ReaD Psalm 55:1-7
I enjoy fried clams—the taste, smell, look, crunch. This plate of hot, crispy clams, however, grated my throat as I sat with my dad in a suburban Chicago restaurant. Haltingly and with low-tones, he conveyed the news that my mom and he had separated and were moving towards termination of their 24-year marriage. Stinging eyes and indirect glances followed for me as I tried to grapple with the seismic bad news. “But how? But why? But when? What’s next?” were questions replaying in me during the remaining months of my college freshman year. Sadness, loneliness, fear, and anguish became ever-present emotional “friends.”
In our text today, King David finds soul anguish part of his life. Having been betrayed by his son and many former friends, he cries out to God, “Fear and trembling have beset me, horror has overwhelmed me” (v. 5). Betrayal births anguish deep in his gut. Anguish caused David to think that respite might be found in “…flee(ing) far away … from the tempest and storm” (vv. 7-8). David’s agitators are external—former friends and now enemies. His agitation is also internal—“My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught” (v. 2). Relief from his anguish might be found in flight. However, he knew real relief and hope could only be found in the Ever-present One. “Listen to my prayer, O God…” (v. 1). “But as for me, I trust in you” (v. 23) is David’s final declaration for emotional relief from his anguish of soul.
As with the shepherd-king David, so it is for the Jesus-follower today. Our despair, our anguish of soul finds respite and company in the presence of our Good Shepherd King.
The great 19th century British preacher Charles Spurgeon comments on David’s situation in Psalm 55, “Perchance, dear reader, if as yet thou hast not trodden this gloomy way, thou wilt do soon; then be sure to mark the footprints of thy Lord in this miry part of the road.”
For Reflection:
- What event/s in your life have been marked by a season of anguish? What have been your experiences emotionally? How did God show you His “footprints” during the pain?
By Pastor Paul Sinclair
