Listen to my prayer, O God, and do not hide Yourself from my plea.

Listen to me and answer me;

I am restless and distraught in my complaint and distracted because of the voice of the enemy, because of the pressure of the wicked; they bring down trouble on me, and in anger they persecute.

My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling have come upon me; horror has overwhelmed me.

As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice. He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me.

God will hear and humble them, even He who sits enthroned from old- because in them there has been no change of heart, and they do not fear God at all.

AMP

Anybody who knows me well, knows I LOVE the Psalms! I read through them from start to finish (one to two chapters at a time) daily and seem to find something new to highlight or underline. The Psalms are honest expressions of the authors’ feelings during joyful times, sorrowful seasons, and days filled with deep fear, anger, or remorse.

The Psalms give us words to say when we do not know what to say. The Psalms give us words to pray that we did not know we could pray.

The Psalms offer phrases of encouragement, comfort, and wisdom.

What more do I need to say to convince you to give yourself a Psalms reading challenge? How about I challenge you to try to read one to three chapters a day until you finish the whole book! Just a little heads up, though~ Psalm 119 may be a good one to read over a few days all on its own!

Psalm 55 is written by King David (he is the author of the majority of the Psalms recorded). It is presumed that it was written during the time of his son Absalom’s “rebellion”. Most of us have either had days of rebellion ourselves or have had our kids rebel against us…

Absalom’s situation takes teenage angst to a whole other level…

Absalom is David’s first born son and, for all intents and purposes, was the next in line to be king after David. But, Absalom wanted to be king now. He surrounded himself with people who also believed he should become king and planned an insurrection against his father. One of those people that advised Absalom was David’s good friend, Ahithophel. So, not only did David’s son betray him but so did a trusted friend.

David refused to fight against his son and decided to flee the kingdom. That was not good enough for Absalom- he knew that as long as David was alive, there would always be a chance that David would (and could) reclaim his throne.

Absalom’s “wise” counselors convinced him that the obvious solution to this problem was to kill David. To kill his father.

Psalm 55 is written when David was fleeing from his son and his son’s army…an army that was chasing him down to be killed.

David was running for his life.

David was heartbroken that it was his own son who wanted to kill him.

David had no idea who he could trust now that those he had known had betrayed him.

With that perspective, let us go read through those verses again…

Have you ever been betrayed? Felt like somehow had deceived you for their own gain and benefit?

Have you felt that people were against you or out to get you?

Have you felt that bad things keep happening and there is no escape?

When I look at this passage, I identify with David. No, I have not been usurped by my children for the alpha role in my house nor have I experience a serious form of rebellion in my household. I have not been chased or hunted down to be killed.

But, I can identify with his words of anguish. Let’s go over them together~

First, he is begging with the Lord to listen to him:

Hear me Lord, PLEASE!

He describes how he feels in in distress:

I am restless, distraught, and distracted (ever been there? I sure have).

He describes hearing the voices in his head that sound like an enemy (I know that guy- that voice in my head…the one who tells me I’m no good, a failure, weak..):

there is pressure and trouble weighing down on him.

He says his heart is in anguish...

He says the terrors of death have fallen on him…

Fear and trembling have overcome him…

Horror has overwhelmed him…

If you have faced an illness or waited for a diagnosis, you know fear and trembling.

If you have received a phone call to tell you terrible news about someone you love…you know horror.

If you have sat by a person you care for at a funeral or a hospital and held them as they cried bitterly over their loved one…you know the terrors of death.

Covid has exposed us to horror, fear and trembling, and the terrors of death.

Cancer has exposed us.

Terrorism has exposed us.

Racism and oppression has exposed us.

What do we do to become UNAFRAID?

We must look to what David did in this Psalm~ he is a man after God’s own heart after all.

1. He called upon the Lord.

What is your first instinct when trouble hits? Is it to pray?

2. He trusted that the Lord would save him.

So he not only prayed, but he believed God would hear him and save him. Do you have that kind of confidence? How does one GET that kind of confidence???

We must have a relationship with the Lord in order to have David’s kind of trust…remember how David killed Goliath? His confidence to do that came from years of spending time alone with the Lord as he cared for his father’s sheep- he saw God protecting him from bears and lions…he drew from that well of confidence to pick up his sling shot and step forward to kill a giant.

3. He prayed (complained or murmured even) all day long.

David did not wait for bedtime to pray or for dinner…David did not wait for Sunday morning to go before the Lord. He called upon God evening, morning, and noon.

We can pray a sincere prayer at anytime of day or all day long- it does not have to be fancy or formal. It just needs to be honest. This is a great real relationship with someone so it is ok to be real.

Don’t know what to say?? Guess what…God has provided the Holy Spirit to help with that! Romans 8:26 tells us that Spirit knows our need and at the right time intercedes (speaks on our behalf) with sighs and groanings too deep for words.

4. David claimed a truth.

What has God done in your life? Where have you seen His faithful provision or protection? When have you felt His indescribable presence and been lavished by His love?

We must remember those times when we are afraid. We have an enemy who LIES to us and tells us that we are alone, that there is no hope, that we cannot overcome “this”. If we do not recall the mighty work of our Savior throughout history, HIS story,and in our own lives we will fall prey to those lies.

David said “He redeemed my life in peace from the battle waged against me”. Where have you been redeemed??

5. David confirmed what he knew to be true about God…he declared that God would hear him and do something.

Trust me, I know this seems hard to do when life is hard and there is something placed before you that makes you feel afraid…a giant -like Goliath- perhaps.

Is it the thought of dying?

Is it the thought of someone you love who is dying?

Is it the thought of suffering or watching someone you love suffer while you stand by feeling helpless?

Is it loneliness that scares you?

Is it it the uncertain unknown of what is to come in the future?

These are real issues that causes paralyzing fear.

But we must do something intentional in the midst of that fear. We simply MUST.

Call out to the Lord.

Trust that He WILL save you in HIS way and in HIS timing (which is always for your good to fulfill HIS plan).

Pray to Him all day…when the fear strikes,when the fear eases…do not wait.

Believe that God will hear you.

Remember what He has done in your life leading up to this moment.

Thank Him for listening to you and for doing something about your request.

God is not a genie in a bottle to grant you your one wish…His answer is not always the answer you wish it was.

That does not mean He is not good; it does not mean that He did not hear you.

We do not always understand His ways and will not always know His reasons…and yet we can still trust in Him.

That is why David was considered BY GOD to be a man after God’s heart…David turned to the Lord and trusted in Him.

When we do the same we, too, can become UNAFRAID.