Today, Tuesday November 08
“I Shall Be Satisfied”
Psalm 17:13-15 – A Prayer of David
“Arise, O LORD, Confront him, cast him down; Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword, With Your hand from men, O LORD, From men of the world who have their portion in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure. They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their possession for their babes. As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.”
For about ten years David had to flee from King Saul. During that time, he wrote many of his Psalms. This is one he wrote as he was hiding from Saul and he called it “A Prayer of David”. What do you do when everything is falling apart around you? My friend, you can pray!
David prayed for vindication (vv. 1-5), he prayed for protection (vv. 6-12), and now in these verses he is praying for deliverance (vv. 13-15). It appears that Saul’s army had surrounded him (vv. 9, 11; and see 1 Sam. 23:19-29), and David knew that without the Lord's help, he could not escape. David knew he could put his faith and trust in the faithfulness of God.
We can also have faith and trust God’s faithfulness. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation (trial, tribulation or problem) has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (trial, tribulation or problem) will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” We have never been promised in Scripture that we will not have trials or difficult times, but we have been promised that God, because of His faithfulness, will never allow us to more put on us than we can bear. And whatever God allows to come our way, He will always give us grace to get through it.
I’m convinced that David often reminded himself of the stories in the Torah, “The Law of Moses” (the first five books of the Bible.” He recalled the history of Israel being delivered from Egypt by the “mighty hand of God”. How God protected and miraculously provided for them for forty years in the wilderness. David remembered how God gave him courage and strength to face the lion, the bear, and the giant. He had experienced God’s faithfulness in the past and believe God would be faithful for his present circumstances!
David now sees the Lord as his gracious Redeemer, rescuing him and his men from the wicked hands of Saul. These verses contrast the "people of this world" to the "people of God" who live for that which is eternal. "Arise, O Jehovah" reminds us of Psalms 3:7, 7:6, 9:19 and 10:12, all of which go back to Numbers 10:35. He asks the Lord to confront Saul and his army, cast them down, and use His sword to defeat them. "Cast down" (v. 13) can be translated "make him crouch down like a lion that has been subdued." (See v. 12.) Except for his son Jonathan, Saul and his leaders were not spiritually minded but thought only of the things of this fleeting world (Psalms 39:5; 49:1; 89:47). As "men of the world," they lived for time, not for eternity, and for their own pleasures, and not for the glory of God. (See Luke 16:8 and 25 and James 5:5.)
Verse 14 is difficult to translate, but the sense seems clear: God was storing up judgment for David's enemies (Matt. 23:32; 1 Thess. 2:16), and their only reward would be in this life, not in the afterlife. They were full, they had many children who lacked nothing, and they would leave their wealth to their descendants. But the consequences of their sins would also be inherited by their descendants (Ex. 34:7; Num. 14:18). One translation puts verse 14 this way: "May they have their punishment in full. May their children inherit more of the same, and may the judgment continue to their children's children".
But verse 15 describes David's glorious future: seeing God's face and sharing God's likeness. This is one of the few texts in The Psalms that touches on the future life (see Psalms 16:11 and 73:23-26). "Awake" is a metaphor for the resurrection of the human body (2 Kings 4:31; Job 14:12, 14 and 26:19; Dan. 12:2; John 11:11; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). David seems to be saying, "Even when I die, the Lord won't desert me; for I shall be awakened and given a glorified body. I shall see His face, and I shall be satisfied!"
David looked back and saw God’s faithfulness. He looked around and remembered God’s faithfulness. And by faith, David looked forward and saw God would always take care of him even in death because of the resurrection! My friend, we should do the same!
God bless!
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