Facing the Storm
"You will know the truth
and the truth will set you free."
Many of us have heard the story of David and Goliath. The tale of a young
shepherd boy who killed a 9 foot giant with a sling and triggered a great
military victory for Israel.
Eventually, David became king of Israel. Lesser known are the events of
his life between his victory and his crowning as king. David’s courage
(based upon his faith in God) gained victory after victory in battle
against the enemies of Israel. His growing popularity also gained him the
enmity of Israel's king Saul who came to see David as a threat to his
throne.
Saul became so jealous and fearful of David that he became unbalanced and
engaged in a years' long quest to kill the young warrior. As a result
David was forced to run. For roughly 13 years the future king of Israel
and “man after God’s own heart” as the bible calls him was a fugitive,
living in caves, in the desert, in mountain crags and eventually leading a
band of misfits and outlaws until he was forced to flee the country and
live as a mercenary soldier among Israel’s dreaded enemy, the Philistines.
Time after time David escaped death by a hair’s breadth. At one point the city in which he lived was sacked and raiders carried off the women, the children and all the livestock of David and all his followers. At this point even his own men threatened to kill him. This was a young man destined to lead Israel. God said so. Yet his family, his wives and children had been carried off , his own men, warriors whom he led, now threatened him with death. And Saul still hunted him. David was at rock bottom. So what was his response to all of this? Did he blame God for his ongoing misfortunes? Most likely, that's what I would have done. But I'm not David. Rather he turned back to God and trusted Him for comfort and encouragment. David knew the meaning of suffering. More important, he knew where to turn in times of danger, stress or sorrow; and as Israel’s poet he wrote many psalms as a direct expression of his experience and of his abiding confidence that only in God could he find safety and rest.
Psalm 27
Of David.
1 The
Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom
shall I fear?
The Lord is
the stronghold of my life—
of
whom shall I be afraid?
2 When
the wicked advance against me
to
devour
me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who
will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my
heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even
then I will be confident.
4 One
thing I ask from the Lord,
this
only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord
all
the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the
Lord
and
to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of
trouble
he
will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of
his sacred tent
and
set me high upon a