For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?”

1 Save me, O God, by your name;
    vindicate me by your might.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
    listen to the words of my mouth.

3 Arrogant foes are attacking me;
    ruthless people are trying to kill me—
    people without regard for God.

4 Surely God is my help;
    the Lord is the one who sustains me.

5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
    in your faithfulness destroy them.

6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
    I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.
7 You have delivered me from all my troubles,
    and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes. (NIV)

At the heart of this brief, and beautiful, psalm there is a confident expression of belief in God’s ”help” (4). As the title to this psalm shows, it was written at a time of very real danger, but David had proved God as his very real helper in the past, and he was utterly confident that He would come to his aid again (6,7).

Someone wrote that, ‘Whereas all of Scripture speaks to us, the psalms speak for us.’ Like David, we often find ourselves in tight corners. We regularly feel out of our depth, and overwhelmed by life’s many challenges. But also, along with him, have we not also found God to be our ”help”?

”God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble” (Ps.46:1);

”I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth” (Ps.121:1,2);

”So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Is.41:10);

”14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebs.4:14-16)

” Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”

6 So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebs.13:5,6)

PRAYER: Lord, you know what I’m facing, and how weak and small I am. I seek to entrust myself and my needs to you, and I ask for your help.

THOUGHT: Looking to God for help doesn’t mean passivity. We do what we need to do; what we have to do. We accept our responsibilities, but we ask God for His help to do it all.