In Psalm 56 the psalmist, King David, prays an urgent appeal to God for mercy and protection. We too can cry out to the Lord in David’s words for consolation in the face of unsettling fear, whether fear of pain or death, or more prosaically, fear of being maligned or misunderstood by someone whose good opinion we feel we need. We can tell ourselves, as David did, “in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” When David faces fear and danger he says he will “hide in the shadow of God’s wings until the terror has gone.” (Psalm 57:1) He reminds himself that the Lord has already delivered him from death and he has been given the grace to “walk before God in the light of life”…… and his fears and anxieties change to praise.
As I write this I am listening to
Steven Faux’s Psalms Project (subtitled “the epic soundtrack to the
Psalms”!). Using David’s words, those
soaring melodies and driving rhythms give me a contemporary experience of the
joy and comfort David found in singing God’s praises more than 3 thousand years
ago. Surely heaven will be full of
music!
David could not yet know of
Isaiah’s prophecy of the birth of our saviour - who would be called “Wonderful
Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”. We, though, have eyewitness testimony of his
life, death and resurrection; we know that he is already reigning on David’s
throne, “establishing and upholding his kingdom with justice and
righteousness”. How much more reason we
have to sing his praises!
(member of a homegroup)