GETTING ON TOP OF THINGS

(Meditation on Psalm 59)

J. Alec Motyer

THE heading of this psalm tells us that it refers to the time "when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill David." There is no reason for this heading to be in small print, for it is part of the Hebrew text as much as anything else in the Scriptures. In Hebrew the psalm headings always form the first verse of the psalm, and in that our versions all differ from the original.

The psalm refers to those early days of Saul's jealous enmity against David, who had to flee and become first an outlaw and then an outcast. Saul spoke to all his servants that they should kill David (1 Samuel 19:1) and then tried to kill him himself. "David fled and escaped that night, and Saul sent messengers unto David's house to watch him and to slay him in the morning", and eventually [72/73] Michal let David down through the window and he got away.

It seems that David was involved in a prolonged period of animosity and danger to his life, and the psalm describes the time of surveillance when men came every night to watch his house. The history describes a sudden crisis but the psalm tells us of the time when he could see lurking figures around his house every night who disappeared in the daytime to avoid being seen as trying to kill David who was a very popular person. So in the daytime they lay in ambush but in the evening they returned to resume their watch.

At some point in that process, David's nerve failed him and he escaped. Was he right to flee? We are not told. This psalm, however, reveals him as living under the constant threat of lurking figures who melted away every morning and then returned every evening. It was a nerve-wracking experience. Here we are given a view of David's mind and attention to prayer and told how in the thick of it he found a new security in God.

"O my strength, I will watch for thee" (v.9). His enemies were on the watch for him but he was on the watch for his God. While he was being hemmed in by them, he hemmed himself into God. We note one word which comes in a number of times in this matter of security. It speaks of the high place of refuge which he found in God. "Set me on high" (v.1), "God is my high tower" (v.9). "God is my high tower, the God of my mercy" (v.17). We use the word "top security" mainly in reference to keeping criminals safely in prison, but David uses it to speak of the safety of the believer in God. God is a refuge for him and mercy, or steadfast love, is like a wall round about him. The abiding thought is that David was in a situation where life could so easily have got on top of him, but he so knew God that it was he who got on top of his enemies. This is a view of life which we need to cultivate as Christians; when we get into a situation which threatens to get on top of us, we may come into the place in the Lord where we are on top of things.

So the message of the psalm is "Getting on top of things". It consists of two prayers with two consequent meditations.

i. David's First Prayer

First of all he cries, "Deliver me", for he is surrounded by wicked and bloodthirsty men who lie in ambush for his soul, and then he insists that it is not due to any fault of his: "Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord" (v.3). He calls attention to the real danger of his foes, and then itemises them, asking God to see things as he sees them. He then claims that in this particular matter he has no consciousness of wrong.

When we read such claims in the psalms, claims to righteousness, we must realise that David is not talking about sinless perfection, but is facing specific matters. Here David is dealing with a particular charge against him, and in this connection he maintains that there is no truth in the accusations. He is in the same position as Nehemiah was when he had to deal with false rumours about his claiming to be king in Judah: "I sent saying, there are no such things done as thou sayest ...!" (Nehemiah 6:8). David had a perfectly clear conscience as to his behaviour about Saul and was able to affirm that so far as the accusations about disloyalty were concerned he had not offended. He had not transgressed -- he had not put a foot wrong -- and he had not sinned -- in his heart there were no wrong thoughts. He was clear before God, clear before men and clear in his own conscience. That is a most desirable condition to be in. It reminds us of Paul's words how he had lived before God in all good conscience (Acts 24:16).

Having made known his need, David now appeals to the Lord for the fullness of divine aid: "Awake thou to help me ... Arise to visit ..." (vv.4 & 5). This is a bold way of speaking to God, "Awake ... and look" is an approach which calls upon God to rouse Himself out of sleep, for the matter is very urgent and this is David's way of expressing urgency. What he really said was, "Awake thou to meet me". David really believes that in answer to prayer that God will take the matter up personally, not so much sending forces from heaven but Himself coming into the situation.



What is more, he speaks of God arising to visit all the nations, so enlarging the matter from the narrow scale of the personal and individual to the plea that He will act on a worldwide scale to come and settle everything. David was so clear in conscience over this matter of Saul that he was willing to stand before God as in the final judgment. Something else may have passed through his mind, as it certainly does in our case, namely, [73/74] a sense of such oppression with particular difficulties as to groan for the Second Coming. Such a desire may be frivolous, just as a solution for some immediate difficulty, but it can be very real. In David's case it suggests a desire that God would put a final end to all the wretchedness of this wretched world.

ii. David's First Meditation

Following this prayer David makes a striking contrast between dogs and the Lord. The dogs were Saul's servants, ready enough to try to promote their own interests at somebody else's expense. This happens under any leadership but particularly if the leader is weak and men see opportunities of currying favour with the leader. We imagine that every evening David and Michal wondered whether they would have a peaceful night, but as Michal drew aside the curtain in the darkened room, she would once more report, "No, they have come back again". These were the dogs who were snarling, "belching out with their mouth" (v.6). The Bible so often condemns sins of speech. Never mind the swords in their hands, they have swords in their lips.

But alongside of this force, there is that of the Lord, which makes the other seem so futile: "But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision". David has become enlarged in his awareness of the Lord's power. Since He is Head over all the nations, how pitiful is the plight of those who think that they are mighty but who are so feeble in comparison with God. We see what is happening. When a man turns to the Lord in prayer, hope comes into the situation. It is no longer "them" against "me"; it is now "them" against the Lord and me. David's great resource was in prayer. When he spread the matter out before the Lord, he had a new focus on the situation. It is always so when the Lord is brought in.

"O my Strength, I will watch for thee, for God is my high tower" (v.9) They are watching for me, but I am watching for the Lord my strength; my eye is not for them but for the One who is my top-security. He is the God of my mercy and will go before me (v.10). He is my loving God and He will be the first to face the problem as He "prevents" or goes before me. He will always come first. He who comes to meet me has anticipated all my need and has everything ready for it. Even before I have told Him about the need, He has every provision already made for it. This is our comfort. Our loving God will anticipate our every need.

iii. David's Second Prayer

In this prayer David asks for a plain outworking of the divine moral providence. He asks God so to act in relation to these enemies that everyone can see His moral rule of the universe working out before their very eyes. "Slay them not, lest my people forget; scatter them ..." (v.11). If God acts swiftly, it will soon be all over and done with, and people will forget about it. David reasons in this way because he has a concern for the people of God. He calls them his people because he has them in his heart and knows that he is the anointed king of Israel and therefore concerned for the people's welfare. He wants his people to learn that it is a holy God who lives and reigns in this unruly world of men.

There is nothing vindictive in his prayer. He wants a just outworking of judgment on the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips. Nowhere does David ask God to avenge him; it is sin that must be punished. His concern is for the holiness and law of God and also for His name.

Note this further reference to the sins of the lips. We rarely think that sins of speech are as important as the Bible makes them. The guardianship of the tongue is one of the first duties of believers. Sins of speech come well up towards the top on God's list of offences.

iv. David's Second Meditation

Here we have mention again of dogs: "At evening let them return, let them make a noise like a dog" (v.14). They are again contrasted with the Lord. This time David speaks of them as night scavengers, wandering up and down for food and not finding it. There is no satisfaction for such people. Verse 15 can rightly be rendered: "As for them ..." while verse 16 begins: "As for me ..." This time David renews the contrast with a new thought. His first prayer focused his clear sense of need, but this second prayer has brought to him a new spirit of confidence. In spite of the fact that as yet nothing has happened, his prayer has wrought an inward change in him. [74/75]

"As for me, I will sing of thy strength, of thy strength, yes, I will sing aloud ..." (v.16). Everything may seem to be the same. He has prayed, but the prayer appears not to have been answered. In spite of the prayers, they came every night. The world, of course, would say that prayer has not been answered, but David shows that there is more than one way of prayer being answered. The answer came in David's own spirit, and the Lord enabled him to rejoice in the midst of the danger. As for them, they are still with us, but as for me who could well have been bowed down in the situation, inwardly I am transformed and outwardly I no longer groan but sing, yes, and I sing aloud. Imagine the mortification of his lurking enemies as they melted away in the morning to hear David singing at the top of his voice! So he concludes with triumphant praises to the strong and loving Lord who is his top-security.

May I sum up with three points which come to us as the fruits of the harvest of this psalm.

1. The Practical Efficacy of the Way of Prayer

When we are in desperate need we can voice our predicament in prayer. Our arguments are rightly, "Because of Your promises" or "Because of Your Son", but they are wholly valid if they are "Because of my need". Like David, we need assurance on this point. I do not think that we have shaken ourselves from the world's estimate of prayer as a useless exercise. It mocks Christians and demands to know what prayer has to do with our problems. Well, when David prayed it was the first move towards victory.

2. Justification by Faith is a Practical Way of Life

We naturally think of justification by faith as the way of being right with God through Jesus, but as a matter of fact the first appearance as related to Abraham had to do with a need for children. For him it had three features, and so it has for us. The first is a recognition that we are helpless, the second that in relation to that helplessness God has made a promise and then, thirdly, we believe God's promise rather than our own hopelessness. So David was faced with a grimly practical situation where enemies were out for his life. He won his way through by resting on the promises that God would be his top-security. Trusting in God is a practical way of life.

3. The Practical Importance of a Clear Vision of God

Such a vision may sound remote and nothing to do with our daily problems. Even Christians will argue about heavenly minded people being no earthly use, but the Bible says that you will be no earthly use until you are heavenly minded. Prayer is practical. A clear vision of God is also practical.

At the close of his song David repeats the blessed truth that his high security is the God of his mercy, the God of unfailing love. Do we need top-security? We find it in the open arm's of our ever-loving God

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Vol. 17, No. 4, July - Aug. 1988