If you have your Bible with you this morning, please open it up to Psalm chapter 57.
Psalm chapter 57.
David writes this psalm about the time, as it says in the superscription at the very
beginning, when he had fled from Saul into the cave.
How many of you have ever been into a cave?
Okay, we've got a few people.
When I was down in Montana on a family vacation a number of years back when I was younger,
we went to a family camp there and part of the activities were going on hikes in kind
of this mountainous area in southern Montana, just north of Yellowstone National Park there.
And on several of those hikes, we came across some caves.
One of them was an awesome cave.
It was just this huge opening and kind of angled up at the sun.
And so the whole thing was just lit up and bright inside.
It was kind of a neat place to be.
But on another hike, we came across a very different cave.
And it kind of had a small opening and it was kind of shaped like a tunnel that just kind
of went back into the mountain and kind of curved a little bit.
And I remember as some of us went into that cave, just that feeling, the further we got
into the cave, I was surprised at just how dark it got.
The light from the entrance didn't seem to be penetrating into the darkness in the cave.
And before long, when we went around that little bend, it was pitch black.
I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.
And you could just almost feel the darkness.
It was cool.
It was damp and humid.
And even talking to one another in the cave, our voices were just kind of swallowed up by the
earth around us.
And I kind of had this feeling like, I don't know how much further I want to go into here.
Like, this is kind of crazy.
I mean, I don't know.
Is there bats in the back of this?
Is there some large predatorial animal just kind of having a nap back here?
Is there, you know, if I keep going, am I going to find this massive hole and fall down
into who knows where?
And the people that I'm with, they don't really know me that well.
They're just kind of other campers.
And so, you know, if something happened to me, would they even notice?
And would they ever find me if I was lost back in here?
It was kind of an eerie feeling.
And I remember thinking, caves are kind of fascinating.
It's not really the place that I want to be or spend my time.
But that's exactly the situation that we find David in as in the time that he writes about
in this psalm.
He's in a cave.
Of course, David has been on the run.
He's been fleeing from King Saul.
King Saul is, he sees David as a threat, as someone who is trying to take the throne from
him.
And so he is hunting David and chasing him all over the land of Israel.
And we're kind of, as we read the story in Samuel, wondering how long is this going to
go on before Saul finally catches up with him?
And gets his hands on him.
And Saul has got the whole army with him.
Not the whole army, but a good chunk of it.
He's got 3,000 armed men with him.
And they're combing the countryside looking for David.
And in the psalm that we're looking at this morning, it's about the time when, at a place
called En Gedi, Saul and his men kind of close in on David.
And they corner him and the 400 men that are with David.
En Gedi is kind of right, it's in the hill country, and it's right against the Dead Sea.
And so there's nowhere for David and his men to run.
And so with their backs up against the wall, they kind of do the best that they can.
And they find a large cave.
They go in there, and they lay low, and they hide.
Can you imagine what this would have been like for David and his men in this moment?
I mean, here you are in the back of this dank, dark cave.
And you're waiting.
And then all of a sudden, one of your guys comes running in the entrance.
Quick, guys, put out the lights.
Put out the torches.
Everybody hit the deck.
They're coming this way.
Be quiet.
And everybody just kind of hits the deck and goes silent.
And your heart is racing.
You can feel the cold earth against your face.
And you're focused on trying to control your breathing and relax it so that you can achieve utter silence.
And then the moment happens, and you hear voices outside the cave.
Come on.
Let's have a look at this one.
And you hear footsteps as men walk into the cave.
And they kind of shine the torch around.
You can see the light a little bit.
And you're trying to be absolutely still and quiet.
And then you hear the voice of King Saul himself.
You guys stand watch at the door.
I've got to do my business in here.
And you hear footsteps of one man coming even closer.
Everybody's holding their breath.
This is the situation about which David writes this psalm.
And we get the chance to see what is he thinking?
What is he feeling in this moment?
And so let me read for you from Psalm 57.
Psalm 57.
Have mercy on me, my God.
Have mercy on me.
For in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
I cry out to God most high, to God who vindicates me.
He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me.
God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.
I am in the midst of lions.
I'm forced to dwell among ravenous beasts, men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
Verse 6.
They spread a net for my feet.
I was bowed down in distress.
They dug a pit in my path.
David begins this song with a cry of desperation.
He says, have mercy on me, my God.
Have mercy.
A cry of mercy kind of carries with it a sense of guilt, but there's no indication that David
is asking for forgiveness here or that he's feeling guilty.
Probably some of the other translations do a better job when they say, be gracious to me, my God.
Be gracious to me.
I've got my back up against the wall here.
I have nowhere to go.
Help me.
Intervene.
Have favor on me.
He says, I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
Literally, until destruction passes by.
If Saul and these 3,000 men find out that David and his men are in the cave,
this will be a day of destruction.
A day of disaster.
Slaughter.
And so what does David do?
He says, I cry out to God most high.
And what does he cry?
Be gracious to me.
It's just as general as it gets.
Help me out in this situation, God.
David is in a perilous situation.
In verse 3, he describes the men outside the cave as those who hotly pursue me.
In verse 4, he says, I'm in the midst of lions.
Creatures that are known for surrounding their prey.
He's in the midst of the enemy.
He says, I'm forced to dwell among ravenous beasts.
You notice that word forced.
Literally, I must lie among ravenous beasts.
Who are these people?
They're men whose teeth are spears and arrows.
David's thinking about the 3,000 men outside the cave.
They're armed.
They're soldiers.
But not just the spears and the arrows.
He says, their tongues are sharp as swords.
Most of them are just loyal servants of King Saul.
But there are some of them who have been spreading lies about David.
They've been slandering him.
They've been painting this picture of him as a treacherous enemy.
A traitor.
Someone who's going to put the whole nation in danger.
We must get him.
We must eliminate him at all costs.
Their tongues are sharp as swords.
Their words are deadly to David.
And so David finds himself with his back up against the wall,
literally in this cave with his men.
He's in a perilous situation.
He cries out to the Lord in desperation.
But what amazes me in this psalm is that it's not just desperation that we see and hear from David.
We also hear David's heart, which is full of faith and expectation of what the Lord will do in this situation.
And it starts right from the beginning.
In verse 1, have mercy on me.
Have mercy on me.
For in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
Do you hear David's faith?
Do you hear the expectation that God will care for him in this situation?
There's another way that he could have phrased this.
He could have said,
Have mercy on me, my God, for in this cave I take refuge.
I take refuge in this cave until the disaster has passed.
But he doesn't say that.
David's not trusting in the cave.
He's not trusting in luck or chance that Saul and his men won't find them in the back.
He says,
In you, my God, I take refuge.
I look to you to protect me in this moment.
I take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
The picture we get there is of a baby bird hiding underneath the wings of its mother.
He says,
Until the disaster has passed by.
David knows that this is not the end for him.
He has a sense of confidence and faith that God will cause the disaster to pass by.
This is not the end.
He says in verse 2,
I cry out to God, most high, to God who vindicates me.
There's a little bit of difficulty with the Hebrew in this phrase.
Other translations say,
To God who fulfills his purpose for me.
But either way, the sense is there that this is not the end.
God will vindicate me.
God will fulfill his purpose with me.
God has made a promise to me.
David's been promised that he will be the next king of Israel.
And God will keep it.
And I'm trusting in that.
I'm confident in that.
In verse 3,
He sends, or he will send,
from heaven and save me.
Rebuking those who hotly pursue me.
God sends, or will send forth,
his love
and his faithfulness.
It's amazing.
In this moment,
in the situation that he's in.
It's a perilous situation.
And yes, he has a sense of desperation.
But there is such faith,
such trust in his God to take care of him.
And expectation that he will come through this.
Because of the love and faithfulness of God,
he will send from heaven and save me,
says David.
At this point,
the tone of the psalm changes drastically.
In verse 5,
David erupts in praise.
He says,
Be exalted, O God,
above the heavens.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
We're kind of left wondering,
what just happened here?
In verse 6, he goes on,
They spread a net for my feet.
I was bowed down in distress.
They dug a pit in my path.
But they have fallen into it themselves.
Notice how David switches to the past tense.
Hence,
probably what's happened here is that
the big moment of deliverance
that he was waiting for came.
And now he's kind of writing,
looking back after the fact.
He's praising God for this great deliverance.
As the story goes,
back in 1 Samuel,
Saul walks into the cave.
And perhaps,
when they think that this is it,
we're going to be discovered.
We're going to be slaughtered here.
Something happens.
Saul,
kind of,
we don't know exactly how it happens
in 1 Samuel.
The details aren't there.
But this is how I imagine it going.
Saul walks into the cave.
Then he walks a little further
into the darkness
just to kind of see,
you know,
like,
is anybody there?
Is there any wild animals in here?
He sets his spear
against the cave wall.
He takes off his robe,
hangs it up.
He doesn't want to get it dirty
in the dirt.
And then he goes
a little bit back into the light
to do his business.
Samuel tells us
that in this moment,
David crept up unnoticed
and cut the corner
off of Saul's robe
and then went
and ran back
into the darkness.
And Saul left the cave
not even knowing
that they were there.
And the story ends
in a very unexpected way.
I mean,
if I was David,
I probably would have
just stayed there
and just let them go.
But when David realizes
what had happened here,
I mean,
he was so close
that he could have
taken the life
of his enemy.
He realized
that God had put Saul
in a position
where Saul's life
would have been
the one lost that day,
not David's.
And so,
I imagine David
emboldened by this
and seeing what God
had done in that moment.
He walks out of the cave
and he confronts Saul
face to face.
I've got the corner
of your robe here.
If I was after you,
if I wanted to kill you,
I could have,
but I'm not.
Of course,
Saul is David's father-in-law.
My father,
I'm not trying
to take your throne.
I'm not after you.
God works a change
in Saul's heart,
at least for the time being.
And Saul
kind of admits
that he's been wrong
to be chasing after David
all this time
and he calls the army off
and they leave
and David and his men
are able to go free.
It's an amazing story.
And so David
just erupts in praise.
I can just imagine it.
Be exalted,
oh God,
above the heavens.
Be lifted up
as high as you can go,
above the stars.
Let your glory
be over all the earth.
Let everybody
in the whole wide world
know
how glorious you are,
how good you are,
how well you take care
of your people.
Why?
Because my enemies,
verse 6,
they spread a net
for my feet.
I was bowed down
in distress.
They dug a pit
in my path,
but they have fallen
into it
themselves.
Do you hear
what God has done
for me?
He's caused
the greatest reversal.
I never would have
imagined it.
I was caught
in this cave,
in this death trap
and God kind of
turned the trap
on its head
and suddenly
it was Saul
who was
almost caught
in it.
And the rest
of this psalm
is David just
going on
with his praise.
In verse 7,
he says,
my heart,
oh God,
is steadfast.
My heart
is steadfast.
I will sing.
I will make music.
Awake,
my soul.
Awake,
harp
and lyre.
No more
being quiet
in the back
of the cave.
No more
whispering.
Come on out,
guys.
Let's get
the instruments out.
It's time to sing.
It's time to make music.
Look at what
the Lord has done
for us
in answer
to my prayer.
Let's sing.
Let's praise him.
Let's exalt his name.
The end of verse 8,
he says,
I will awaken
the dawn.
I love those words.
Those are my favorite
words in all
the Psalms.
I will awaken
the dawn.
The darkest part
of the night
is over
and what remains,
let's chase it away
with praise.
We can't wait
until the full light
of morning
to praise.
We've got to
praise him now
and so let's
wake up
the day
itself.
Let's wake up
the sun.
Let's wake up
everybody around.
Make music
and sing.
David says,
I will praise you,
Lord,
among the nations.
This is
something that
not just for us
here in Israel,
this is something
for the nations
to hear about.
He says,
I will sing
of you
among the peoples.
I don't want
to just sing
this praise
of mine
in the quiet
of my own heart
when I'm in my tent
all by myself.
I want to sing
among the peoples.
I want everybody
to hear my words
of praise
and know that
I mean every word
of them.
This is my God.
for great
is your love,
verse 10.
It reaches
to the heavens.
It's beyond
measuring.
It goes
all the way
up
to the stars.
So great
that we can't
even fully
understand
or comprehend
just how much
he loves us.
And his faithfulness
too,
his faithfulness
he says,
reaches
the skies.
His ability
to keep
his promises
knows no limits.
It knows no bounds.
It doesn't matter
what kind of a situation
you're backed into.
Nothing can stop
God from keeping
his promise
to you.
Let's sing it again.
Verse 11.
Be exalted,
O God,
above the heavens.
Let your glory
be over all
the earth.
this is David's story.
This is David's song.
And I'm wondering
this morning
where these
words of David
find you.
If I'm honest,
the first time
I read this psalm
this week,
earlier in the week,
the first thought
I had was,
how on earth
am I going to
preach
this?
God,
my heart is
anything but
steadfast.
God,
it's all over
the place.
It's wandering
here and it's
wandering there
and today
in this moment
as I read,
it's downcast.
I don't feel like
singing and making
music.
How can I preach
my heart is
steadfast,
oh God,
I'm going to
wake up
the dawn.
But the more I
sat and
listened to
David's
words,
to the sweet
melody that
comes out of
this song,
he didn't
just wake up
his own
soul and
wake up
the dawn,
he woke
up my
soul too.
I don't
know what
troubles
you're going
through,
I know some
of them,
for some
of you,
we all go
through all
kinds of
troubles and
face all
kinds of
difficulties.
And of
course,
the first
thing that we
see from
David here is
that we
should take
those troubles
to the Lord
and call
out to
him for
help.
But beyond
that, what
really struck
me the most
in this
psalm is
how David,
right from
the start,
has this
faith and
trust that
God will
take care of
him, even
in the midst
of all of
this.
It's
beautiful.
I might be
surrounded by
lions, I
might have my
back up against
the wall here
in this cave,
but God
will send
his love
and his
faithfulness.
He will
send from
heaven and
save me.
The disaster
will pass
and until
it does,
I will take
refuge in
you, in
the shadow
of your
wings.
It's
beautiful.
Beautiful.
So I don't
know where
you are this
morning.
Maybe you
came in the
doors already
and ready to
just wake
the dawn and
sing the
Lord's praise.
But maybe
like I was
earlier this
week, you
kind of feel
like, I'm
not there.
I want to
say my
heart is
steadfast, oh
God.
But it's
not.
It doesn't
feel that
way.
With
whatever
you're going
through,
let David
encourage you
today.
listen to
the words
of his
song.
Call out
to him
for grace
in your
situation.
Tell him
your troubles,
but don't
stop there.
Stretch out
your faith
and your
trust to
the Lord
Jesus.
Think about
what he can
do in your
situation.
And not
just that.
Think about
what he
has already
promised to
do for
you.
Those of
you who
belong to
him.
Day by
day as we
see, as we
go through
this cycle
of calling
out to the
Lord in
our troubles
and we
see his
love and
his faithfulness
come time
and time
again, we
come to the
place where
like David,
we can't
help but
sing and
make music
and praise
and worship
this God
who gives
of his love
and faithfulness
to us time
and time
again.
And so I
want to
encourage you
this morning
with whatever
you're going
through.
David, he
had his own
unique situation
that God
worked in
his life,
delivered him
from.
What does
the Lord want
to do in
your situation?
are you
trusting that
the Lord
will carry
you through?
David doesn't
want to sing
alone.
He wants to
sing among
the peoples.
He wants
us to
join him
in praising
the Most
High.
Let's pray.
Father, we
thank you for
these sweet
words.
We thank you
for this song
that even
though we
can't hear
the actual
music that
this was
sung to,
we can hear
something of
it in our
souls, in
what he
wrote.
Lord, I'll
be the first
to confess on
behalf of all
of us who
feel like our
heart is not
steadfast.
We long
for that
kind of a
faith and
that kind of
a relationship
with you,
Lord, where
we look at
our troubles,
big ones
and small,
and we
express our
faith to
you.
We put our
trust in
you.
We look
with hope
and expectation.
Lord, I want
that to be me.
And so we
ask that you
would do a
work in us,
Lord, that you
would bring
those of us
who can't
say that our
heart is
steadfast to
that place
where we do
trust you.
We do look
trouble in
the face
and declare
our confidence
in you.
Lord, we
want to join
in this
song.
And so we
ask that you
would come in
the midst of
whatever we're
going through,
all of our
troubles, all of
our situations,
we ask that you
would give us
strength, that you
would help us,
that you would be
gracious to us,
and that you
would enable us
to join in
with David and
sing and make
music.
We ask this in
Christ's name.
Amen.