ALONE BUT NOT ABANDONED –

Even though it had been awhile since David fled from Saul and his henchmen, those feelings of being hunted must have come back to him because now he finds himself on the run from one of his own sons. After being treated like an outcast, Absalom not only wanted to move back in with his father; but now by scheming with others he was forcing his father to move out and run for his life. I’m sure David took along all the valuables he could, but one thing he couldn’t take with him was the tent he erected and the Ark of the Covenant that sat inside; the holiest possession he had access to. The longer he was away from Jerusalem, the more he missed those sacred hours in God’s presence.

“I yearn so much to be in Your presence, O One True God, that I’m like a deer desperate for rippling streams of cool water. Yes, my soul thirsts for Your presence, O One True God, my living King; how long will it be before I stand in Your sacred sanctuary again? Day and night tears from my eyes are the only food I’ve had to eat; causing people to ask me sarcastically, ‘Where’s your One True God now?’ It causes me to think about how things use to be, and I want You to know how much it hurts, especially when I remember how I joined others on our way to worship, laughing and praising You, O One True God, all the way to Your sacred sanctuary. So why am I so upset and making such a fuss? I should put my hope in my One True God that one day I will praise Him for not leaving me alone; He’s the God over everything. So day after day I pray the LORD Eternal will assure me of His undying love, so when nighttime comes my heart will respond with song as my prayer to the One who is Lord of my life. But I still find myself asking the Lord of my life: ‘Since You are my Rock, why aren’t You doing something; why must I be so despondent and stressed out by those who are determined to make me feel miserable?’ The way they constantly treat me is killing me emotionally, especially when they taunt me with, ‘Why isn’t your One True God doing anything?’ So why am I so upset and making such a fuss? I should put my hope in the One True God that one day I will praise Him because He’s always there when I need Him the most. He is truly my One True God.” Psalm 42:1-5, 8-11

Reflection: The great British preacher Charles Spurgeon when on vacation to a remote getaway in England. It was known for all the nightingales that nested there. When he arrived the weather was unseasonably cold, and nightingales were nowhere to be seen. Spurgeon wondered if his trip had been in vain. While reminiscing about previous visits and before retiring for the night, he wishfully opened the window in his room to look and see if any nightingales were there. Suddenly he heard a delightful melody coming from a nearby tree. There he spotted a nightingale illuminated by a dim gas lamp burning at the hotel entrance; singing away as it ignored the rain and cold. Later Spurgeon wrote that he did not expect to hear anything so sweet and thrilling again until he hears the angels singing in glory.

If you’ve ever waited for a taxi to pick you up for an important engagement; or a friend to meet you to discuss some serious matter; or an ambulance to arrive because of an emergency; you can recall the panicky feeling that came over you when the taxi, or the friend, or the ambulance did not arrive within the expected time. The longer it took the more frustrated and frightened you became. Sometimes we experience the same emotions when God doesn’t meet our need in the time we allot; or gets us out of a tight situation when it looks like we may go under. It should not come as a surprise that unbelievers, and even some fellow Christians might ask, “Where’s God when you need Him most?” But David didn’t panic, he turned to a source of comfort that he carried inside; if he couldn’t reach the place where God dwelt, God would be able to reach him where he was. So like the nightingale, David began to sing praises to God even in the darkest of times. Maybe he knew that someone else who also needed to be encouraged might be heartened by hearing his song. If that’s true of David, perhaps it can be true of you as well.