Thursday, December 12, 2013

Waiting for God to Work

Psalm 52
English Standard Version (ESV)
To the choirmaster. A Maskil[a] of David, when(A)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
    The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
Your (B)tongue plots destruction,
    like (C)a sharp razor, you (D)worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good,
    and (E)lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
You love all words that devour,
    O deceitful tongue.
But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and (F)tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from (G)the land of the living. Selah
The righteous shall (H)see and fear,
    and shall (I)laugh at him, saying,
“See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but 
(J)trusted in the abundance of his riches
    and sought refuge in his own destruction!”[b]
But I am like (K)a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, 
(L)for it is good,
    in the presence of the (M)godly.

I believe this may need a little bit of background information from I Samuel 21 and 22.  I would encourage to read it.  David was on the run from Saul because Saul thought David was going to kill him and take over his throne.  David, however, was faithful to God who had appointed Saul to be king of Israel and he had no intentions of killing Saul.  He knew that God would remove Saul in due time.  Saul on the other hand desperately tried to protect the throne thinking he knew better than God. 

One day God told David, through the prophet Gad, to leave his stronghold and go into the land of Judah.  Now I might have started arguing with God about this time but David listened and went.  He confided in the priest, Ahimelech who gave him holy bread to eat and the sword from the slaying of Goliath.  Because of this the king feared his life even more and had Ahimelech and his family killed.
David recognized the wrong actions of the king but yet he would not kill the king, although he had plenty of opportunity, because he recognized that it was God who anointed Saul as king and it would be God who would take that honor away from him. I think I would have reasoned that God gave me the opportunity so I should seize it.  This just goes to show that even if opportunities come our way we should not always jump on them if it is not a decision that would honor God.  If David would have killed the king, the supporters of the king would have been angry and the kingdom would have been divided because of the actions of David. 

Although David was ready for God to work and put him on the throne he waited for the Lord and rested in the assurance that God loves Him.  Just like David we can live in that assurance.  No matter how long we have to wait to see the wicked fall, we know that God is at work because He loves us.  We need to surround ourselves with righteous people who have that same assurance and seek Him with all our hearts.

Seeking Him with all my heart,


Sheila 

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