CONFIDENCE AND CALM TRUST AMID OVERWHELMING CALAMITIES
By I. H. E.
An Exiled King, but Not in Despair—The Courageous and Hopeful Way Out of Distress It is thought that David, the sweet singer of Israel, composed the sixty-third psalm while in the wilderness of Judah, where he had fled to escape capture and death at the hand of his son Absalom. Many years before, when young, strong, and hopeful, David had fled from the jealous wrath of Saul, and concealed himself in this same desolate wilderness. Here he had gathered a band of warriors, bold and daring like himself, ready to follow his leadership against a common foe. But even while there, the words of the aged prophet, telling him that after Saul he should be king, rang in his ears. The touch of the holy anointing oil was still indelibly impressed upon his mind. Before him lay his life, all unknown save for the few brief, illuminating words of the prophet. A long, useful, and wonderful career lay between that early exile and this later flight from his beloved Jerusalem, when in the decline of his life, David flees from the cruel ambitions of his own son, and finds a refuge in the very cave in which he once hid from the wrath of Saul. JEALOUSY, CONTENTION, AND DECEIT MARRED HIS PEACE
Even when established on the throne of Israel, the life of David was not one of unbroken serenity; and during the later years of his reign his family life had been marred by jealousy, contention, and deceit. The disgrace of a fair daughter; the murder of one son by another in revenge; the exile of the transgressor,—all these things wrung the king’s heart. Later, when Absalom was permitted to return, it was with an unholy ambition burning in his heart. Brave, daring, noble in appearance, and richly endowed with those qualities of mind that win the hearts of men, Absalom first set out to undermine his father’s influence and belittle his authority in the kingdom, and at last caused himself to be proclaimed king in his father’s place. Well did David understand the ruthless character of that beloved, wayward son. He knew that neither his life nor the lives of his household would be safe in the hands of one who had not hesitated to cause his brother’s death. In haste the aged father prepared to leave Jerusalem. How touching is the Bible record of that flight: “And David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot; and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.” TRIUMPH IN THE WILDERNESS HIDING-PLACE
When they had reached the hiding-place in the wilderness, amid all the confusion and misfortune, when his kingdom seemed lost, and he knew not what moment an army might overtake him and his family and put them to death, David wrote the sixty-third psalm. His first utterance is an expression of perfect faith. Claiming God as his own personal God, he said: “O God, Thou art my God.” Surrounded by calamities, in spite of all the eye could see of misfortune and loss and impending ruin, with rocks and caves as his only protection from the heat of day and the chill of night and from wild beasts, an exile from his home and his kingdom, David could still look up and declare, “O God, Thou art my God.” In all this beautiful psalm, David does not ask favors of God. He makes no request that his kingdom be restored to him. He does not mention his misfortune. But he claims Jehovah as his God. His heart seems to be thirsting for spiritual communion, for he adds: “Early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.” Certainly it is a wonderful experience that enables a man who knew the world as David knew it, who had wealth and honor as no other man of his time, and who in a single day had become an exile from home, with no prospect of reclaiming his kingdom, to cry out for God, and God alone. The physical discomforts, the loss of possessions and honor, concerned him but little. His heart cried out for a sight of the glory of God as he had seen it in the sanctuary in the days of his prosperity. FAITH RISES TO THE EMERGENCY
David’s faith gave no place to doubt. Even without suitable shelter or food for himself and his family, he declared: “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips: when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches.” A man who can utter such language when in the deepest trouble, whose faith holds on to God when all earthly prospects have been blighted, and who, amid unspeakable depths of affliction, has such a longing for God that his heart forgets its own sorrows and misfortunes, has a source of strength and support which, though unseen, passes all utterance. This is the true Christian’s consolation, his joy, his fountain of unfailing help. David did not doubt his past experience. He knew that God had been with him. “Because Thou hast been my help,” he said, “therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.” Had he looked only at the present, forgetting the past, one would think him justified in saying, “Surely God has forsaken me. Once I thought Him my helper, but now it is evident that He has cast me off forever.” But we read no such reflection, no such note of despair. Looking upon the past, and knowing for a certainty that God had been with him, the exiled king declares: “Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.” WORTH MORE THAN CROWNS AND WEALTH
Such an experience, such a faith in God, is worth more to the Christian than earthly treasures, more than crowns and earthly kingdoms. To know God, His faithfulness, His abiding goodness and constant care, to believe, though the present may seem entirely out of keeping with our desires and plans, that God is leading, and that He will still keep us,—this is an experience to which every Christian is entitled, and when once possessed it is of far more value than the priceless treasures of earth. I. H. E.