Before Deliverance
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“But you are a shield around me, O Lord, my Glorious One, who lifts up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake up again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side” (Psalm 3:3-6)
However, this psalm of David was written when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem when his own son, Absalom, was determined to kill him and take over his throne.
No biggie.
Who among us would be so secure in the Lord that under such circumstances we could say the same?
David’s statement about sleeping peacefully while surrounded by his enemies reminded me of another psalm.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23:5).
David sleeps well and eats a leisurely meal even in the worst of times. We’d be tempted to call it foolharty but such is his faith in the Lord to deliver him one way or the other, that he can make this statement with complete honesty.
Oh for such a faith as that! We toss and turn at night, victims of our own worry. We hurriedly choke down a meal—usually an unhealthy one if we eat at all—without tasting and without chewing and wonder why our stomachs are doing somersaults.
Of course these expressions are as figurative as they are literal. But the message is that God is trustworthy. David knows that, and uses the most common “peace stealers” to illustrate the trust he has in the God Who will deliver.
When he wrote these words God had not yet delivered him. They are words that need to be ours too, even before deliverance comes.
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