Psalm 59: Watch

Have you ever had enough with a situation? Something that wouldn’t go away, that wouldn’t resolve. Someone that would not give up or move on, a trouble caused by no fault of your own. That’s where we find David in Psalm 59. The heading tells us that David wrote this Psalm from the experience of having is father-in-law, King Saul, send men to surround his house and kill him (I Samuel 19). By this time Saul had already tried to kill David. Saul had requested an unreasonable dowry for David to marry his daughter Michal, hoping that in the process of obtaining it David would be killed. He had ordered his servants and his son to kill him, he had hurled a spear at him while David sat playing the harp for the king and then, he sent men to surround David’s house and to kill him when they had opportunity. David’s wife, Saul’s daughter, helped him escape, but as David was fleeing for his life he had to be wondering, “How much is enough? How much longer do I have to put up with this?” Or my personal favorite, “What did I do to deserve this?” I think we’ve all felt this way at some point, the question is not so much what we did to deserve it, but what is God doing in the midst of it?

This Psalm begins like many others, with David asking God for help. He prays, “Deliver me from my enemies . . . protect me from those who rise up against me . . . save me from bloodthirsty men.” I am tempted to think of David as dramatic as I read through these words, but the truth is, his life was in danger, his friends had turned on him, and he was all alone. He turned to that question that I asked just a moment ago, “What did I do to deserve this?” David explained his situation to God, “they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me” and then he made his case, “For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD, for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.” Now, David was not calling himself sinless, he was saying that he was innocent in the situation. He was making sure God knew that he didn’t cause this calamity he faced. Things quickly went from “I don’t deserve this” to “it’s not fair”. Here’s the thing, David was right. He had not harmed Saul; he had served him. He had not been what his own son Absalom would be years later, haughty and power-hungry. David, from all accounts I can see, was a model soldier and citizen. He loved God, he loved his country and he served his king.

Where did we get the idea that if we did what was right things would always be good? Who told us that if we did things God’s way, He would give us our way? I know about the concept of sowing and reaping. I’m aware of Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Could this really be what those verses and concepts mean, that if we do what God says He’ll then be obligated to do what we want? Is obedience nothing more than a scheme for getting our way from God? What about the fact that Psalm 34:19 promised “many are the afflictions of the righteous” or that Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble”? What about Paul and Barnabas’ teaching, “We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22)? Are we willing to consider that the trouble we face is how God will be glorified? The works of God are deliverance, restoration, redemption and resurrection. This means that there must first be bondage, decay, difficulty and even death. He’s not doing it to us, but He is faithful to be with us in it and then lead us out of it.

David asked God to “awake, come . . . rouse yourself” and to punish the nations. Then, David turned his prayers from his trouble to his heart. He declared, “O my Strength, I will watch for you . . .” David’s trouble didn’t come from him and so it was important that David not give his attention to what trouble seemed to be doing to him. It was David’s humility that offended the pride in Saul’s heart. It was the favor of God on David’s life that reminded Saul of the purpose he had wasted. It was David’s integrity that shined a light on Saul’s own jealousy and insecurity. Saul hated David not because David had harmed him but because David had chosen to live in a way that Saul had rejected for himself. In his grief, his jealousy and his pride, Saul wanted to give David the pain that his disobedience had reaped in him. David’s Psalm, and I believe his life, turned when he changed his focus, when he turned his attention, when he reminded himself of who he needed to watch.

The word translated as “watch” here means “awake, alert, vigilant, to keep awake.” It’s a reminder to not let circumstances change our perspective, to not believe that what is happening to us changes what is promised for us. It’s a call to resist the temptation to be distracted. It didn’t change what David was going through, it changed what or who he looked at. When we face trouble, when we are surprised by circumstances, when we are frustrated with slow moving promises or tension packed purposes, do we watch for the other shoe to drop or for the heart of God to be revealed? Have we become so negative that every undesired outcome chases us into despair or are we convinced that God’s goodness is revealed in everything that He leads us into and out of? We often quote Romans 8:28, but I’m afraid we run right past the most important part of the verse, “And we know that God works together all things for good to those loving God, to those being called according to His purpose.” Do we know that? Paul was not saying, we hope, or we pray, or we will one day see, Paul was saying, we start here, we know this. That’s what it means to watch. It means to look at what we know rather than what we see or what we feel. It means to trust the One who loves us more than the ones who seem to be against us. It means to keep a look out for the good that God will do rather than waiting to see the next bad thing that will happen.

My absolute favorite description of Jesus is found in Colossians 1, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.” Last week I was thinking of these verses and had an epiphany, “if Jesus holds it all together, nothing can fall apart.” Yes, we can be like Saul and choose disobedience, we can be like sheep and go our own way, we can reject Jesus and thereby blaspheme the Holy Spirit, but we can’t be taken by surprise, we can’t be overtaken by the enemy, we can’t be removed from the hands of the One who has taken hold of us. If we are in Christ, then we are kept by the power of God and held in the hands of God. Let’s not let our disappointment turn to despair, even more let’s not let what we didn’t expect or don’t understand change the place where we have set our eyes and placed our hearts. Keep watching, God won’t just show up, He’ll show us that He’s always been here and even this has been in His hands, will be used for His glory and will turn out to be how He worked for our good.