Hope in Trials
READ: Psalm 18: 1-6
Have you ever gone through an experience that turned out so different from what you wanted or expected that you thought it might kill you? My freshman year I tried out for the high school swing choir. I thought I was a shoe-in because of my ability and the recommendations of other older students. But the list came out, and I wasn’t on it. My first attempt to get involved musically at my high school was crushed. For a while, I thought I might not make any music groups, something I really wanted to do. It was a rough start to my high school music career.
When David wrote Psalm 18, it was at the end of a very rough time in his life. For quite some time, the father of his best friend and king of Israel, Saul, had been trying to kill David (a situation a little more intense than a music audition...). Time after time, David narrowly escaped attempts on his life by Saul. David vividly describes those attempts with phrases like “cords of death,” “torrents of destruction,” and “snares of death.” It’s no wonder that when this threat was gone, that David started off this Psalm with the first three verses. He calls God his rock, fortress, deliverer, place of refuge, shield, and horn of salvation.
The setbacks of this life – failed tests, failed relationships, failing health – are minor in comparison to the death and destruction we deserve because of our sin. But the God of David is our God by faith, too. God sent his Son Jesus to deliver us from the punishment our sins deserve, and in faith God is our deliverer, shield and refuge in this life. Like David, we call to God in times of trial, and he hears and answers. Thanks be to our loving God!
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: Recall some times in which you have been distressed or felt overwhelmed. How did God help you in those times? What comfort do you get from all the beautiful ways David describes God in verse 2?
THINGS TO PRAY ABOUT: Thank God for being your deliverer from sin and from all of life’s trials. Ask God to keep you close to Him always.