Hey Bible Readers! I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble and
I'm your host for The Bible Recap. [Music] We have another day of Psalms
today, another day where David is responding to God in
light of his circumstances. And as a reminder, he's been promised the throne, but
the current king has been hunting him down until recently, and
he's living in the desert. Most of these Psalms have some sort
of lament woven into them, but also lots of hope. I'm not sure my heart would be so filled
with praise if I were in David's circumstances. In Psalm 56,
David reminds himself of what is eternal, and he fixes his eyes on that -
on God - in the midst of his troubles. It's easy to think God is distant
or unfeeling when we're going through trials, but David knows that's not true. He says God has kept count of
his tossing, has stored his tears in a bottle, and has recorded all of
this in detail in His book. God knows and God sees. He's not distant. David knows that God is for him
despite what his circumstances seem to say. Psalm 120 is a bit different from most laments. It's short and it doesn't end with hope or praise. It's almost like he wrote it in a rush. And you know what? I love that it got recorded like this. It's his honest thoughts, his hearts cry to God, unpolished and seemingly incomplete
- yet it's preserved in scripture. This probably mirrors my prayers more closely than half the
other stuff David wrote. I don't always remember to praise Him
for who He is and what He's done. I don't always remember
to preach the truth to myself and this Psalm serves as a reminder from David that God invites him into
conversation with Himself regardless. Psalm 140 is another unique Psalm. David begs for deliverance
from the words and hands and plans of evil men. He asked God to be attentive, and he
praises God for being his covering. In verse 7, he says,
"O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have
covered my head in the day of battle." This verse reminds me of the "helmet of salvation"
that Paul references in Ephesians 6. With God as his covering,
he has protection and salvation - and that's our only hope as well,
that Christ is our covering. He asked God to thwart the plans of the wicked -
acknowledging God's Sovereign control over the plans of man. And he prays for the destruction of his enemies. These may be hard prayers to stomach, but we also know that these
people are God's enemies too. David knows God is a God of justice,
and that the righteous will praise Him for His actions on their behalf. He continues in Psalm 141
with a request for God to listen and act quickly. He's not near the tabernacle
- he's in the wilderness - so he can't be there for
sacrifices and incense burning. All he's got to offer are
his prayers and his hands up and praise. So he ask God to accept those offerings. He also asks God to guard his heart and his words. He knows how easily
the human heart can be led astray. In this Psalm, even more than he asks God to protect him from his enemies,
he asks God to grant him personal integrity. He wants to surround himself with the righteous, and he
longs for accountability. If you've ever been without good, Christian community, you may
resonate with David's desires here. He may be surrounded by 600 men, but it's likely that none of them
are on the level with him here. They may not know God like he does or they may be
too impressed by the giant-slayer to speak honestly with him.
He probably feels very alone. Today's final chapter, Psalm
142, is just gorgeous - there's such a depth of ache
mingled with an abounding hope. The second verse says, "I pour out
my complaint before Him; I tell my trouble before Him" -
it reminds me of Hannah when she was crying out to the LORD in 1 Samuel. David feels utterly alone here,
but he's not without faith that God will shift things for him soon. What was your GOD SHOT today? I loved the picture
of God storing up David's tears, counting and recording all his tossings,
being attentive to it all. David had lived in the palace,
he was a war hero, he had worshiped at the tabernacle,
he had a best friend who risked his life for him - and here he is living on a rock in the
desert, with 600 men who don't really get him, while he clings to a God he
can't make sacrifices to. He can't keep the festal calendar in the city. He can't bring his tithe. He has nothing to offer God
but prayers and praise and tears. And God treasures every bit of it. David knows that he comes to God empty-handed,
and that he's deeply in need of everything. He cries out to his only hope, who is
also my only hope and your only hope. Our God is attentive, and He knows we have
nothing to offer Him, but He delights in us still. You can take your needs and your nothing to Him - He's where the joy is! Not everyone's quiet time looks the same. Sometimes they aren't quiet at all, right? I actually refer to my quiet
time as “priority time”, because that title helped me remember
the place it holds in my schedule and my life. So if you're new to this or if you just want to add
more tools to your toolkit, in case you find them helpful, I'd love to share more about
what my priority time looks like. We built out a PDF that we're
offering to you for free. So if you want to get access to
our free Priority Time Toolkit, all you have to do is go to thebiblerecap.com/time and submit your email address. That's thebiblerecap.com/time - like quiet time, but without the quiet. [Music]