It's Complicated

My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises! [Psalm 57.7]

Confidence in God. Now there is a loaded statement, right? What does that mean?

I suppose to have confidence in God means that we would have no confidence in anything else by comparison.

For me to consider the things I have confidence in is disconcerting at best. I have confidence that the nation in which I live will survive most anything brought against it (how foolish is that?). I have confidence that medical science will eventually overcome most every disease or condition (how foolish is that?). I have confidence that the financial systems of the world will continue to work (how foolish is that?). Likewise I have confidence in many other things... but all of them, when trusted, make me out to look like a fool.

Psalm 57 is a Psalm of David. So, we might look at David to learn what confidence in God looks like. It is ironic that at the time Psalm 57 was written, David was on the run.

It occurs to me today that we might benefit from understanding why David was fleeing. Was the man who fearlessly slew the giant Goliath afraid of Saul? If only it were that simple! No, David's dilemma with Saul was far more complicated than that.

We really must consider the relationship between David and Saul to understand what David (the giant-slayer) was running from.

Without being mindful of the fact that David and Saul were close, we will draw wrong conclusions about why David fled from Saul. David was instrumental (literally) in easing Saul's torment after Saul had been rejected by God. David had subsequently become Saul's right-hand man. David was best friends with Saul's son Jonathan. David was married to Saul's daughter Michal. Besides the fact that Saul had been anointed by God to be king of Israel, he was also the father of David's covenant-friend Jonathan, and covenant-wife Michal. These covenant relationships begin to reveal the reason David didn't just wipe out Saul like he did Goliath! "It's complicated" doesn't even begin to describe David's situation with Saul!

David's flight from Saul shouldn't be seen as one of fear, but one of faithfulness to God in Whose presence every covenant stands! That is why, in the cave of Adullam David would write Psalm 57!

I cannot begin to fathom the anguish David must have dealt with in his relationships with Saul and Saul's family! However, one thing is certain, David kept it in perspective of his relationship with God! Thus David could say:

My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises! [Psalm 57.7]

Father, help me to understand the complexities of David's relationships that caused him to flee from Saul. Help me to see the honor in David's flight more so than fear!