Text: Psalm 56:1-13
“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” —Psalm 56:8
Have you heard about the toddler in Oklahoma who recently called 911 requesting emergency donuts? “9-1-1 it is an emergency,” the toddler said over the phone. “An emergency?” the dispatcher asked. “Emergency donuts,” he joyfully replied. Surprisingly, the dispatcher granted his petition and some officers from the Moore Police Department showed up to deliver a box of donuts, even after the toddler said he wasn’t going to share his donuts.
In Psalm 56, we see a worshiper of God who could use a little comfort of his own, perhaps even dispatched in the form of “emergency donuts.” David is all alone, again. A situation not at all unfamiliar to him. All those youthful days of keeping sheep in desolate fields outside of Bethlehem had prepared him for moments like this.
David had been seized by the Philistines in Gath after fleeing King Saul and his aggressive moves to ruin David. “My enemies trample on me all day long,” he laments. As the Philistines seemingly mock that David’s best days are behind him (1 Samuel 21:11), the fugitive worshiper takes to prayer. “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise…”
David’s survival instincts kick in as he pretends to be an insane madman before the Philistines. 1 Samuel 21 gives us a glimpse of what is going on externally with David while Psalm 56 gives us a glimpse of what is going on internally at the same time. Crazy on the outside, trusting God on the inside. Chaos coexisting with worship. I don’t know about you, but I can surely relate.
As David tries to stay alive in enemy territory, his heart knows where to turn and what to believe. In his journal he writes: “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.” The Hebrew word here for “tossings” carries the meaning of “wandering as an aimless fugitive or exile.” David surely understands loneliness, but his empathy will be shaped by this trait and will help to make him such a great king in his future kingdom. He knows God is there, well acquainted with his sorrows and struggles, and that God keeps precise account of his tears.
David’s resolution can be our resolution when going through such a season of lonesomeness. “This I know,” he recalls. “God is for me.” That is the game-changer for David.
There will be times when all we have from heaven’s dispatch is an “emergency donut” in the form of a promise. But we can savor His promises because God always keeps His promises. Romans 8 guarantees: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Don’t miss that, beloved. Jesus is interceding for you today no matter where you are or what you are going through.
This chapter in Romans concludes with the reassurance that nothing in the entire cosmos can ever separate us from God’s love and Jesus’ rescue mission. So, take comfort in this truth, and if you need to, enjoy a chocolate glazed donut as you abide in Him this week.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, this world can be a crazy place. My days can feel chaotic. It’s easy to feel betrayed by people or circumstances. But your presence is always here. You never leave, you never run out, and you never tap out of the madness. Thank you that even in enemy territory, or when I’m feeling like a fugitive in this world, God is for me. That was true for David, and it is true for me. I praise you, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion:
- What is your emergency comfort food?
- Like David, when have you gone through a season of lonesomeness?
- In what ways do you need to trust God with your chaos right now? Can you think of something practical?
- David teaches us that worship not only can coexist with the madness in our lives, but it should. What does that look like for you right now?
- Have you made agreements with the enemy’s lie that God isn’t for you? Take time to renounce those agreements and rededicate yourself to the right kind of agreements with God’s promises.
