To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?

1 Save me, O God, by Thy name, and judge me by Thy strength.

2 Hear my prayer, O God: give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

4 Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in Thy truth.

6 I will freely sacrifice unto Thee: I will praise Thy name, O LORD: for it is good.

7 For He hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

The Point:

We do not need to worry about our enemies even when they seek to kill us because they are in God’s hands, and we are in God’s hands.

How do we feel in the recitation of this psalm?

Suppose you heard news that five men were coming over to your house to kill you. You would certainly feel some vulnerability to the attack. That is how David felt when the Ziphims conspired with Saul against his life. While the feeling may be something short of fear, we might still experience a sense of the uncertainty of life. Thus, in the face of imminent danger, we place our lives in the hands of God.

What does this psalm say?

Verses 1–3. The psalm starts with the only thing that a Christian under attack can say—“Save me!” Through the challenges of life and death, the Christian does not rely upon himself for anything. Rather than being self-reliant he is God-reliant. David calls upon God’s attributes of power and justice to save him, for it is on the basis of faith in God’s absolute power and perfect justice that we cry out to Him for salvation.

You can count on the fact that the persecutors of God’s people could care less about God. They may talk of justice and tolerance but they do not have the slightest interest in God. Like Saul, they only care for themselves and are concerned with bolstering their own power base: they will destroy anything or anyone who gets in the way of their quest for power. So David cries out to God in a simple logical syllogism: “I am Your servant and I need Your help now. The men who are out to kill me are strangers and oppressors, and they refuse to serve the living God. Since I am with You and they are against You, will You help me now?”

Verses 4–7. After a Selah pause (a time to reflect on God), David levels a strong statement of faith. Not only is the Lord with me, but He is also with all those that help me. True faith always aligns us with God, puts us on His team, and sees God as our Savior.

The focus now remains on God. This is essential for the Christian when he is under attack and passing through a valley of trial and temptation. Above all else, the focus must stay on God. The Christian assures himself with the promises of God. “Surely, He will take care of my enemies, so I do not need to concern myself with them. My attention must stay on the worship of my God.”

Even on the battlefields of life, our mind’s eye should not be focused on dodging the arrows and swinging the sword: it should be concentrated on worshiping and serving the living God. Sometimes we may have to deal with the enemy, but it is only so we can get back to the temple of God and bring our sacrifices of prayer, tithes, and praise. Because even in the battle, after all of the dodging of arrows and swinging of swords, we must confess that it was God who gave us the battle and then returned us to His worship. God is the Savior.

How do we apply this psalm?

1. Some would only apply this psalm to our spiritual salvation. To limit God’s protection and salvation to our spiritual souls reduces our faith to a gnostic or dualistic religion. Indeed, God is concerned with both our physical and our spiritual safety, our bodies and our souls.

2. The Christian’s response to conspiracy and life-threatening circumstances is not fear. We respond to these threats by worshiping and fearing our sovereign God. Even as we walk into the fire of persecution, we lift our hands in worship and praise. Can you see how this realigns our perspectives of life and death? God is always foremost in the Christian’s mind even in the worst possible situations of life.

How does this psalm teach us to worship God?

Have you ever wondered why God commissioned a military man to write many if not most of the psalms? It is because worship is battle. The people of God are always under attack and the worship found in many psalms provides the language of battle. The liturgy of this psalm is very simple: we are attacked, God saves, and we worship.

Questions:

1. Name several Deliverance psalms.

2. What was going on in David’s life when he wrote this psalm?

3. What is the logical progression of David’s cry for help?

4. In the middle of this horrifying, scary situation, where does David rest his focus?

5. What was special about David that qualified him for writing these Worship psalms?

Family Discussion Questions:

1. If our worship is conducted on a battlefield, how does this affect the way we worship, the songs we sing, the prayers we pray, and the sermons we preach?

2. Have you ever had distractions in life that made it hard for you to focus on worship? What were those distractions? How can you use psalms like this one to help you overcome these distractions and really worship God?