3/7/2012 8:23:29 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Look Within
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 55:1-6
Message of the verses: We will look at Psalm 55 this morning and begin by looking at several introductions and then see how far we can go in this psalm.
“The occasion of this psalm was either the persecution of Saul, or the conspiracy of Absalom. Some think it was written when David understood that the inhabitants of Keilah would deliver him into the hands of Saul, #1Sa 23:12,13; and others when the Ziphites attempted a second time to do the same, #1Sa 26:1; but since a single person is spoken of that magnified himself against him, #Ps 55:12,13; and Ahithophel seems to be designed; it may be thought rather to be written on account of Absalom’s rebellion, and Ahithophel’s counsel against him; who is considered by many Christian interpreters as a type of Judas, the betrayer of our Lord; and, indeed, there are many things in this psalm, if not the whole, which may be truly applied to Christ.” (John Gill)
“Subject: It would be idle to fix a time, and find an occasion for this Psalm with any dogmatism. It reads like a song of the time of Absalom and Ahithophel. It was after David had enjoyed peaceful worship, {#Ps 55:14} when he was or had just been a dweller in a city, {#Ps 55:9-11} and when he remembered his former roamings in the wilderness. Altogether it seems to us to relate to that mournful era when the King was betrayed by his trusted counselor. The spiritual eye ever and anon sees the Son of David and Judas, and the chief priests appearing and disappearing upon the glowing canvas of the Psalm.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“It’s likely that this psalm was written early in Absalom’s rebellion (2Samuel 15-17), when David was still in Jerusalem (vv.9-11) and the revolt was gathering momentum. If so, then the ‘friend’ of verses 12-14 and 20-21 had to be David’s counselor Ahithophel who had sided with Absalom. Many commentators claim that the king and his officers didn’t know about Ahithophel’s treachery until after David had fled the city (2Sam. 15:31), but this isn’t clearly stated in Scripture. David was a man with keen discernment, and it is difficult to believe that his closest advisor’s treachery was hidden from him. If this psalm was David’s prayer while still in Jerusalem, then his prayer in 1Samuael 15:31 is simply a repetition of verse 9. The psalm reveals four possible approaches to handling the painful problems and battles of life.” (Warren Wiersbe)
Let us first of all take a look at 2Samuel 15:31, “Now someone told David, saying, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." And David said, "O LORD, I pray, make the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness.’” It runs in my mind that Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba, which could be the reason that he betrayed David. At any rate when his counsel was not accepted, like Judas, he hanged himself.
I wish at this time to quote from my Spiritual Diary from October 9, 2010 in which I commented on 2Samuel 15:31-37: “This section shows more evidence that David was a man after God’s own heart. I am sure that this may have been David’s darkest hour, but David did not lose his faith in the Lord for in this section there is seen worship and there is seen prayer and there is seen an answer to prayer. In fact this prayer and answer to prayer may have been what saved David’s life and allowed him to come back as king in Israel again after the defeat of Absalom.
“I can see another aspect from this situation that David finds himself in and that is the work of Satan, for it can be seen that Absalom was doing the work of Satan and he probably did not even know that he was doing that. The reason that I say this is because that God was going to use the line of David and then through Solomon and perhaps even Nathan to continue the line to the Messiah and so if Absalom could overcome David and become king then that line would have been stopped and this is why I believe that Absalom was doing the work of Satan and he was not even realizing it.
“David prayed that Ahitophel’s counsel would be foolishness to Absalom and then a man named Hushai, who was a fiend and counselor to David came to see David and then David asked Hushai to return to Jerusalem in order to give bad counsel to Absalom and then to report it to the priests whom David had already sent back.” I mentioned Nathan in the second paragraph of this commentary and that Nathan was one of David’s sons and not the prophet Nathan that came to David after he sinned with Bathsheba. It is believed by many that the birth line of Mary, the human mother of Jesus, came through Nathan and that Joseph’s line came through Solomon. Matthew genealogy is seen by many to be the line of Joseph, while Luke’s genealogy is seen as Mary’s.
“We Can Look Within at Our Feelings” (vv. 1-5): “1 ¶ «For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.» Give ear to my prayer, O God; And do not hide Yourself from my supplication. 2 Give heed to me and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted, 3 Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the pressure of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me And in anger they bear a grudge against me. 4 My heart is in anguish within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fear and trembling come upon me, And horror has overwhelmed me.”
This first point that Dr. Wiersbe uses states that when trouble comes the first thing we have to do is look within. David was surely doing this as he begins this psalm by asking God not to hide from him and to give heed to him and answer his prayer. I believe the reason that he did this was because this whole incident that he was involved in was the result of David’s sin with Bathsheba along with the killing of her husband Uriah. Nathan the prophet told him that these kind of things would happen as a result of David’s sin. Another thing that David may have been looking back at was the fact that he was not really a good father for that was another part of why Absalom was rebelling. Absalom’s sister had been raped by her half brother and eventually Absalom had killed the half-brother which caused him to run away and live with his grandfather on his mother’s side who was a king, which was another problem because that meant that one of David’s wives was a Gentile. Having more than one wife was also not what God intended for His children. You can see all of the sinful things that David may have been looking back at, but what David knew was that God was gracious and also God had promised David a dynasty that would last until Messiah came. Some may asked the question why God uses sinful people and of course the answer is that is all He has to work with. I also see Romans 8:28 here as I look at this section for God surely used this situation (all things) to work together for good. I also seen Romans 5:20b here too: “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “He (David) felt like everything was falling apart and there was not hope. It’s natural to look at our feelings and express our fears, but that isn’t the way to solve the problems.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that I am like others who when they look at Romans 8:28 which states, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them,” (NLT) think that perhaps the more I sin the more that God will work things out for my good. That, of course, is not true for it is because we love God that we do not want to sin, however we do sin and we do have bad things happen to us and when this happens we can confidently, by faith, believe that God will work them out for our good and for His glory after all we are His children and He loves us so much that He sent His only Son to take our place on the cross so that He could purchase us from the slave market of sin that we might be His children and in place of our sin Christ gave us His righteousness so that when God looks at us He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Praise the Lord for His grace, mercy, and love, and especially for the salvation He has purchased for me.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
3/7/2012 9:23:04 AM
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