Psalm 18:1-15
Today’s Psalm 18 is 50 verses long. Breaking it down into smaller chunks is not an easy task. I made the first break at verse 15. Following his introduction and plea for help in the first six verses, David describes the Lord’s intervention in dreamlike, visionary terms (not likely to be taken literally) in verses 7 through 15, a wholistic chunk in itself. Then we see the Lord’s deliverance in the next four verses in more realistic terminology. So verse 15 seemed a good break point.
David models a prayerful life that we should copy: In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears. (v. 6) We have a prayer team at St. Andrew’s. Almost daily, sometimes two or three times a day, we get an e-mail note from Courtenay with a request for prayer for someone in our congregation or for people known to one of our members. I would guess that ninety percent or more of these requests are prayers for healing – for comfort, wisdom, medical intervention, etc. That’s all well and good, but we also have “smaller” needs in our lives than our physical ailments and it’s good if we feel comfortable to have others reach out in prayer with us for those other needs – our anxieties, our finances, our direction in life, whatever.
If I may relate a true story from my past… Early in my Christian walk I had written a 50-page Master’s thesis with zero input from my major professor. He had already turned down two proposals that I had made for topics to write on. It’s early December and I’m wanting him to grade this paper in short order so that I could be included in the December 1976 graduating class. I was part of a prayer group and they knew of my predicament and had said that they would surely be praying. When I knocked on his door he was not in his office, so I studied other courses while I waited in the departmental reception area. I had sat there for 30 or 40 minutes or more, occasionally looking around and glancing up whenever anyone came in from outside. Finally the secretary/receptionist engaged me:
She: “Fred, are you waiting for someone in particular?”
Me: “Yes, Dr. Kahn.”
She: “Oh. Didn’t you hear? He went blind last night! He developed a detached retina in one eye and the doctors have shut both eyes for a month. He’ll be on sick leave for six months.”
Me: “Oh my gosh! That’s terrible! [Pause] I had wanted him to read my Master’s thesis. Now I’m not sure what I should do.”
She: “I would suggest that you go see the graduate director.”
Which I did… She suggested (with my input) that I go see Dr. Hendricks, another professor in that same field of study, and see if he would read it. So I gave it to “Wally” (I knew him informally in another context); he was happy to oblige me and I finished in the following spring’s graduating class. I’m not suggesting that Dr. Kahn going blind was an answer to our prayers, but clearly the “last night” item, together with my arrival on that next morning made this incident more than coincidental. Had I gone in one day earlier I’m certain that my paper would have been rejected and that it would have been another year before I finished. So I credit the Lord’s timing in my life as His answer to prayer. Bottom line: We need to be praying for everything in our lives – big and small.
Psalm 18:1-3,17
Some of my closest times with God have been the worst times of my life. Times when I didn’t know what to do next. One time I had to make a decision that would affect myself and my family greatly. Others were urging me to uproot my family to move to Florida which had favorable bankruptcy laws. This bankruptcy was due to wrongdoing on another’s part and very public. My siblings had already moved to Florida for that reason. The “wolves” were at the door and I locked myself in my bedroom, sat down on the floor and prayed to God for wisdom. I told God I wouldn’t leave that room until I knew I was doing His will. After awhile a peace came over me and I knew what God wanted me to do. We stayed in Kentucky, lost many material things and gained everything. As David tells us in this Psalm, “I called to the Lord who is worthy of praise and I was saved from my enemies.” Our enemy is after more than our lives, he wants our souls.
God is there for us in good times and bad, we just need to reach out to Him, as David says, I called to the Lord, He is worthy of praise.
That is very powerful testimony, Courtenay. I have been there too, where I have tried everything I can do and nothing works. So in desperation, I turn to God (why did it take me so long?), and He is there. I wonder why I so easily forget what He has done for me. Thank you.
Thank you, Louis and Courtenay. Why does it take me so long to turn to God when I know in my head He has and will guide me in His loving presence?