Scripture Reading: Psalm 55

To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Contemplation of David.

Give ear to my prayer, O God, and do not hide yourself from my supplication. Attend to me and hear me. I am restless in my complaint and moan noisily, because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring down trouble upon me, and in wrath they hate me. My heart is severely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me. So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Indeed, I would wander far off and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.”

Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in this city. Day and night they go around it on its walls. Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it. Destruction is in its midst. Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets. For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me, who has exalted himself against me, then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion, and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in the throng.

Let death seize them; let them go down alive into hell, for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them. But as for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me. God will hear and afflict them, even He who abides from of old, because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God.

He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. But you, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in You.

Opening Prayer

Let’s seek the Lord’s blessing on this, His Word. O gracious God in heaven, we do praise You and thank You for Your Word. We know Your Word is our only infallible rule for faith and life, and we thank You for this passage, this psalm that You bring to us this morning. And we pray that as we consider this psalm, that Your Spirit would be with us, giving us insight and understanding, helping us to see the great truth that is here, the great hope that is offered here, the great comfort, and that You would truly apply these things to our lives and our hearts. And so we ask, Lord, that as Your Word goes forth in the power of the Spirit, we pray that it would truly find within each and every one of our hearts here, that rich fertile soil that will bring about a great and abundant fruit all for Your glory. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray, amen.

The Call to Authenticity

Friends, it is time to get real. It’s time to get real with ourselves and with one another and especially with the Lord. See, too often we’re tempted to put on an outward display and that everything is all right in our lives and we have, as we’re pretending that we have our acts together. We’re afraid to look weak and vulnerable, and so it’s as if we’re putting on a mask, trying to hide all the flaws, the faults, the problems, the struggles, and the sin in our lives. And we really work hard to convince ourselves and to convince others that all is well and good, when in reality, it isn’t.

You may even come to God with the same kind of mask and facade, praying simple, basic prayers for simple, basic needs, which is fine to do, but that’s all we do. And we say that the heart and the soul are just off limits, as we don’t express ourselves deeply. That as we don’t probe very deep to reveal to God the great burdens of our hearts, the emotional and the spiritual pain, the anguish and the suffering. We may even shy away from confessing our sins and unloading that great burden that the sins place upon us. It’s as if we want God to think that we’re doing just fine.

Now friends, we may be able to fool ourselves and others, but we cannot fool God. He knows our hearts. He knows our sins. He knows our sorrows and our griefs. He knows the very depths of our souls and the burdens that we carry around with us. He knows these things and He also wants us to come to Him with them and to be real with Him. Because when we’re real with God, revealing our true selves to Him with all our faults and imperfections, all our burdens and our troubles, it’s then that we will receive real hope for comfort, strength, and deliverance.

And such hope and comfort is essential for us, especially when we come face to face with what, from a human perspective, may seem like a very hopeless situation. Well, this is the challenge that Psalm 55 sets before us.

David’s Distress and Honest Prayer

And we don’t know the particular setting for this psalm. Some contend that the betrayal spoken of here is connected to the rebellion of David’s son Absalom, or even the betrayal of David’s chief advisor Ahithobel, who joined with Absalom in that rebellion. But whatever the situation, one thing becomes very evidently clear: David is in great distress, and he’s facing a hopeless situation. And he very honestly lays it all out for the Lord.

Three times in the first two verses, David prays, seeking God’s gracious favor. He says, “Give ear to my prayer. Do not hide yourself from my supplication. Attend to me and hear me.” David doesn’t doubt that God will hear his prayers, but he’s praying as one who acknowledges that even though he’s the king, and has this great position of power and honor, he is still just a sinful man who desires a hearing from the most holy, sovereign God. David doesn’t take God for granted. He diligently and humbly asks God to hear him and answer his prayers.

And again, we’re reminded of the great challenge that this sets before us. Because when we’re in trouble, we should call for help. Again, too often, we may not call for help because we’re afraid to admit that we’re in trouble, because we have this fear of appearing weak. Friends, again, we need to get real with ourselves, and we need to confess that we are weak, and that we truly can’t do everything in our own strength, and that we do need help.

Paul discovered the source of this great help when he prayed three times that God would remove this thorn in the flesh that he was afflicted with. But the Lord responds to him in 2 Corinthians 12:9 saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” The Lord telling the Apostle Paul that His grace is truly sufficient and that the strength of God is made perfect in weakness. And it was trusting in this sufficiency of God’s grace that the Apostle Paul learned, as he later says in the next verse, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

David acknowledges his weakness, and he’s not ashamed to cry out for help. But as he continues his prayer, we see an increase in the intensity of his distress. In verses 1 and 2, he confesses that he is restless and he moans noisily. Now, there’s nothing like a little affliction and suffering to burden you down with sleepless nights and audible groans instead of clear thoughts to focus on what you need to do during the day. But being restless and moaning noisily is pretty mild compared to the severe pain or anguish, the sense of impending doom as the terrors of death fall upon him in verse 4. And then add to this in verse 5, the fearfulness and trembling and the sheer horror of being overwhelmed with all his trials. This is no small thing. David is in a mess.

And he can hear the voice, he can hear the clamoring sound of his oppressors all around him, and they’re closing in. He feels trapped by all the troubles that have been brought upon him. And the anger and the bitterness that’s been directed his way is just too much for him to bear.

The Desire to Escape

So what does he do? Now perhaps at an earlier time in his life, David would have stayed. And he would have fought against his enemies and overcome them as he trusted in the Lord. But here he seems to be too tired for that. There’s a sense that he’s very wearied here. His energy is sapped. He’s exhausted. He’s tired of fighting. So what does he do? He gets real. And as he prays, he’s brutally honest with God about exactly what he would like to do.

And he expresses this in verses 6 through 8. In those verses, he basically says, he wants out. He wishes that he actually had wings like a dove so that he could just fly away from all the assaults that are against him. In fact, he’d even prefer to be in the desolate solitude of the wilderness than to be overwhelmed with such trials and troubles. He wants to be far away from the cause of his fear and trembling. He wants to fly away to a quiet place of refuge where he can’t be assaulted from the storms of life that have been so fiercely pounding and pounding and pounding upon him. He wants to escape from it all.

David is simply being honest with himself and with God. He openly says, “Look God, I’ve had enough. I just want out. This is just too hard. I can’t bear to carry on another day under this kind of pressure.” Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever wished that you had wings to simply fly away from it all? All the problems and the pressures of family and work and bills and sickness and bodily affliction and sorrow, grief, personal sin and temptations. It’s too much. Wouldn’t it be great to just have wings and just leave it all behind?

And be honest and get real with God. Tell Him exactly how you feel, even as David does here. And you can do this. We ought not to be afraid to be real with God in expressing ourselves. Because God wants us to be real with Him because Jesus, even Jesus, was real with the Father when He prayed there in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before He was to be put to death. Jesus, knowing fully what was to come, remember how He prayed, “Father, let this cup pass.” It’s Jesus’ way of saying, “Please, let me just fly away and escape what’s coming.”

But we know Jesus didn’t fly away, thankfully. And as we’ll see with David, who is a type of Christ, what we would like to do, right? And as we express to God what it is we want, well then ultimately though, we need to be conformed to what it is God would have us do. And so yes, it’s good to be real in our prayers and express to God exactly what we want, but we also must pray, again, following the example of Christ, “Not my will, but Your will be done.” We want to express these things and God wants us to be clear and express our troubles. “God, this is what I want out. But not what I want. What You want.” Because what God wants is the better plan. Is the perfect plan. The plan for our good and His glory.

The Temptation to Escape

And so what is it that God’s will is regarding our problems? Well, certainly the temptation to escape is going to be great. And again, too often we may give in to such temptations, and many people do. And there’s many ways that people use to escape. Some will drown their sorrows by abusing alcohol or drugs, illegal or prescription drugs. Some may indulge themselves in sexual sins and the use of pornography in an attempt to just numb the pain of past and present afflictions. Some put in long hours at work simply to avoid going home and all the troubles that would face them there. Others escape through fantasy and entertainment provided through TV and the computer and video games. Others may dive with reckless abandon into the buffet line thinking that food will ease their pain. And some avoid their troubles by just never getting out of bed.

And of course, the ultimate escape from despair, pain, and suffering is the taking of your own life, when you’ve lost all hope for relief. But everything we try to stuff down, everything we try to run away from, whether it’s our past, whether it’s our present conflict with emotions, our present pain and suffering, whatever it is, we need to know that those things will eventually catch up with us. And they’ll bubble up, causing even more distress in our lives, and especially in the lives of those around us.

The Source of David’s Troubles

So what are we to do? If we’re too tired to fight, and resorting to flight will only make things worse, what do we do? I’ll be assured there is a better way. But first, we aren’t done with David and his troubles. In verses 9 to 11, David begins to get more specific about the source of his troubles as he looks and sees oppression and a corruption all around him. He says, violence and strife encircled the city, not just under the cover of darkness, but even in the broad daylight. And this shows that there’s no sense of shame or guilt at all for breaking God’s law. Their sin is committed openly.

But this was just the beginning. Just the beginning of what David saw as he continues to build an intensity, his description of the fallenness of the city. He says, “Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it. Destruction is in its midst. Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets.” And so instead of peace and order, there’s lawlessness and chaos seems to be reigning. And this isn’t a very friendly city.

But the shocking thing we need to remember is that this is David writing this. And the city that he’s talking about isn’t a city of Philistia or Ammon. It’s the capital city of Judah. He’s talking about Jerusalem, even Zion, the holy city where God was pleased to dwell in the midst of His people. But it’s been given over to lawlessness and sin to the point where there’s no distinction between Jerusalem and the godless cities of the pagan nations. And David acknowledges it’s no longer a safe place to be. It’s no longer safe, not only because of the lawlessness of the citizens, but at the heart of the trouble is a plot of rebellion and betrayal.

And this David goes on to describe in verse 12: it isn’t an enemy who’s after him, nor one who had previously expressed hatred toward him. No, though those things would certainly be unpleasant for anyone to experience. You expect your enemies to hate and despise you. And because you can expect it, well, you can prepare for it. But what you aren’t prepared for is betrayal by a friend or close companion. And this is what’s causing David such great heart-wrenching distress. This is why he wants to fly away.

And he declares right to the offender in verse 13, “But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in the throng.” This is one of David’s closest friends. They fellowshipped together. They shared meals together. They even worshipped God together. But it was all a sham, a deception, a treacherous lie.

And David, again, being very graphic and specific, continues in verses 20 and 21, basically saying, “Look, I was at peace with him, but he put out his hand against me. We made a covenant with one another, kind of like BFF, best friends forever, but he violated it. His speech was smooth as butter to flatter me, and his words were as soft as oil to encourage me, and yet there was war in his heart. And when I was unaware, he turned on me and stabbed me in the back.” The one whom David thought was a dear friend and ally was actually a deceitful liar and enemy.

Now perhaps some of you had this most unpleasant experience. Perhaps a family member, a coworker, a neighbor, a friend, perhaps even someone in the church who took advantage of you, misused and abused you and betrayed your confidence. And such wounds we know are hard to overcome as that trust has been violated. We find such deceitfulness shocking, because it goes against even the most basic principles of civility. You just don’t betray a friend. Who would do such a thing?

But David uncovers the root of the problem in verse 19. He says, “God will hear and afflict them, even He who abides from of old, because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God.” It is the fact that though a betrayer may seem like a friend, he doesn’t change his ways. And as verses 20 and 21 go on to elaborate, what’s in his heart eventually comes out in his words and in his actions. It’s such a heart that doesn’t fear God. And we know that a heart that does not fear God are enemies of God’s and enemies of the people of God.

And so it’s clear these aren’t friends, though they presume themselves to be. They’re foes. They’re enemies of God, and therefore they’re enemies of the King whom God anointed to rule over His people.

David’s Call for God’s Judgment

And as King, David calls for God’s judgment to consume them and repay them, and he does so by making two references on how God has previously brought such judgment. The first part of verse 9, here David was speaking about the outbreak of lawlessness in the city. And perhaps the betrayal of this close friend has stirred up others in the city to challenge his authority. And so David prays that God would, “Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues.” David seems to be recalling the judgment that God brought down upon the people in Genesis 11, who were building the Tower of Babel. So they were united together in their pride and in their disobedience against God. And so God divided their tongues so that they could no longer work together. Instead, they were scattered and even worked against one another. Because a divided enemy is much less of a threat than an enemy that is united together.

And the second reference David makes to the past is found in verse 15. He says, “Let death seize them. Let them go down alive into hell, for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.” This seems to recall the rebellion of Korah, Nathan, and Abiram, and that’s recorded in Numbers 16. These three rose up, and they challenged the authority of Moses. But God responded in Moses’ defense by opening the ground beneath them and consuming them, their families, and all that belonged to them.

This is the vindication and the judgment that David desires for God to bring about, not just against his friend turned foe, but really against all those whose hearts don’t change and who have no fear of God before them. And this is indeed the reality of the judgment at the return of Christ. Such things will stand for those or will happen to those who do not fear God and have no fear of God before them.

David’s Faith and Persistent Prayer

And so this is the horrific pressure that David has been facing. There’s lawlessness in the streets. Enemies are rising up at his very side. And again, he’s too tired to fight on his own strength. What he really wants to do is to just escape it all and fly away. But he knows, he knows that there’s a better way. And as David prays here, we see his faith and hope are strengthened as he gains now confidence in the strength and the power of the Lord.

And so the turning point really of the Psalm is in verse 16. Because David has described, “Look, this is what they’re doing. This is what these enemies of mine are doing.” Those who have rebelled against him, who have turned against him. “But as for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me.” He takes his care and concerns to God in prayer. But note he doesn’t just pray once and then forgets about it. He shows his sincerity and true desire as he gives us an example to persist in prayer.

Verse 17: “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.” And so the oppression of his enemies and the anguish of having been betrayed by a close friend really just drives him to his knees in prayer. And beloved God, I want you to know that there’s no better place to be during times of hopeless trouble as we turn to God in prayer and rely upon His all-sufficient grace.

You know, even when we’ve been pushed and forced down to the ground by our enemies and the attacks and the onslaughts of the evil one that He brings upon us, you know, they’ve actually helped us to begin to make that first step in our sure and certain victory over them. Because when we’re on our knees in prayer, we are strong in Christ and we are growing stronger. And so we ought to persist in our prayers. Don’t be easy to give up or distracted, but persist in prayer. For the more we persevere in prayer, the more our faith in God and His sovereign power to save and deliver us will grow and increase. And we will get stronger in Christ.

And this is what we see with David here in his confidence in God’s deliverance as it grows. In verse 16 he says, “The Lord shall save me.” Verse 17, “He shall hear my voice.” Verse 18, “He will redeem my soul in peace.” Verse 19, “God will hear and afflict them.” And then finally he speaks with a confident faith directly to God in verse 23: “But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days.” David is assured now of God’s victory. And then he seals this assurance with the commitment, “But I will trust in You.”

David noticed he takes no vengeance in his own hands. We even saw that in that passage with Abner and Joab. David didn’t take vengeance in his hands. He prayed to God that God would deal with them. He knows, David now knows, that to flee from his problems isn’t the answer. And even though he has no strength to fight, he’ll stand firm in his faith and he’ll trust God to strengthen him and to deliver him.

Counsel to Cast Burdens on the Lord

Beloved God, this is the very counsel that David now gives to us and the Lord, obviously, through David. And it’s as if he’s looking over his enemies in the present affliction and he’s looked down through the corridor of time and he sees us all sitting here, reading and listening about his ordeal. And he turns and he advises us, here in verse 22: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you.” Did you hear these wise words of this broken and battered man of long ago? “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you.”

Whatever your burden is—physical, spiritual, or emotional pain and suffering, maybe financial stress and worries, problems in your marriage or your relationships, oppression from enemies and those who’ve betrayed you, struggles with sin, either in the past or in the present, disappointment, discouragement, despair, depression, loneliness, fatigue, worry for the future—what is your burden? Whatever it is, cast it upon the Lord, and place your hope and trust in Him.

Friends, this is David’s counsel, and he speaks from experience, and he assures that if we heed the counsel given, that there is a promise of great reward. “He shall sustain you, for He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” Whatever your troubles or burdens, cast them upon the Lord and He will surely sustain you.

The Assurance of Christ’s Victory

Now how can we be so sure? How can we have the hope and confidence that what David is saying here is true? Why should we risk the vulnerability of being real before God and others and acknowledging to God our weakness that we can’t save ourselves? Friends, we can take heed to this counsel and be confident of the promise because the words of David in the Psalm are ultimately the words of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And they speak of His experience when He greatly humbled Himself and became flesh and dwelt among us.

And that Jesus Himself offered that same invitation: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And of course we remember as Jesus approached the cross, remember how overwhelmed He was. And we see this in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Matthew 26, where He’s praying, where we read this about Jesus: “He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.” Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” And He fell on His face and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.”

And then in Luke 22, we read that in being in agony, He prayed more earnestly, then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Jesus. The words that David is using here to describe his own affliction are the words of Christ Himself and what He endured. Indeed, even Jesus was betrayed by a close friend. And He’s praying here in the garden. He’s being very real to His human nature, that He was greatly distressed and even overwhelmed, so much so that His blood was coming out from His pores. He was tempted with thoughts of flight, “Let this cup pass, I don’t want to do this.” And yet He fully committed Himself to doing God’s will.

And again, as we mentioned, to add to His misery, we know that later that same night after He was done praying, that He was betrayed by one of His closest companions, Judas, one of the 12. Someone He’d spent a lot of time with over the past three years. They had walked together. They had lived together. They had eaten together. They had shared many things together. Many times a sweet fellowship, they had worshiped together, but Judas betrayed Him.

And then later, again, looking at David’s experience of the whole city being in an uproar, we remember how the whole city turned against Jesus. Just a few days later, they were crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David who comes in the name of the Lord.” But now, just several days later, they’re crying out with a great vengeance, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” They’ve all turned against Him and have rejected Him.

And what did Jesus do? He didn’t fight. He didn’t run away and escape. And certainly He could have. Remember, that was even one of the taunts when He was there hanging on the cross: “Take yourself down if you are the Son of God.” The temptation laid before Him right there, even at the very end, to escape. But Jesus remained steadfast and was obedient to His Father’s will, even to the point of the painful and shameful death of the cross.

And friends, because Jesus stood firm, He conquered Satan’s sin and death for us. He was victorious. And He then secured for us the very real hope of forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Final Exhortation and Closing Prayer

So brothers and sisters, what are you waiting for? Now is the time to get real. To get real with yourselves and especially with the Lord. Get real and grab on to this sure and certain hope. Take heed to the counsel that is offered here. Cast all your burdens upon the Lord—your burden of sin, your burden of grief, your burden of pain and suffering, your burden of disappointment, whatever your burden might be, cast it all at the feet of Jesus. And He will sustain you by His all-sufficient grace. He’ll forgive you and strengthen you, and He will empower you to remain steadfast in faith and to persevere to the end that He has appointed for His glory.

Cast your burdens upon the Lord and receive the very real hope that He offers. Cast your burdens upon the Lord and trust in Him and you will be saved and delivered to the glory of God alone.

Let’s pray. Oh, gracious God and heavenly Father, we do rejoice and give thanks for Your Word. And we thank You for this great comfort of hope that You offer to us. And Lord, there’s many different of us here. We don’t know what each one is dealing with, but certainly many of us may be carrying around all kinds of burdens. And we pray, Father, that as we hear these words of the psalmist of David from long ago and all the suffering and the trials and the affliction that he endured and how they ultimately are speaking of our Savior and what He endured on our behalf. And the invitation and the plea, the counsel that is given here, that whatever our burden might be, may we cast it at Your feet. That we’d be free from that burden as we entrust it to Your care.

As we seek to walk in faith and truth and righteousness for the praise of Your glorious name. Father, we pray that by Your Spirit You would enable each of us here who may be struggling with these kinds of burdens to do just that, even now. That we’d seek to bring glory to Your name and that You would truly encourage us, that You would apply all these truths to our hearts, drawing us all closer to Yourself. That You would use these words to further equip us and strengthen us to be faithful witnesses, to be beacons of light and hope in this dark world that is in desperate need of the gospel, of the hope that we’ve spoken of even this day.

And we pray that You would bless us in that, in the ministry of that gospel, all to the praise of Your glorious name. We pray for Your blessing in these things. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.