Psalm 141 — 142
immortal until his work was done. If David had worried about the traps and hidden snares the enemy had set, he would have been paralyzed with fear; but he committed himself to the Lord and walked safely through the battlefield. Four simple words declare his faith: "I pass by safely" (v. 10 nasb). This reminds us of our Lord's experience in the synagogue at Nazareth, when the people became angry at His message and tried to throw Him from a cliff, but "he ... went his way" (Luke 4:28–30). Life goes on and there is work to do, so we must not allow tough situations to paralyze us but to energize us in trusting the Lord. Life's trials are not excuses for doing nothing; they are opportunities for claiming God's promises and experiencing His miraculous power.
the enemy, and he knew this was wrong. But, they were slandering him, so why should he not slander them? But the problem was with his heart, not his mouth, and he prayed for a heart that would not be inclined to approve of their sins and imitate them (Prov. 4:23). David pictured his temptation as "eating their delicacies" (see Prov. 4:14–17). Times of testing become times of temptation when we stop believing and start scheming, when we ask "How can I get out of this?" instead of "What can I get out of this?"
"I Will Gladly Accept Counsel" (v. 5) "The righteous" can also be translated "the Righteous One," referring to the Lord; but either way, the message is the same. When we yield to God's will, the difficulties of life are tools that God uses to bring maturity to our lives. Often the Lord sends people to speak to us, and their words hurt us, but they do not harm us (Prov. 9:8; 17:10; 19:25; 27:10). King Saul did not listen to rebuke and went from bad to worse. In the ancient world, honored guests at a meal were anointed with fragrant oil (Luke 7:44–46), but David knew that the enemy's delicacies and oil were but bait in the traps they had set for him (vv. 9–10). David would rather be admonished than anointed. As we face the problems and perils of the Christian life, it is important that we listen to wise counsel and obey it.
PSALM 142
This is the last of the psalms attributed to David that relate to the years in which he was fleeing from Saul (see 7, 34, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59). Whether his "prison" (v. 7) was the cave of Adullum (1 Sam. 22) or a cave in En Gedi (1 Sam. 24), we cannot be sure, but it is obvious that he was in danger and was depressed and feeling abandoned. But he did what God's people must always do in times of crisis: he looked to the Lord for help. He knew very little about Saul and his plans, but he did know about Jehovah and His great promises, and because of his faith in these assurances, he triumphed over his feelings and his foes.
"I Will Let God Judge My Enemies" (vv. 6–7) These two verses have puzzled translators and expositors, but the general message seems clear. David continued to pray for his enemies, and he saw a day coming when God would judge them and vindicate his own cause (138:8; 140:12). Perhaps it is best to translate the verbs "Let the judges be thrown down … let them learn that my words were true … let them say, 'As one plows….'" To throw people from a cliff was a terrible form of execution (2 Chron. 25:12; Luke 4:29), but David is no doubt speaking in metaphorical language as in verses 1–5. When God has judged the leaders, their followers will agree that David's words were correct, especially when they see the unburied bones of those leaders bleaching in the sun. The scavenger birds and beasts will have stripped their corpses of flesh. If "they" in verse 7 refers to David's men, the idea may be that they are willing to die for David's cause and be "plowed under," for this will eventually bring a harvest of righteousness to the land. The image is similar to that in 129:1–4. However, the first explanation is better.
The Lord Hears Our Prayers (vv. 1–2) David not only cried aloud with his voice, but he cried earnestly from his heart. He was a godly young man who had faithfully served the Lord and his king, and yet there he was in a cave, hiding like a guilty criminal. Later in life, David would understand more fully that during those fugitive years in the wilderness, God was equipping him for the work he would do the rest of his life, but at the time, his situation was miserable. His feelings were so pent up within him that he "poured out" his troubles (43:4; 62:8; 102 title) and his inner turmoil ("complaint"). God knew David's difficult situation better than he did, but the Lord has ordained that our prayers are a part of His providential answers. When we need bread, our heavenly Father wants us to come and ask (Luke 11:9–13). The word trouble means "in a tight place, in narrow straits" (120:1; 138:7; 143:11). David would learn that those dangerous narrow places usually led to wider places and greater opportunities (18:18–19; 4:1; 25:17).
"I Will Keep Going by Faith" (vv. 8–10) Fixing one's eyes on the invisible Lord means living by faith in His Word (Isa. 45:22; Heb. 12:1–2). God had anointed David to be king of Israel, and nothing but David's own disobedience could frustrate that plan. Unlike Peter when he walked on the water in the storm, David did not take his eyes of faith off the Lord (Matt. 14:22–33). God was David's refuge, and he was
The Lord Knows Our Circumstances (vv. 3–4) In verse 3, the pronoun changes from "him" to "you" (see 23:4). David was a great warrior, but he was "feeling faint" within and was overwhelmed by all that was happening to him (77:3; 143:4; Jonah 2:7; Lam. 2:12). But what life does to us depends on what life finds in