Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

• These are the spiritual riches that remained after David’s miraculous escape from death in the cave and his astonishing victory in the war with Edom. From the cave he emerged with pure praise in his heart and from the war he inherited the promise of perpetual victory over his enemies. In this song he is passing both treasures on to the reader. It contains 3 distinct sections:

I WAKE UP MY SOUL ! 1-5 Praise from David II MY WARRIORS - 6-9 Prophecy from David III WITH GOD’S HELP - 10 Prayer of David

I

WAKE UP MY SOUL ! 1-5 Praise from David

“My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises! (1)

David’s personal experience of trusting in God at the cave of En-Gedi now becomes the song of the nation centuries later as they face some unknown oppressor. It is recorded that Saul and 3,000 sol- diers were hunting David in the wilderness of En-Gedi. “Where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself.” (24:3) David and his men were hiding there and they urged him to kill Saul. David crept up behind him and cut off a piece of his garment. “But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. ‘The Lord knows I shouldn’t have done it,’ … ‘It is a serious thing to attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.’ So David sharply rebuked his men and did not let them kill Saul.” 1 Sam. (24:4-7) After Saul had left the cave David came out and confronted him: “Look, my father, at what I have in my hand. It is a piece of your robe! I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. This proves that I am not trying to harm you and that I have not sinned against you, even though you have been hunting for me to kill me.” (1 Sam. 24:11) Saul became very emotional and acknowledged the kindness that David showed him: “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil.” (1 Sam. 24:17) He returned to his home and David returned to his stronghold. This is the praise section of Psalm 57: The Holy Spirit awakens us from the sleep of spiritual darkness to the brightness of the kingdom of heaven. “Wake up, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here.” (Rom. 13:11,12) When the Spirit awakens our soul our motivations are affected. Often people are filled with a desire to play instruments and praising the Lord and communing with him becomes the first priority of the day. We come alive: • “I will thank you, Lord, in front of all the people.” (3) The awakened worshiper gradually loses their fear of singing in front of others and takes their place in the congregation of praise. They realize they are singing directly to God. • “ I will sing your praises among the nations.” (3) The awakened worshiper has an increasing de- sire to see the nations of the earth know the joy that they experience in the presence of the Lord. • “For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” (4) The awakened worshiper is touched by the boundless love of God and begins to grow in their con- fidence of the Lord’s faithfulness. • “Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth.” (5) The awakened worshiper discovers the powerful position that Christ holds in the heavens, high above all prin- cipality and authority. From the exaltation of Jesus comes the prayer that his glory will expand to the darkest places of the earth. “Wake up, my soul! Wake up, O harp and lyre! I will waken the dawn with my song. (1,2)

II

MY WARRIORS - 6-9 Prophecy from David

Psalm 60 recounts David’s war with the Ammonites, the Aramaeans and a powerful confederacy of nations from the east side of the Jordan River all the way to the region of modern day Iraq. The bat- tle is noted in 1 Chronicles 19:6- “…so Hanun (king of the Ammonites) and the Ammonites sent thirty- eight tons of silver to hire chariots and troops from Aram-naharim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah. They also hired thirty-two thousand chariots and secured the support of the king of Maacah and his army. These forces…were joined by the Ammonite troops that Hanun had recruited from his own towns.” David

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