Slices
Prepare
If you plotted your life of faith on a graph, would you say you’re living at a high point (joyful and praising) or a low point (sorrowful and crying out for help)? Tell the Lord why.
Bible passage
For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. Of David. A miktam. When he had fled from Saul into the cave.
1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God, who vindicates me.
3 He sends from heaven and saves me,
rebuking those who hotly pursue me –
God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.
4 I am in the midst of lions;
I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts –
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
6 They spread a net for my feet –
I was bowed down in distress.
They dug a pit in my path –
but they have fallen into it themselves.
7 My heart, O God, is steadfast,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
8 Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
Explore
The title of the psalm tells us David, in an earlier period of his life, is hiding from Saul ‘in a cave’. However, if we glance through the verses again, we’ll see just how appropriate they sound for David’s later situation with Absalom.
Psalms being songs, this one seems to start softly but with dark undertones, growing louder and more confident. It suddenly dips again at verse 4, before the crescendo of praise in verse 5. The cycle restarts, first low and mysterious (v 6), then rising to the final crashing climax in verse 11. The Lord will deliver him. When David remembers all the Lord is and all he does, gradually he raises his voice and we can imagine him lifting his head: O God, all glory to you, everywhere!
The Lord draws me out of myself too so that I realise it’s all about him – he has ‘mercy’ (v 1), is my ‘refuge’ (v 1), is the ‘Most High’ (v 2), ‘saves me’ (v 3) and showers me with ‘his love and his faithfulness’ (v 3). I’ve started here to list the good news about the Lord in this psalm, but can you go from verse 4 and draw out the rest?
And suppose ‘those who hotly pursue me’, the ‘lions’, ‘ravenous beasts’ and horrendous, spear-toothed ‘men’ (vs 3,4) could represent all ‘the devil’s schemes’ to defeat Christians (Ephesians 6:11,12)? Enjoy reading the psalm again in the light of the extraordinary rescue Jesus brought us by his death.
Respond
Now turn your discoveries into a time of praise to the Lord.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 55,56; Hebrews 10
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the 7,000 students across 25 schools being served by the new workers with SU Guatemala. Pray that the workers will know God’s wisdom and guidance.
