Thoughts for the Day

Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
all day long foes oppress me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many fight against me.
O Most High, when I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid;
what can flesh do to me?.....

You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your record?
Then my enemies will retreat
on the day when I call.

This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

King Saul has been chasing David throughout the land, trying to kill him. Now, however, David has been captured by another enemy, the Philistine, and in Psalm 57, we see him alone and desperately afraid. This is the young man that fought and killed a lion, a bear, and of course, Goliath, but now he is powerless. He has no way of saving himself and is likely to lose his life. However, he does know what to do with this fear - he knows that God can rescue him from anything that threatens him - so he turns to God for help.

He uses an old idea of collecting tears in a bottle. Ancient societies would collect the tears of those who had lost loved ones, and put them in a small bottle on the grave as proof of their grief. (Don't ask me how it could be done!). So David alludes to this idea, arguing that God has captured all David's tears over the years of being harassed by King Saul and his supporters. This will surely bring to God's mind all he has suffered, and He will help him when he calls.

The passage above closes with the wonderful words "This I know, that God is for me!" The Christian who knows that God is there ready to support and fight their battles need never fear anything that happens on this earth. When we are afraid, we should put all our trust in God!

Heavenly Father,
when we are afraid
may we immediately turn to You,
as a child to a parent.
Whatever happens rescue us
from whatever we fear,
and give us the strength to continue
safe in the knowledge
that You have our best welfare
at heart.
Amen.