to the One it was made for.