Tens of Thousands on Every Side

 Lord, how many are my foes!

    How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
  “God will not deliver him.”

But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
    my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the Lord,
    and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I lie down and sleep;
    I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands
    assail me on every side.

Arise, Lord!
    Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
    break the teeth of the wicked.

From the Lord comes deliverance.
    May your blessing be on your people.

                   Psalm 3

 

          Right. Not a care in the world though tens of thousands assail… Clearly, this was written by a guy. And it’s the same guy who frequently in the Psalms cries about how even one person is out to get him. More importantly, it’s a song – a poem. This isn’t a case of tens of thousands on every side is no problem, but perhaps tens of thousands plus one on every side would be more than he can handle. Keep in mind that at one point the women were singing about David that while Saul and killed thousands, David had killed tens of thousands. He hadn’t done it alone, but that’s not what he and everyone else read in the papers.

The whole point is that even if he’s in over his head – even if he’s facing impossible odds – he’ll look to God for protection and victory. Even if everyone tells him his goose is cooked and his cause is lost, he’s going to trust in God for deliverance and victory.

Last week was tough. I’ve figured out that I probably planted my blueberry bushes in the wrong place and moving them would be very problematic because I put them in a raised bed in the ground. The blueberry cage I’m trying to make has been a case of one step forward, two steps back. It’s still too chilly to plant most things outside. I worked 41 hours in 6 days. My first batch of Lilac muffins failed miserably. My drill isn’t strong enough to force the screws into the wood for a garden bed. The idea I had for labeling my garden beds won’t work. I can’t find my Baltimore Oriole feeder. My gardens have lots of weeds, some of which I may want elsewhere but I can’t seem to find time to do anything about it. And, while what I’m writing for my story is good, it takes hours to get one page revised. Add to that the fact that my ankle hurts. Nope, none of those are ten of thousands assailing me on every side, or even Goliaths, but just some Yuck Phases. It’s one of those cases when I’m my own worst enemy.

But when the tens of thousands, or the Goliaths, or the Yuck Phases assail on every side, David’s example is to look to God and say something I love him for saying: “Break the teeth of the wicked.” In the NASB translation of this and other verses, they use the word shatter.  I’m not a violent person (except in my imagination) but I love that David is so honest with God that he asks for his enemies’ teeth to be shattered. God can handle our anger.

As I think about myself as my own worst enemy, and what David asks for, I wonder if it might not be a good idea to ask God to shatter my teeth – not literally, but so much of the damage I do to myself is what I say and think to and about myself. When things get tough, I need to turn to God and seek refuge and victory in Him – even if it takes a few days – and

Rest in Him

Take refuge in Him

Trust in Him

And BE QUIET, even if it means He has to shatter my teeth.