Sunday, May 17, 2009 pm
God Is My Helper
PSALM 54
Tonight we examine
another psalm of David in our ongoing series on the Psalms.
This is a short psalm in which David again shows his trust in
Jehovah God for deliverance.
Notable is that this was written early in his life – between the time
that he was fleeing from Saul.
In this psalm we will spend some time with the background and
then examine the psalm.
I.
Background
a.
The
superscription – like so
many of the psalms of David, this one was assigned to the Chief
Musician, to be incorporated into worship to God.
Both NKJV & NASU describe it as being on stringed instruments (Neginoth
– KJV). Like many of the
psalms, this one was set to music,
A contemplation of David (Maskil – NASU, Maschil – KJV).
BDB describes it as a poem, a song or poem of contemplation.
b.
The
Ziphites – The Ziphites
were inhabitants of the town of Ziph and its surrounding country.
They were located in the hill country of Judah near the Dead Sea.
They were Israelites (and probably of the tribe of Judah – the
city of Ziph is mentioned in Josh. 15:20 as one belonging to Judah).
Note that this would mean they were of the same tribe as David.
Yet what they are known for is their willingness to betray him to Saul.
The events that inspired this psalm are recorded in 1 Samuel 23 &
26 where TWICE, the Ziphites betrayed David to Saul. David is driven
into exile and continually fleeing from a mad (crazy) king Saul.
He hides in the Wilderness of Ziph (1 Sam. 23:14).
It is notable that while here David and Jonathan (Saul’s son) see
each other again and Jonathan make a covenant before the Lord (18).
But the Ziphites send message to Saul at Gibeah that David was
hiding in their country (19-20).
They INTENDED to help capture David and turn him over.
As a result of this they are BLESSED by Saul (21) having sought
his favor. David is forced
again to pack up and flee.
David is ALMOST caught, but because the Philistines were waging war Saul
was forced to back of his pursuit of David for a while (23:27-29).
THEN in 26:1 they AGAIN send to King Saul and betray David as being in
their area. This time we
read of David sparing the life of Saul a second time.
It was one or both of these occasions that caused David to pen the psalm
we are examining.
c.
Who
is your enemy? Before we
actually examine this psalm we want to notice something important.
David’s enemies on this occasion were HIS BRETHREN.
The Ziphites were a part of God’s chosen, yet they chose to
betray David for an ungodly cause.
The exact reason we are not told, but from 1 Samuel 23 it seems
that they sought favor with King Saul.
We know that as God’s people we are going to have enemies (2 Tim. 3:12,
Matt. 5:44, 5:10-12, etc.), but perhaps what breaks our hearts the most
is when those who OUGHT TO be behind us betray us to gain favor with the
ungodly of this world.
Jesus spoke of family members turning on one another (Matt. 10:34-39).
The Jewish leaders were willing to conspire with the enemy (Rome)
to get rid of Jesus – a fellow Jew.
Acts also records a number of occasions where they sided with
Rome to defeat Christians who had been their brethren. Sadly, it happens
today as well. Especially
between brethren who fall out of favor with one another and begin to
take sides and to bite and devour one another (Gal. 5:15).
Brethren can you see WHY the Lord so strongly calls for brethren to seek
unity? Our present issue is
a result of the lack of this unity and worldliness.
It is truly amazing the principles that some will give up to destroy
their enemies. But that is
what we have here! It
doesn’t get any sadder than this.
II.
The God David Appealed To
a.
He
is my Savior (1).
When we know God – His power and that He is in control, we can take
consolation in knowing that God can save us from anything (according to
His will)!
David’s appeal here is obviously physical (cf. 2 Sam. 22:3, “For
God is my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my
salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from
violence.”)
But we know that even more important is that He saves our soul
eternally. By His grace He
has given us everything we need to be saved (cf. John 3:16, Ephesians
2:1-10) and He will save all who obey the gospel and remain faithful to
Him.
1 Timothy 1:1 refers to God (the Father) as our Savior.
Titus 3:4 & Jude 25 also speak of God as our Savior, as do many other
verses.
(And of course, do not forget that Jesus is also God the Son)
b.
He
is my vindicator (1)
KJV and ASV use the word “judge” instead of vindicate.
The idea is that David is not afraid to stand before God because
he knows he will be vindicated or found right with Him.
His strength cannot be defeated by men (Romans 8:31, 37).
He can and will avenge those who belong to Him – Luke 18:7.
Perhaps in this life we will overcome, but for sure we know that
His judgment will be the great equalizer – 2 Thess. 1:3-10.
May we with ALL the trials and trouble we face keep this in mind.
c.
He
hears my prayers (2)
We know that David was a man of prayer.
He knew how to communicate with God.
We need to remember to pray to God as well.
Colossians 4:2 says, “Continue
earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”
Romans 12:12 tells us to continue “steadfastly
in prayer.”
David knew that God would answer him (though not always the way he
wanted). We have the same
promise if we are faithful to Him.
1 John5:14-15, “Now this is
the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything
according to His will, He
hears us. And if we know
that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
that we have asked of Him.”
When we are facing troubles let us always remember to go to God and cast
our cares upon Him –
1 Peter 5:7, Luke 18:1-8.
But don’t doubt! James 1:6.
d.
He
knows what I am going through
(3)
David was being treated unjustly.
As of yet he had done nothing seriously wrong.
Yet he knew that God knew and could help him.
At times we become frustrated when we see the prosperity of the wicked,
whether it be in society in general or against us personally.
We find ourselves in circumstances that are simply not fair and
the “bad guy is winning.”
But know this: God knows those who are His!
2 Timothy 2:19
There is nothing that anyone does in secret that He does not know about
– Psa. 139:4, Heb. 4:13
It will be dealt with – by Him, His way and in His time!
e.
He
is my helper, He is with those who uphold me (4)
On the first occasion as a result of the Ziphites, Saul almost caught
David, but he was called away to deal with the Philistines.
Could this be God helping deliver David?
Very possibly – David acknowledges it.
There are MANY examples in the Bible of those God helped.
Asking for God’s help ought to be more than mere words.
We must never forget that God is able to do what needs to be done
(consider James 1:6).
He really CAN help us. As
Paul said, “What persecutions I
endured – and out of the all the Lord delivered me.” 2 Tim. 3:11.
Psa. 34:19 says, “Many are the
afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
Now that is not to say we ought to “expect a miracle” as some teach, but
know that God can and does work according to His will and can help us.
Heb. 13:6 says,“So we may boldly
say, ‘the Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
The point to remember is this, “If
God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31)
f.
He
is God even of His enemies
(5).
Usually when we use speak of someone’s god we mean the one that they
follow (whether the ONE true God or something else).
But never forget that God IS God of ALL mankind – both those for Him and
against Him. Man thinks he
controls God – but he only does what God allows him to do.
The point is ALL will answer to Him. Romans 14:10-12 notes this fact.
Phil. 2:9-11 notes that every
knee shall bow and tongue confess Him.
The question is: When?
NOTE: When in vs. 1 David said, “Save me, O God,
by Your name” he was
acknowledging the power of God over all the earth.
III.
David’s Response To His God
a.
I
will freely sacrifice to You
(6)
i.
The idea
of sacrifice is to give something to God that is of value to you.
Under the Old Law, there were different types of sacrifices –
some by command but others were “free-will sacrifices” which means they
were given voluntarily and merely out of appreciation.
It was this type of sacrifice David is offering to God.
The ASV says here, “With a
freewill-offering will I sacrifice unto thee.”
ii.
When we
consider what God has done for us we ought to give back to Him freely
and above the minimum. Far
too many want to give God leftovers or what they think is just enough to
get by. That is not real
sacrifice and it is NOT gratitude for what He has done for us.
iii.
Romans
12:1-2, Hebrews 13:15, etc – call for us to freely give to God.
What does our giving – in all aspects of life – say about our
gratitude for what God has done for us?
b.
I
will praise Your name
(6-7).
i.
When you DO overcome, don’t
forget to praise God.
The idea of praise is to extol or magnify.
We express gratitude, in this case to God.
Over and over we have seen the psalmist offer praises to God.
When I think of praise, I don’t see something just done in private.
It is a willingness to let others know that you appreciate and
love your God. David praised
God publicly – we know BECAUSE He penned his words of praise in the
psalms.
Hebrews 2:12 tells us, “I will
declare your name to My brethren, in the midst of the assembly I will
sing praise to You.”
Again Heb. 13:15 speaks of the praise of our lips offered to Him.
1 Peter 1:7 speaks of our genuine faith which withstands testing by
fire, “May be found to praise,
honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
c.
Tell others about His greatness and work
(7)
i.
This is
what David told others as he praised God.
God had delivered him and SAVED him.
Do we tell others of the greatness of God and what He has done
for us?
ii.
1 Peter
2:9 describes us as a royal priesthood “that
you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light;”
When we put our
trust in God, in time His protection and care will become evident.
What will we do then?
Will we quietly realize that we have prospered (like the 9 lepers) or
will we seek out our God and bow before Him without shame and let others
know how much He has done for us? Truly God is a great God and worthy of
our praise at all times.
Will you let God
help you? Think about it!