Faithfulness

 Psalm 57

English Standard Version (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Do Not Destroy. A^(B)Miktam^[a] of David, when he fled from Saul, in ^(C)the cave.

57 ^(D)Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul ^(E)takes refuge;
in ^(F)the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    ^(G)till the storms of destruction pass by.
² I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who ^(H)fulfills his purpose for me.
^3 (I)He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame ^(J)him who tramples on me.Selah
^(K)God will send out ^(L)his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

⁴ My soul is in the midst of ^(M)lions;
    I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose ^(N)teeth are spears and arrows,
    whose ^(O)tongues are sharp swords.

^5 (P)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

⁶ They set ^(Q)a net for my steps;
    my soul was ^(R)bowed down.
They ^(S)dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
^7 (T)My heart is ^(U)steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
^{8     (V)}Awake, ^(W)my glory!^[b]
Awake, ^(X)O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
⁹ I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
¹⁰ For your ^(Y)steadfast love is great to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.

^11 (Z)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2057&version=ESV)

Have you ever found yourself, like David, trapped in a cave?  Maybe it wasn’t a literal cave but a place where you felt trapped.  You couldn’t run but you wanted to.  You were afraid of traps and snares that might eat you up.  Maybe it was a job or even a marriage that you felt trapped in.  Those that you had trusted had let you down, those who you had loved and honored had suddenly turned against you and you had nowhere to go.  What did you do?

As we look at these verses we see David quite literally stuck in a cave hiding for his own life.  He had honored King Saul all his life.  He had even fought in many battles to protect his honor.  He had prayed for him, sang to him to calm him, and befriended his son Johnathon.  He was not against Saul but Saul was very much afraid of David, afraid he would overthrow his kingdom.  When in fact the kingdom was not Saul’s, nor David’s, it was the Lord’s.  So what did David do, besides hide in a cave?  He cried out to the Lord. He put His faith in the God.  He recognized that God and only God had the power to save David and then he waited on the Lord.

Our hearts need to be steadfast towards the Lord.  When we have hearts that don’t sway from Him we will find peace and contentment in times of trouble.  Not to say that troubles won’t come but we can rest assured that we have a God who will not trap us, throw snares at us, or hurt us.  We have a God who has a steadfast love towards us.  The question is where is our love?  Is it honoring God or is it honoring us?  When everything is stripped from us and only God remains are we bowing to Him or are we blaming Him?  How are we truly honoring God?  His steadfast love remains forever but who are we giving our love to?

Seek Him and know that only He is worthy.  He is faithful, are we?

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila