Cry to the Lord (Psalm 55)

If you’ve been alive
more than a few years, you can understand, to a greater or lesser extent, how
it feels to have your heart handed to you after someone has put it into an
emotional blender and hit “frappe”. 
 Psalm 55
is the prayer to the Lord of David, a man for whom this feeling became an odd
companion. 

 

Probably written
early in Absalom’s rebellion (2
Samuel 15-17), David faced a growing revolt being
amassed by his own son.  The very
definition of the personal lament, Psalm 55
gives us a very personal glimpse into the heart of the man after God’s own
heart.  Before getting into the Psalm
itself, please notice, David cried to the Lord. 
He wasn’t complaining to everyone else about it, he went to the Lord.

 

The first seven
verses gives us a glimpse of a cry for help.

 

¹ Listen to my prayer, O
God, do not ignore my plea; ² hear me and answer me. My thoughts
trouble me and I am distraught ³ at the voice of the enemy, at the
stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in
their anger. ⁴ My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of
death assail me. ⁵ Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has
overwhelmed me. ⁶ I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I
would fly away and be at rest— ⁷ I would flee far away and stay in
the desert;  Selah   ⁸ I would hurry to my place of
shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”

 

When you
are caught in the depths of despair, cry to the Lord for help.  Run to your Shelter, the Lord Himself.  This is what David did.

 

Verses
nine through fifteen and twenty through twenty-one provide the glimpse into
David’s cry for hurt.

 

⁹ Confuse the wicked, O
Lord, confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city. ¹⁰
Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it. ¹¹
Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.
¹² If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were
raising himself against me, I could hide from him. ¹³ But it is you,
a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, ¹⁴ with whom I
once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.
¹⁵ Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to
the grave, for evil finds lodging among them.

 

²⁰ My companion attacks
his friends; he violates his covenant. ²¹ His speech is smooth as
butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they
are drawn swords.

 

Not only
was David dealing with the treachery of the betrayal by his own son, even one
of his close advisors turned on him and betrayed him.  David doesn’t draw any punches as he prays,
he is honest with the Lord.

 

Before
we pounce on the morality of David’s heart, we must always remember: this is
the anointed king of Israel.  To attack
him was to attack the God-ordained leadership of His people.  David was asking for Divine retribution.  He was asking God to act on his behalf and
defend him.

 

Rounding
out this Psalm, verses sixteen through nineteen and twenty-two through
twenty-three is David’s cry for hope.

 

¹⁶ But I call to God, and
the Lord saves me. ¹⁷ Evening,
morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. ¹⁸ He
ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose
me. ¹⁹ God, who is enthroned forever, will hear them and afflict
them—   Selah –men who never change their
ways and have no fear of God.

 

²² Cast your cares on the
Lord and he will sustain you; he
will never let the righteous fall. ²³ But you, O God, will bring
down the wicked into the pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will
not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.

 

The last
words of that Psalm should be treasured in your heart in those times when the
hole in your chest aches from the shards of your broken heart: “But as for me, I trust in you.”

 

Trust in
Him.  Run to Him.  Rest in Him.  “Cast all your anxiety on him because
he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).