#DailyDevotion Will You Wait For The LORD To Deliver You?
Psalm 54 O God, save me by Your name, and by Your power get me justice. 2Listen to my prayer, O God, and hear what I say. 3Strangers attack me, and tyrants try to kill me — they don’t keep God before them.
The ascription to this psalm says, “by David when the people of Ziph went and told Saul, ‘Isn’t David hiding among us?’” The people of Ziph twice told Saul David was hiding in their territory, once in 1 Samuel 23 and then in chapter 26. We do not hear of Ziph again after the second time. The second time Saul came there looking for him. It is at this time David sneaks into Saul’s tent and steals Saul’s spear and water jug instead of using the spear to kill Saul who was trying to kill him. David left it to the LORD to take care of Saul in the LORD’s own time.
So it is at this time David prays this psalm. David seeks to be saved by the LORD’s name. It is His name that David trusts. The LORD made a promise to David to put him on Saul’s throne over Israel and David trusted the LORD to do it. He trusted the LORD to give him justice. While David could strike down Saul who wanted to kill him, he left it to the LORD to give him justice.
The strangers here are most likely the Ziphites who apparently were loyal to Saul. The tyrant is obviously Saul. Because they are seeking innocent blood, they don’t keep God before them. If they kept God before them, they would not be trying to kill David who had done nothing to take Saul’s throne away from him. Saul was jealous because the LORD was with David and helped him to succeed in everything he did. He thought David was like himself and would try to steal the throne away from him. If, indeed, Saul had kept God before him, the LORD wouldn’t have promised David the throne after Saul.
Are you willing to let the LORD save you by His name? Are you willing to let God give you justice when people cause you trouble? Will you keep God before you or will you seek vengeance?
4But look, God is my Help! The Lord supports me. 5May He pay back evil to my enemies. With Your truth destroy them!
God was David’s help. He believed Adonai (Lord) supported him. We may have problems praying a curse be upon our enemies as David prays here because Jesus who is Adonai tells us to bless our enemies. We may pray this prayer though because Jesus prays this prayer for us at the right hand of God the Father. We join Jesus in the prayer. When we pray this prayer, God is going to do one of two things. Either He will pay back your enemies and destroy them with His truth or He will destroy your enemies by making them your friends. If they repent of their evil against you and become your friends, have not your enemies been destroyed? Either way, you are leaving vengeance up to God and not exacting it yourself as He has commanded.
6Then I will gladly sacrifice to You and praise Your name, O LORD, because it is good; 7for You have rescued me from every trouble, and my eye can gaze now at my enemies.
So when the LORD delivers us, we gladly offer up sacrifices of thanks and praise to the name of the LORD. We should see how the LORD has rescued us from every trouble and not fear when they come against us. In Christ Jesus, we shall look upon our enemies-sin, death and the devil and see them utterly defeated on the day of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Heavenly Father, give us faith to trust in you when people are at their worst. Deliver us from their hands so we may give you thanks and praise. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.