WEEK 2 ● Day 4
READ PSALM 56
The wonderful thing about the Bible is that God can reveal things to us through it that cause us to see His work and His people differently than we might have originally. It’s good news for us, because that means God is never doing just one thing in our own stories. He’s always at work, unearthing and reshaping and refining.
I found myself pondering this as I went through Psalm 56 again. This whole time, we’ve been talking about David pretending to be a madman, but what shades of gray do we discover in Psalm 56 that might show us something different about his state of mind?
1. Flip to Psalm 56:4 in your translation and write it here:
So I’m a bit confused here, and maybe you are too. On the surface of the story in 1 Samuel, as explored in the first day this week, it looks like David is reacting purely out of fear. When faced with the threat of something bad happening, he behaves like a crazy person rather than owning up to who he is and trusting God to intervene. But in this verse, David tells us how much he trusts God and won’t be afraid, even saying, “What can flesh do to me?” (ESV). Am I missing something?
2. How do you reconcile David’s actions and words? Do they correspond or conflict?
David’s words in Psalm 56 seem awfully bold for a man seemingly driven to desperation by fear. What if he was actually relying on God to the point that even his seemingly crazy reaction emerged from that relationship? What if God whispered into his ear, “I know this sounds nuts, but I want you to act crazy. Really do it up big, and you will be let go”?
3. Do you think there’s any chance God is the one who prompted David to act in this way? Why or why not?
Because we’re not told within the pages of Scripture what put this idea in David’s head, all we have is speculation. But nothing he did went against anything the Lord has asked of us. David didn’t lie; he simply didn’t answer. (Check out Luke 23:9 for another example of this!)
Sometimes God asks us to do things that seem crazy. When God asked my husband and me to bring two more children home from Ethiopia —after we had just moved to a new state, and all of our finances were wrapped up in breathing new life into a home deemed “uninhabitable” by the bank —I certainly felt like it was crazy. Where would we find the money to adopt them? He also asked me to start waking up at 4:00 a.m. mere weeks after we became a family of eight because He wanted me to start writing a book.[1] That, too, sounded nuts! Just as nuts as when the Lord asked my parents to move our family to Guatemala in the mid-1990s during a massive time of guerrilla warfare and civil unrest. Sometimes God calls us to things that we don’t understand because He sees the whole picture, while we see only a tiny portion.
How we respond when God asks us to do something crazy depends on how much we trust our Lord and Savior. Can we trust Him enough to answer yes when His promptings seem bonkers? David faced the same question, starting when God prompted him —a child! without armor and weapons! —to go up against Goliath, a nine-foot warrior wielding a spear.
4. Share about a time God has asked you (or someone you know) to do something that sounded nutty to the rest of the world:
5. How did you (or the person you know) understand that the prompting came from God?
Let’s look at Psalm 56 again. Underline each time David uses the word trust, and circle any time he speaks in praise.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Interesting, huh? Despite David’s freaked-out reaction when he went to Gath, his reflection in this psalm doesn’t sound like he was scared spitless when he was recognized by the guards. I’d always read the story in 1 Samuel as David taking things into his own hands . . . but when we look at the fuller picture, stepping into the Psalms, we get a different perspective. There is no mention of doubt or disbelief that God is in control. Nothing that leans toward an apology, admittance of guilt, or lack of trust and mishandling a situation.
Before we wrap up for the day, let’s look at the last section in Psalm 56.
10 I trust in the Lord. And I praise him!
I trust in the Word of God. And I praise him!
11 What harm could man do to me?
With God on my side I will not be afraid of what comes.
My heart overflows with praise to God and for his promises.
I will always trust in him.
12 So I’m thanking you with all my heart,
with gratitude for all you’ve done.
I will do everything I’ve promised you, Lord.
13 For you have saved my soul from death
and my feet from stumbling
so that I can walk before the Lord
bathed in his life-giving light.
This was my yes as I faced the unknown with my son. Through months of ache and emotional torture, sorrow, rejection, and loss threatened to consume, and I begged God for healing and restoration. But in the midst of my cries of pain, I had to step toward Him, clinging to this truth: And if not, He is still good. I needed to pray for my son and praise the Lord for His goodness. I truly felt Him tell me that He would bring our son home to us, but He didn’t give any sort of time frame. I had no idea if that meant a year, a decade, or in heaven. I had to rest in Him in the face of the reality that I might never have my son back with me, close, healthy, and safe. And yet within that recognition, my eyes were opened to these questions:
- How much do I trust our God?
- And doesn’t He love my son even more than I do?
Though sometimes I felt more like I was going through the motions, I continued praising and praying, praying and praising —knowing that one day, His life-giving light would not only emit a light glow but also cast out all darkness.
Using Psalm 56 as inspiration, write your own psalm of praise surrounding your hard situation. How can you trust a good God through a painful or seemingly bad season?
Amen.