April 18 - Reading 16: Psalms 53-56

“You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” (Psalm 56:8)

A study of David’s life reveals he had many times of great sorrow, including deep remorse for his sins of adultery and murder, painful wounds from the betrayal of friends, and intense grief with the death of two sons. He also had many times when he was fleeing for his life. But in the midst of these dark times, David reminds himself that God is not only powerful, but deeply personal. He sees; He keeps a record of our troubles and our tears.

When writing today’s Psalms, David was hiding from King Saul (Psalm 54), was betrayed by friends (Psalm 55), and was a Philistine prisoner (Psalm 56). He had good reason to be fearful and downcast. He was not experiencing God’s deliverance in, nor from, these moments.  But he chooses to move his focus from his temporary trials to the trustworthiness of his God, and twice declares, “In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 56:4, 11).

If we are walking in fear today, let’s follow David’s example in Psalm 56:3 — “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” If we are carrying a burden today, David says “Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you” (Psalm55:22). And with David, we can choose to rejoice, “For You have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life” (Psalm 56:13).

Our God knows all the details of our lives, from beginning to end. Nothing is a surprise to Him. He not only knows the precise number of our days before we were born (Psalm 139:16), but He knows the exact number of every hair on our head (Luke 12:7). When we truly grasp how intimately He knows us and how deeply He loves us, we can more fully and completely trust Him with every detail of our lives.