Psalm 108

I want to begin with a story about David. David was the greatest king in Israel’s ancient history. He was called the man after God’s own heart. With such accolades, you might be inclined to think that his life was easy. For those of you who are familiar with his story, you know that wasn’t the case. David’s life was filled with struggle. And when I say filled with struggle, I mean real, life-threatening, gut-wrenching, despair-producing struggle.

We are introduced to David when he is a teenager, perhaps 15. That’s when the prophet Samuel anoints him to be the future king of Israel. If you put yoursel in that story, such an event would invite all kinds of dreams of a bright future. And they did begin that way. In the next chapter David kills Goliath, the giant who had sparked fear into the Israeli army. It was a shocking event and rallied Israel to a great victory over the Philistines. David was recruited into Saul’s service and found great success in his military campaigns as a commander in Saul’s army. But Saul grew jealous and David was eventually forced to flee for his life, hiding in caves for a time and eventually taking refuge with the Philistines themselves. What had been promised in his anointing was far from being fulfilled.

But things go from bad to worse. When the Philistines come together to face Israel in battle, David and his men are sent back only to discover that their homes had been burned with fire and their women and children taken.

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters… (1 Samuel 30:6)

This was a low point in David’s life. How could there be such a gap between what God had promised and the fulfillment of that promise? And how do you endure in such a time? That’s a dilemma that we all face at some time or another.

Some of you are here this morning reeling in setbacks to your own past sinful patterns. You may remember the sense of hope that comes with the promise of eternal life when you first found your faith in God. The Kingdom of God is a great promise! But now, you feel defeated by your sin. There is a gap between the promise and the fulfillment.

Some of you are here this morning struggling over your children. You remember their baptism, the promise of God of the blessings of the New Covenant and the pouring out of the Spirit. While your children, when young, enjoyed the Bible Stories, the catechism chants, and fellowship of the church, now they are teenagers or grown and seem so far from the reality of those promises. There is a gap between the promise and the fulfillment.

Some of you are here this morning struggling over ministry. You remember the excitement and energy that you once had meeting new people, and training and equipping, but now things seem stagnant or even declining. There is a gap between the promise and the fulfillment. How do you get through it? This is where David’s story helps. Let me read the rest of that verse:

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. (1 Samuel 30:6)

How do you strengthen yourself in the Lord? I think this is exactly what Psalm 108 is showing us how to do. At the core of this prayer is a reflection on who God is, and the result of that reflection is renewed confidence: with God, we move forward valiantly! Because the Lord is our God, we shall do valiantly!