I think that most of us identify in some way with David in the Bible. He made some serious mistakes, but he’s one of the people that almost everyone can relate to because he allows us to see into his heart and his relationship with God in the Book of Psalms. This has in turn encouraged us to strive for that closeness and dependence on God that he had and has given us words to pray, cry, praise, and rejoice with.

Once such instance that the Holy Spirit has used to encourage my heart is the situation where David was hiding in his house because Saul had sent messengers to kill him.

“Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, ‘If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.’ So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped.” 1 Samuel 19:11-12

In Psalm 59, we find the corresponding words that David wrote while he was in this terrifying situation.

“And at evening they return, They growl like a dog, And go all around the city. They wander up and down for food, And howl if they are not satisfied.

But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense And refuge in the day of my trouble. To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; For God is my defense, My God of mercy.” Psalm 59:14-17 (emphasis mine)

I can’t even imagine the level of distress his soul was in while he decided what to do. Even then, he had strong confidence and spoke with his will that he would praise God the next day. This ending was probably written before David knew the full outcome of this situation but he was confident that God would keep him safe and spare his life to see another morning because he knew that he was serving a God that keeps His promises. Even though it looked dismal to his human perspective and his fear was probably very high, his psalm didn’t have to end in fear and he could choose to praise, because his God was way bigger than the people that were out to get him. He had a hope and a future. He had been anointed to be king and no one could void that promise.

This was only one of many such situations. What kept David faithful? I think by this point I would have been seriously starting to doubt what the prophet Samuel had said. He was human — what if he had made a mistake and anointed the wrong person after all? Saul was still very alive and strong and there wasn’t any signs of his demise. However that very person that seemed to be standing in the way — King Saul — was also pointing to the coming promise because why else would Saul sense David as competition and try to take him down? It is a very dangerous thing to mess with what God has promised because you can’t change it. David knew that.

I’m definitely not immune to fear and need to hear these things just as much an anyone else. I’ve been walking through a hard season with illness that seems to never end and fear is one of the major things I’ve been battling because of it. Fear that whispers, “What if God doesn’t hear my cries…or what if He even forgot about me?” As I was reading through the Book of Psalms earlier this year these themes kept standing out to me in what I was reading, because the psalmists ask these questions many times. It helped me to realize that this is a normal thought when you’re going through trials — but that’s all it is: a thought. They recognized the way that their frail human minds felt about their situation and then declared the way it really was. This helped me to see that I could do this too.

I may feel like God has forgotten me but His Word says that, “Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;” Isaiah 49:15-16

I may feel like God doesn’t hear me but His Word says that, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:15,17-19

Here we see the psalmist do it:

“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”

{But then he says}

“But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.” Psalm 13:1-2,5-6

And again:

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.”

{But then he says}

“For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.” Psalm 22:1-2,24

And yet again:

“To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock: Do not be silent to me, Lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.”

{But then he says}

“Blessed be the Lord, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him. The Lord is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed.” Psalm 28:1,6-8

I have to make the choice to trust God over my feelings and praise Him in the middle of my trouble because I know that He is good and He is good to me. I know that God cannot lie and my feelings can be expert liars.

Faith is always followed by action. What I believe always affects how I live my life. When I believe that God will keep His promises and work out everything for my ultimate good and His glory, it affects the way that I think about the future. He may not do things on my timetable and that is exactly what we don’t like to hear in our instant gratification culture. Things may get even harder or more painful. Faith doesn’t rule that out. The answers to some things may not even come in our life times. Most of the heroes of faith in the Bible knew that they wouldn’t even see the fulfillment of a promise for years or even in their lifetime.

David’s faith is what kept him moving forward during that time of waiting. For probably about 15 years or more after he was anointed by Samuel, he was shepherding sheep or hunted by Saul, running for his life like a fugitive. I wonder how many people would have stopped before the 15 years and given up, when the enemy seemed to be losing no strength? David didn’t. He followed hard after God and pursued His presence and he lived in a way that he demonstrated that God was going to change things in the future and keep His promise.

Even when trouble keeps coming back each evening, you can wait with your expectation on God because He gave you a whole book full of enduring promises and your story is far from finished.