I wait in hope for you, YHWH

When God disciplines us for sinning carelessly, does he then leave us to stew in our loss and pain, shunned by all around us? Not David’s God. He disciplines us only to drive us into his open arms.

A David psalm. For remembrance.

¹ Don’t rebuke me in your anger, YHWH
or discipline me in your wrath.
² For your arrows have sunk into me
and your hand has come down hard on me.
³ There’s not a single part of my body
your anger has left unscathed
my sin having ravaged me to the bone.
⁴ My sins have piled up over my head
weighing me down like an unbearable burden.
⁵ Thanks to my folly
my sores have become putrid and reek.
⁶ I’m twisted, doubled over
as I mope my way through each long day.
⁷ My gut is a raging inferno
leaving my entire body a mess.
⁸ Numb and utterly crushed
I howl because of my groaning heart.
⁹ All my longings lie open to you, Lord
and you hear my every moan.
¹⁰ With my heart blown apart
my strength fails me
and the light of my eyes has gone out.
¹¹ My friends and relatives
want nothing to do with me or my plight.
My neighbors all give me a wide berth too.
¹² Those who seek my life lay snares
those who wish me ill threaten destruction
and spend every waking hour
planning their betrayal.
¹³ But like the deaf
I hear nothing
and like the mute
I say nothing.
¹⁴ I’m like one who
without hearing what’s been said
has nothing to say in reply.
¹⁵ I wait in hope for you, YHWH.
It’s you who will answer them
O Lord, my God.
¹⁶ Because I’ve prayed
that those who preen and puff
when my foot slips
won’t have the joy of seeing me fall.
¹⁷ Yet fighting constant pain
I’m about to collapse.
¹⁸ I acknowledge my guilt
and grieve over my sin.
¹⁹ My enemies are alive and well
those who hate me for no reason multiply.
²⁰ Those who pay back my good with evil
denounce me for doing good.
²¹ Don’t forsake me, YHWH—
don’t avoid me, my God!
²² Come quickly and help me
O Lord, my deliverance!

Scripture rejects the notion that all sickness is the direct result of our sin. However, God sometimes uses sickness to discipline us. And here David is clear that his sin is the cause of his illness, which has left him in agony, a physical wreck. Not knowing the specific situation behind this psalm, we wonder what in David’s descriptions is literal and what figurative. But given the poem’s richly evocative nature, we’re best to resist that impulse to nail its meaning down and embrace its open-endedness instead.

Not only has David’s sickness left him a physical wreck. It’s also led to his being shunned by those who should offer support—friends and family who distance themselves from him as a loser who has heaped God’s wrath onto himself. He’s also targeted by his many unscrupulous enemies, keen to take advantage of his weakened condition. Devastated and depressed, he stares through vacant eyes, unable to see any good around him.

Like a deaf mute, David doesn’t answer his enemies and accusers, but waits for God to answer instead. Despite his pain, he’s comforted to know that God knows all his longings and hears his every moan.

Overwhelmed by his sins, David owns them all, tells God he’s sorry for them, and asks for help. He begs God not to turn him over to his enemies. Thus, even though he’s guilty and suffering God’s discipline, David knows God’s judgment is unlike that of others looking on. Because God’s judgment leads to his grace, and David knows God’s grace will yet have the last word.

Prayer:

When you discipline me for choosing my way over yours, Lord, help me to know you’re still my gracious deliverer, ready to forgive. Help me to humbly acknowledge my sin, forsake my waywardness, and trust your grace to give me a fresh start and restore me to your friendship. Amen.

During your free moments today, pray these words:

Come quickly and help me
O Lord, my deliverance!

A primer on faith

We’re often tempted to take shortcuts and mistreat others to get ahead. David says those who do things God’s way and wait for him to grant their desires are the ones who are truly blessed.

A David psalm.

¹ Don’t be incensed by evildoers
or envy those who do wrong.
² For they’ll wither like grass
and fade away like field flowers.
³ Trust in YHWH and do good.
Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
⁴ Make YHWH your joy and delight
and he’ll give you all that your heart desires.
⁵ Depend on God in all you do
rely on him and he’ll come through for you.
⁶ He’ll make your goodness as clear as day
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
⁷ Rest in YHWH
wait patiently for him.
Don’t be irked when evildoers
succeed in pulling off their hateful schemes.
⁸ Let go of all anger and rage.
Don’t nurse irritations
which leads only to evil.
⁹ For the self-seeking will end up with nothing
while those who wait for YHWH
will possess the land.
¹⁰ Wait a little while
and the faithless will be gone.
However hard you look for them
you won’t find them.
¹¹ But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy all the benefits of peace.

¹² The wicked plot against God-seekers
and gnash their teeth whenever they see them.
¹³ But YHWH only laughs at evildoers
for he sees how certain their doom is.
¹⁴ The self-seeking draw their swords
and bend back their bows
to take down the poor and needy
and slaughter those who live to please God.
¹⁵ But their bows will be broken
and their swords pierce their own hearts.
¹⁶ Better the little the God-seeker has
than all the wealth of the wicked.
¹⁷ For the power of evildoers will be broken
while YHWH supports those who seek him.
¹⁸ YHWH sees all the struggles the innocent face
and their inheritance will last forever.
¹⁹ They aren’t left destitute in hard times:
even when famine strikes
they have more than enough.
²⁰ But the wicked will perish
YHWH’s enemies will be like the meadow’s beauty
which vanishes—
vanishes like smoke into thin air!

²¹ Evildoers borrow without repaying
but God-seekers are gracious and giving.
²² Those blessed by the Lord
will possess the land
but those cursed by him will be shut out.
²³ YHWH secures the steps
of those who please him
for he delights in their way.
²⁴ When they stumble
they don’t fall flat
because YHWH holds them by the hand.
²⁵ My whole life long, youth to old age
I’ve never seen a God-seeker forsaken
or their children begging bread.
²⁶ Always gracious
they lend freely to the needy
and their children are a blessing.
²⁷ Turn away from evil and do good
and you’ll live in the land forever.
²⁸ For YHWH loves justice
and never abandons his faithful servants.
They’ll be kept safe forever
but the evildoer’s descendants will be excluded.
²⁹ God-seekers will possess the land
and live there forever. 

³⁰ The faithful speak words of wisdom
and incessantly call for justice.

³¹ With God’s instruction in their hearts
they never take a false step.
³² The evildoer eyes the God-seeker
intent on killing them.
³³ But YHWH won’t leave them in their clutches
or let them be condemned when they’re tried.
³⁴ Hope in YHWH as you hold to his path
and he’ll raise you up to inherit the land.
When the wicked are wiped out
you’ll be around to see it happen.
³⁵ I once saw a ruthless tyrant
towering like a cedar of Lebanon.
³⁶ But the next time I looked
they were gone!
Though I searched far and wide
they were nowhere to be found.
³⁷ Keep your eye on the person of integrity
and behold the one who keeps God’s covenant
for the future belongs to the peace-loving
³⁸ while rebels will be utterly destroyed
their future cut short.
³⁹ God-seekers are rescued by YHWH.
He’s their refuge when trouble strikes.
⁴⁰ YHWH helps them and rescues them—
he saves them from the wicked
and makes them prevail over them
because they take refuge in him.

David isn’t explaining how everything works or why God permits tragedies. He isn’t giving a foolproof formula for success or a way to tell if someone pleases God. He’s urging us not to join the self-seekers in their dirty race to the top, but rather to pursue what really matters, believing that the God who is fully in control is on our side and will help us if we wait on him.

Faithful living doesn’t mean missing out. It leads to flourishing and wholeness while self-seeking leads to a poverty of soul that’s ultimately matched by one’s external situation. Counter-intuitive though it is, living for oneself is self-destructive, while living for God gives true life. Since evildoers ultimately lose everything, they’re fools, their success a mere blip on the screen—nothing to envy. Moving in tandem with God often means patiently waiting on him, but we ultimately gain everything we long for and more, which is true success.

Looking back on his life, David shares what he’s learned about walking with God. Waiting for God to give him the kingdom he’d promised him years before, waiting while Saul plotted his murder, must have seemed really dumb. David had many other options open to him. But throughout his long wait, God not only protected and provided for him—he also released him to live graciously, generously, till Saul finally came crashing down and David was vindicated.

The “land” (Heb. eretz) becomes whatever God wants us to trust him for, including the whole “earth,” the other meaning of the Hebrew word (cf. Mt. 5:5). We take it by faith. Thus, the meekness verse 11 speaks of involves actively waiting to receive something, refusing to take it in any other way than God chooses to give it. David modelled this repeatedly in his response to Saul. As David says, God ultimately gives all who delight in him what their hearts truly desire.

Prayer:

Jesus, keep me from abandoning my storm-tossed bark to join the self-seekers on the Titanic. Let me delight in you and live life out of your rich bounty. Help me to believe you’re really in control and trust that—no matter what else happens—you’ll never let go of my hand. Amen.

In your free moments today, meditate on these words:

Make YHWH your joy and delight
and he’ll give you all that your heart desires.

When alternate realities collide

By ignoring God, we give in to evil, which wreaks havoc in both our lives and the lives of others. David chooses rather to submit to God and experience the love that holds the cosmos together.

A psalm of David, YHWH’s servant.

¹ Deep in evildoers’ hearts
rebellion calls to them
and with no fear of God
they’ve got nothing to restrain them.
² In their blind conceit
they think their sin
won’t ever be caught and condemned.
³ The words flowing from their mouths
are evil distortions
because they’ve deserted wisdom and goodness.
⁴ They lie awake in bed
plotting tomorrow’s dark schemes
commit to walking the wrong path
and make no effort to resist evil.

⁵ But your love, YHWH
reaches to the heavens
your faithfulness stretches to the clouds.
⁶ Your justice is like the mighty mountains
your judgments like the ocean deep.
You sustain people and animals alike, YHWH.

⁷ How precious your love, O God
that Adam’s sons and Eve’s daughters
should find shelter in the shadow of your wings!
⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house
and drink freely from your Eden-fresh river.
⁹ For you are the source of life
and in your light we see light.

 ¹⁰ Keep on showing mercy to all who know you
and faithfulness to those who love you.
¹¹ Don’t let arrogant feet crush me
or wicked hands exclude me.
¹² Behold!
Those who made evil their trade
lie face down, overthrown
never to rise again.

David’s world was just as full of hatred and violence as ours today. Both pagan and sometimes Israelite armies wanted David dead. Here he clearly contrasts the evildoers’ character with that of God, before weaving the two themes together in his closing prayer. And bracingly honest though the psalm is, it’s also brimful of hope.

Considering God’s purposes irrelevant, self-seekers are constantly drawn to evil. With no fear of God, they assure themselves they’ll never be caught and punished. So they don’t resist evil. They thus become fools, as evil takes shape in thoughts, words, and deeds that distort reality and wreak destruction in their lives and the lives of others.

But, says David, YHWH’s boundless love holds the universe together. His faithfulness dwarfs all the evildoers’ treachery. His determination and ability to set our world to rights are indomitable, his judgments unfathomable. Though self-seekers assert their self-sufficiency, God in fact sustains all life—their lives included.

Biblically, the temple is God’s earthly residence, from which he provides lavishly for his people. But in another sense, the whole world was created to be his temple, and he provides for all in it. He gives life and light to all humanity. He  provides shelter, provision, and life to all in his household, and the light of his face lights up their faces especially.

With Eden in mind throughout, David knows evil will either crush him or be crushed. So he asks God to continue to show his people mercy and faithfulness and protect him from his enemies’ attempts to crush and disenfranchise him. And so sure is he that God will act on his behalf that he can already picture his enemies’ downfall.

Prayer:

Whenever I think evil has the upper hand, I reduce you to my size, Lord. But you have the whole world in your hands. Help me to love freely, boldly—as you do—and to live wisely. Deliver me from evil and shelter me always in the shadow of your wings. Amen.

In your free moments, meditate on these words:

Your love, YHWH
reaches to the heavens
your faithfulness stretches to the clouds.

Against oppression

Serpentine forces drive evildoers to oppress the vulnerable. Against such oppressors, David cries to the God who has promised he will one day destroy all evil.

A David psalm.

¹ Do battle with those who attack me, YHWH
fight against those who fight against me.
² Take up shield and armor and defend me.
³ Wield spear and battleaxe against my stalkers
and say to my soul, “I am your victory!”
⁴ Bewilder and mortify those out to kill me.
Turn back in confusion
those plotting my downfall.
⁵ Blow them away like chaff in the wind
with YHWH’s angel driving them back!
⁶ Make their path dark and slippery
with YHWH’s angel hot on their heels!
⁷ Because they dug a pit for me, unprovoked
and for no reason, spread a net for me.
⁸ So now let havoc strike them without warning
and the trap they set catch them instead
throwing them headlong into their own pit.
⁹ Then I’ll rejoice in YHWH
and celebrate his deliverance.
¹⁰ Every bone in my body will cry out
“Who is like you, YHWH
who rescues the helpless
from those who overpower them
the poor and needy
from those who ravage them?”

¹¹ Vicious witnesses stand up
bringing charges against me
and grilling me about crimes I know nothing of.
¹² They repay me evil for good
leaving me devastated.
¹³ But when they were sick
I wore sackcloth and humbled myself by fasting.
I prayed and bowed my head low.
¹⁴ I grieved as if for a dear friend or brother
doubled over as if mourning for my own mother.
¹⁵ But the moment I stumbled
they gathered in glee
gathered against me.
Riffraff I didn’t even know appeared
and endlessly savaged me.
¹⁶ They shower me with profanities
and gnash their teeth at me.
¹⁷ How long, YHWH
will you stand by and watch?
Rescue me from their attacks
save my one-and-only life from these lions!
¹⁸ I will thank you in the great congregation
and praise you before the vast assembly.

¹⁹ Don’t let my treacherous foes
celebrate my destruction
or those who hate me for no reason
wink at each other behind my back.
²⁰ Never talking peace
they invent all sorts of lies
about the land’s peace lovers.
²¹ Mouths gaping, they accuse me:
“Aha! We saw it with our own eyes!”
²² But you saw what happened too, YHWH
so now is not the time to keep quiet, Lord.
Don’t distance yourself from me.
²³ Wake up and come defend me!
Take up my cause, my Lord YHWH.
²⁴ Vindicate me, YHWH my God
in keeping with your justice
and don’t let my enemies revel in my ruin.
²⁵ Don’t let them say to themselves
“Yes! Just what we wanted!”
Don’t let them exclaim
“We ate him alive!”
²⁶ Humiliate and confound
those who celebrate my misfortune.
Cover with shame and disgrace
all who promote themselves at my expense.
²⁷ Then all who long to see me vindicated
will shout and cheer.
Give them constant cause to say
“Praise YHWH
who loves to see his servant flourish!”
²⁸ Then I will talk about your justice
and sing your praises all day long.

David is clearly dealing with treacherous enemies here, presumably Saul and his backers. Even the worst tyrants feel the need to “justify” their elimination of perceived threats. Sometimes they find a legal pretext for liquidating them and try them in absentia. Saul doubtless did this to David, whether formally or not. The entire nation heard whatever imaginary crimes Saul’s false witnesses charged David with. But running for his life, David had no way to defend himself publicly.

Saul’s injustice here was more egregious since David wasn’t just Saul’s son-in-law, but also his most loyal subject. David could easily have led a palace coup when Saul was ill, but instead David demonstrated his deep concern and prayed for Saul’s recovery. Now Saul hunts him down like an animal, repaying evil for good.

David urges God to vindicate him and drive away those bent on killing him. Anyone shocked by David’s calls for divine judgment should recall that, for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven, he must set things right in the world, which means battling evildoers determined to fight to the death. Whenever we pray the Lord’s prayer, we implicitly ask God to do that.

False witnesses claim they saw David commit crimes he’s astonished to hear of. So he calls God to attest to what he saw. Linking this lament to Psalm 34 is David’s awareness that, besides being his only hope of victory, YHWH loves to help the helpless. This makes David marvel at his one-of-a-kind God.

David longs to tell faithful Israelites about God’s rescue so they can join him in celebrating God’s astonishing goodness. That will restore David’s honor before all those who currently consider him disgraced. Like David, we all have enemies—at least dark powers who, though unknown to us, are bent on destroying us. Hence, David’s prayer is for us too.

Prayer:

There’s no one like you, Jesus, who fully identified with the oppressed and who will one day right every wrong. Deliver the humble from evil. Lift them up and humble their oppressors. May your will be done on earth as in heaven, for the glory of your name. Amen.

During your free moments today, pray this prayer:

How long, YHWH
will you stand by and watch?
Rescue me from their attacks
save my one-and-only life from these lions!