PSALM 54
David asks LORD for help against strangers verse 1- 3
Save me – O God – by YOUR name – and judge me by YOUR strength
Hear my prayer – O God – give ear to the words of my mou
for strangers are risen up against me
and oppressors seek after my soul
they have not set God before them
SELAH
David asks LORD for help against enemies verse 4- 5
BEHOLD – God is mine helper
the Lord is with them that uphold my soul
HE shall reward evil unto mine enemies
cut them off in YOUR truth
David offers praise offering for the LORD’S help verse 6- 7
I will freely sacrifice to YOU
I will praise YOUR name – O LORD – for it is good
FOR HE has delivered me out of all trouble
and mine eye has seen HIS desire on mine enemies
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 “Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
Give ear – 238 אָזַן [ʾazan /aw·zan/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 57; GK 263; 41 occurrences; AV translates as “give ear” 31 times, “hearken” six times, “hear” three times, and “perceived by the ear” once. 1 to hear, listen. 1A (Hiphil). 1A1 to hear, listen, give ear. 1A2 to be obedient, harken. 1A3 to hear or listen to prayers (of God). James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: It does not matter the time of day that you call upon the Lord! It does not matter what the circumstances may be when you cry out either. David here is under duress and is crying out to the Lord while being betrayed by the people (Ziphites) whom he had taken refuge with. David was confident that the Lord would hear and act on his behalf. As His servant, David believed that the Lord would act for and protect him.
The confidence that God was the judge and would deliver him was David’s basis of reliance so he did not have to act or defend himself. This truth helps us also when individuals betray, slander or mock us because of our belief in Christ. Our Savior is aware and prepared to meet the adversaries that come against us. Our prayers can be spoken in a calm assurance that the Lord is in complete control and will deal with the adversaries in His time.
“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” (Ps. 19:9)
CHALLENGE: In the midst of difficulties have confidence that the Lord hears you as you pray! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 3 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah. (6184 “oppressors” [‘ariyts] means violent, powerful, potentate, tyrant, a person who shows no mercy or pity, terror-striking, ruthless, or violent.)
DEVOTION: The word “oppressor” should only be used of those who don’t love the LORD. The problem is that those who say they love the LORD can be in this category when it comes to people who give believers a hard time. It is wrong but that is what happens at times.
Here we find David hiding from Saul the present king of Israel and those who should have been friends came to Saul to turn David in to be killed. It is hard to realize that those who should be friends will not defend us when they have a choice between doing what is right and what they think is right.
These individuals were fellow Israelites that didn’t want David to live because they were still supporting Saul as their king. They knew that God had chosen David to be king but they still were against him.
This makes you sad when people who should be supporting you are in the camp of those who want to see you not have any freedom. They wanted David to be killed and they didn’t care about how it was done.
God judges those who try to cause HIS servants problems. HE is the find authority and HE will do what is right for HIS servants. It is hard to watch all the trials that David went through before he became king.
We are going to go through hard times as we try to live a life that is pleasing to the LORD. We are still sinners but God has a plan for us and the enemy wants to put roadblocks in our way as we try to serve the LORD. Sometimes Satan uses those who are supposed to be our friends to cause us grief.
God was going to deal with those who were showing no mercy to David and HE will do the same to those who act in the same manner today. We need to not be in that category in our service to the LORD and to others.
CHALLENGE: We need to be individuals who always set God before us in everything we do and say. HE will reward us for good service.
___________________________________________________________
: 4 Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. (5564 “uphold” [camak] means to prop, to lean upon or take hold, bear up, establish, sustain or stand fast)
DEVOTION: This psalm uses all three names of the main names for God in the Old Testament. The one that is used the most is Elohim. This means Creator, Sovereign. The second one use is Adonai, which means Master, Lord. The third name used is Jehovah or Yahweh.
David had a personal relationship with his God. He knew that the LORD answered prayer. He prayed for the LORD to deal with his enemies. He realized that HE was the only one who could give him victory.
Yes, he had an army of men he could count on to protect him. The book of Samuel gives a list of courageous men who surrounded David. However, he knew that humans would let him down. His own men wanted to kill him at least one time. His own son wanted to kill him and take over his kingdom.
The LORD is the one to turn to in times of trouble. The LORD encourages us to help one another. The LORD wants us to sustain one another. The LORD helps us through HIS saints. Those who love the LORD helped David.
We are not here to hurt our brothers and sisters in the LORD. The enemy is doing that full time. The world is doing it full time. Our flesh is trying to hurt us full time. We don’t need a fourth enemy. Are we sustaining one another?
The LORD will encourage us through HIS Spirit during the hard times when it seems like the people around us are not helping. Be someone who bears up fellow believers!!!
CHALLENGE: Visit those who are lonely. Help those who are struggling financially. Encourage all those you meet on a daily basis that love the LORD.
______________________________________________________________
: 4 “Behold, God is mine helper: The Lord is with them that uphold my soul.” (“Uphold,” 5564 סָמַךְ [camak] 1 to lean, lay, rest, support, put, uphold, lean upon. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to lean or lay upon, rest upon, lean against. 1a2 to support, uphold, sustain. 1b (Niphal) to support or brace oneself. 1c (Piel) to sustain, refresh, revive. [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software]).
DEVOTION: This is a psalm of lament by David written shortly after his escape from Saul at the hands of the men of Ziph (referring to the betrayal of David in 1 Samuel 26). Ziph was a town in southern Judah near a wilderness area that was probably sparsely inhabited, and that is probably why David chose this as the place of hiding from Saul. Yet the people of Ziph were willing to reveal David’s location to Saul.
David contrasts those who betrayed him with those who are of like mind and seek the Lord together with him. These people are the ones who David says uphold or support his soul. He realizes that we were never made to go it alone in a life of obedience to God. We need to encourage and help those who are committed to God and help build them up.
Too often we are guilty of not encouraging or helping those whom God has placed in our path. This make take the form of cutting them down with our speech, or, even worse, criticizing them publicly in order to gain an advantage. What we need to do is to communicate support and encouragement to others so that they will go even further in their walk with the Lord. Our actions and speech should always be characterized by grace (Ephesians 4:29).
CHALLENGE: Who are you going to try to encourage today? A kind word, a kind action—these are the things that uphold and build up one another. (Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 5 He shall reward evil to mine enemies: cut them off in YOUR truth. (571 “truth” [’emeth] means firmness, trustworthiness, the quality of being faithful, firmness, faithfulness, reliable people, establishment, sureness, or stability.)
DEVOTION: Here we find David asking the LORD to deal with his enemies. He wants the LORD to cut them off from the realization of what God’s plan is for David’s life. He wants the LORD to reward those who are his enemies with evil because of the way they are treating him.
Now we are told to pray for our enemies. This is what every believer should do. We should be praying for the salvation of our enemies. We should be praying that the LORD will convict them of their sins and that they will turn to Jesus as their Savior.
However, there are individuals who want nothing to go with God. We can pray for them but the answer to our request can be NO because the LORD knows the hearts of those we come in contact with in our lives.
Some people will never accept Jesus as their Savior. They might even go to a church that preaches the Bible and the need for salvation of their soul but they are not listening.
The truth of the Word of God does not touch all hearts. We believe it should but so many are not willing to change to be genuine followers of the LORD. They sometimes act like believers but their heart is not in it.
Only God knows for sure those who are saved and will be saved but we have to pray for their salvation until we realize that they are going to be against all those who are genuine believers.
Here David is asking the LORD to “cut them off” from HIS truth because they are not listening. There are those who before the foundation of the world God KNEW they would never be followers of HIM. Sad but true.
Remember everyone has a chance but not everyone will accept Christ as their Savior. At the Great White Throne Judgement when all those who reject the offer of salvation stand before the LORD HE will show them each time they rejected the message.
CHALLENGE: Remind those we love that the offer of salvation is real but they have to accept it before they can spend eternity in heaven. There comes a time when rejection if final!!!
________________________________________________________________
: 7 For HE has delivered me out of all trouble; and mine eye has seen HIS desire on mine enemies. (6869 “trouble” [tsarah] means enmity, distress, anxiety, an oppressive state of physical, mental, social or economic adversity, or tribulation.)
DEVOTION: We need to realize that every person goes through a time period of tribulation in their life. This is not talking about the Great Tribulation that is going to happen in the end times.
We are all going to have times of distress while we are living in this world. During these times we don’t like them but we have to face the fact in this world we are going to have tribulation of a minor sort, even though it seems like a major sort.
We can turn to the LORD when we are facing times when it seems that everyone or everything is against us. We all have had times like these happen in our life and we need to turn them over to the LORD for deliverance.
If there are people who enjoy seeing us go through hard times we can be like David and ask the LORD to deal with them. We should first pray for their salvation but if they don’t respond then we can pray for the LORD to deal with them as HE sees fit.
Our thought should be on how the LORD has delivered us from times of trouble and thank HIM for HIS help during those times. We each go through times when it seems like everything is going wrong.
It is during these times that we find out who are genuine friends are and who our enemies are. It is sad but true. God allows us to go through these times for our growth. They are not pleasant times but times when we are supposed to grow closer to HIM.
Notice that David wants to see the LORD’S desires on his enemies, NOT his desires on the enemies.
CHALLENGE: Our prayers should be for those who give us a hard time. We need to let the LORD deal with those who give us a hard time in HIS way and in HIS timing.
_______________________________________________________________
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
David’s prayer for help verse 1- 3, 6
Wants God to hear his prayer
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Sacrifice verse 6
Praise verse 6
_________________________________________________________________
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 1- 4
Ability to save verse 1
Judge verse 1
Strength verse 1
God is helper of believers verse 4
Lord – Adonai (Owner, Master) verse 4
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 6
God’s desire on enemies of believers verse 7
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Strangers verse 3
Oppressors verse 3
Enemies verse 5, 7
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Not set God before them verse 3
Seek soul of believers verse 3
To be enemies of David verse 3, 5
Oppressors of believers verse 3
Not setting God before them verse 3
Evil verse 5
Cut off from God’s truth verse 5
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Save verse 1
Judge verse 1
Hear verse 2
Prayer verse 2
Helper verse 4
Presence verse 4
Truth verse 5
Sacrifice verse 6
Good to praise the LORD verse 6
Deliverance verse 7
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
David wrote this Psalm verse 1- 7
It was written when the Ziphims wanted
Saul to deal with David
Prays for the LORD to save him
LORD is with those who uphold his soul
Praise the LORD is good
Deliverance from all trouble
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
________________________________________________________________
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
___________________________________________________________
QUOTES regarding passage
54:6–7. In full confidence that God had heard his prayer and would deliver him from all the troubles brought on by his foes, David promised to praise God with a freewill offering. This refers to the fellowship offerings (Lev. 3; 7) that accompanied and expressed praises for deliverance. They were offered voluntarily by devout believers. David again (cf. Ps. 52:9) spoke of the Lord’s name (cf. 54:1) as good. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 834). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
____________________________________________________________
The point about a freewill offering was that no vow had been included in the prayer for help; there had been no question of saying, in effect, ‘If you will do this, I will give that.’ The thanks and the sacrifice were spontaneous (cf. 51:12); and while Psalms 50 and 51 point out that an offering is valueless in itself, yet rightly offered it gave access to God’s presence through atonement, gave visible expression to one’s love, and brought a company together to share the feast and hear the story (cf. Deut. 12:6f.). So David re-lives the anguish of his initial prayer (1–3) and the faith to which it led (4f.), as the prelude to the thanks—tangible and articulate—which he now presents. And in bequeathing the psalm to us he makes ‘straight paths for our feet’, for a similar progress, if need be, from near-despair to liberation. (Kidner, D. (1973). Psalms 1–72: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 15, p. 216). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
____________________________________________________________
He promises to give thanks to God for all the experiences he had had of his goodness to him (v. 6): I will sacrifice unto thee. Though sacrifices were expensive, yet, when God required that his worshippers should in that way praise him, David would not only offer them, but offer them freely and without grudging. All our spiritual sacrifices must, in this sense, be free-will-offerings; for God loves a cheerful giver. Yet he will not only bring his sacrifice, which was but the shadow, the ceremony; he will mind the substance: I will praise thy name. A thankful heart, and the calves of our lips giving thanks to his name, are the sacrifices God will accept: “I will praise thy name, for it is good. Thy name is not only great but good, and therefore to be praised. To praise thy name is not only what we are bound to, but it is good, it is pleasant, it is profitable; it is good for us (Ps. 92:1); therefore I will praise thy name.” (Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 821). Peabody: Hendrickson.)
___________________________________________________________
6–7. Saul, under the direction of the Ziphites, having encompassed David on every side, was suddenly called off to defend his country from an invasion of the Philistines; by which means David escaped and “beheld his enemies” retreating. 1 Sam. 23:27. For this event he offers the sacrifice of a heart freed from fear, and praises the name of his great Deliverer. Christians should follow his example: they should consider how great things God hath done for them, and should never suffer the voice of praise and thanksgiving to cease in the church of the redeemed. Beautiful and emphatical will these two concluding verses appear, when conceived as proceeding from the mouth of our Lord, upon his resurrection. And we hope one day to repeat them, on a like occasion, saying each in his own person: “I will freely sacrifice unto thee; I will praise thy name, O Lord, for it is good. For he hath delivered me out of all my trouble, and mine eye hath looked upon mine enemies.” (Horne, G. (1856). A Commentary on the Book of Psalms (p. 197). New York: Robert Carter & Brothers.)
____________________________________________________________
6. With free will, or, with glad, willing heart, as the expression occurs in Num. 15:3, and (without the preposition) in Hosea 14:5. This explains the motive of the sacrifice. The offering would be a literal offering, as appointed by the Law, but it would be brought with all the cheerfulness and love of a thankful heart, not under the compulsion of a vow, or in mere slavish compliance with an established ritual. Hupfeld suggests that the word (נְדָבָה) here may mean not “free will,” but “free will offering,” because of the verb “sacrifice” which accompanies it. But, he remarks, the verb is not construed with the prep. as here, but takes the accusative of the thing offered. And I see no reason for departing from the interpretation which has the support of all the ancient Versions and is generally received. Thy Name … for it is good. With reference to ver. 1, “By Thy Name save me.”
It is possible that in the next verse the Name of God is the subject of the verb, so that we may render “It hath delivered me.” If so, this passage (and Is. 30:27) would come very near the later Rabbinic usage, according to which “the Name” (הַשֵם) is constantly put for God Himself. The original passage is Lev. 24:11. (Perowne, J. J. S. (1883). The Book of Psalms; A New Translation, with Introductions and Notes, Explanatory and Critical (Fifth Edition, Revised, Vol. 1, pp. 449–450). London; Cambridge: George Bell and Sons; Deighton Bell and Co.)
___________________________________________________________
Ver. 6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee, &c.] Not legal sacrifices; no, nor free-will offerings the law gives directions about, though the allusion is to them; but the free-will offerings of his mouth, Psal. 119:108. the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, on account of help, salvation, and deliverance, as appears from the following clause; which he determines to offer, not by constraint, but willingly; not by force, but of a ready mind; freely, and with all his heart. The sacrifice of his antitype is himself, his soul and body, as in union with his divine Person; and this was offered up to God, against whom man has sinned, and whose justice must be satisfied; and this was done freely and voluntarily; he gave himself an offering; he laid down his life of himself, and that for sinners. The sacrifices of his people are their prayers and praises, their acts of beneficence, and the presentation of their souls and bodies in divine service; all which they do freely, under the influence of divine grace. I will praise thy name, O Lord; which explains what is meant by sacrificing: this is what is due to the Lord, and comely in his people. For it is good; either the name of God; and therefore to be praised. He himself is good, as he is, both in a way of providence and of grace; and it is good, both pleasantly and profitably good, to sing praises to him, Psal. 147:1. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 749). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
____________________________________________________________
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
_____________________________________________________________
Too often we make family into a noun, believing it is somehow our possession, our right to use or abuse as we so choose. We fail to recognize that family is not only a gift to us; it is a task for us. (The Importance of Family by Robert K. Johnston)
____________________________________________________________
QUOTES FROM “On Being A PASTOR” by Derek J. Prime & Alistair Begg
The older assistant’s task was to assist me first and foremost in pastoral work, and especially in the crises that arise almost daily, and to undertake systematic visitation of church families, with their encouragement and integration in view. (p. 233)
__________________________________________
It is important that the pastor’s presence is not seen to be the key to effectiveness. (p. 239)
__________________________________________
As shepherds and teachers, our priorities are prayer and teaching, in the context of the pastoral care of God’s people. (p. 240)
__________________________________________
We should also respect people’s reluctance to undertake a job suggested to them. It may be a natural diffidence that needs to be overcome, but it may also be because they cannot cope with responsibility, and we may do harm to them and to others by putting wrongful pressure upon them. Discernment and graciousness are necessary here as everywhere. (p. 242)
_______________________________________________
Besides being unfair, it is both frightening and discouraging for someone to be given responsibility without guidance and positive direction. (p. 242)
____________________________________________________________
We now have a Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.