David is in the wilderness. At a time when wilderness experiences have become something of a trend, we need to think what that meant then. David is not there by choice on some retreat or thrill-seeking escapade. He is being harried, probably by his own son Absalom. He is cut off from his usual comforts without knowing when or whether this will end. This is compounded by trying to understand where God is in all this. 

Self-absorption or self-pity might be my first port of call, but David’s response is to look outward. The answers to his longing for security, sustenance and satisfaction are found in ‘my God’ (v 1). We see ‘not the groping of a stranger feeling his way to God but the eagerness of a friend to be in touch with the one he holds dear.’* His thirst will not be quenched by anything else. He knows that from his past. He found satisfaction then, not in the luxuries of the palace or his kingly status but in God (vs 2,3,5). In his wilderness experiences of disturbed nights, he had turned his weary and troubled heart to God (v 6). By setting his heart on God he finds not just that he is clinging to God, but that God is holding him (v 8). And his ‘but the king’ (v 11) reference to himself speaks of hope. His time in the wilderness is not the final word.

*Derek Kidner, quoted in JA Motyer, Psalms, New Bible Commentary, 21st Century Edition. IVP, 1994.

‘God of grace and God of glory, / on your people pour your power … Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, / for the facing of this hour.’¹

This is one of the great psalms where David reflects on his own situation and on his knowledge of God, moving from present to past and on to the future. Unlike historical books, the main point of psalms for readers is not necessarily what they tell about the writer’s life. It is rather that they give words to express our own feelings in all kinds of circumstances. Here the circumstance is living away from society in a desert, hiding from dangerous enemies. It may not be where you are now, but many of us have felt isolation, deprivation and fear like this, and we are all likely to know people still in that situation. It is wonderful to be able to point them to psalms like this, as well as to great triumphant psalms that express our feelings in ‘up’ times but can be less helpful when we are ‘down’. 

The psalmist, in the desert, longs for water and longs to experience God. The implication is that just now he can’t find either. It is so helpful to know it is OK to tell God we feel like that! David looks back to times when he was ‘in the sanctuary’ (v 2), feeling close to God, and reminds himself both of what he knew about God then and of the reality of the commitment that he had made to trust God. His circumstances had changed, but God had not: he was still more fulfilling than rich food (v 5)! David lies awake at night, but thinking of God, and remembering past help given, help him move forward. There are psalms where the psalmist can only manage to ask ‘how long?’² but here he is confident that, eventually, his enemies will get their comeuppance and he will be able to rejoice again. 

Lord, when I feel alone and desperate, help me to remember that you are ‘my God’ (v 1); when I ‘cling to you; your right hand upholds me’ (v 8). 

¹ HE Fosdick, 1930  ² Eg Pss 13,35