I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

Psalm 57: 2

 

There are times in the course of life where things get to be very stressful and confusing. What may have seemed like it was God’s will and desire for my days is all pushed aside by what is actually going on in my world. At this point in his life, David found himself in a similar situation. God had selected him and lifted him out of a life of service to his family as the caretaker of their sheep, and the Lord had placed the young man into the center of the his nation’s governance and rule in the house of the king, himself. But now that king, Saul, had turned on David, and the young man who had seemed to have all of life before him was now running and hiding in order to preserve what he had.

 

This is David’s perspective when he calls out to God. He is certainly asking for protection and for deliverance in this process, but he is also saying much more than just his desired outcomes. David expresses an underlying faith in God, and he also proclaims his trust in the Lord’s continuing drive to bring about the plans and the purposes that He set forth for this young future king. David possesses an unusually mature understanding of the fact that all that he is to accomplish in life and everything good and holy that he will be known for are to come about because of the Lord’s work in him and by virtue of God’s provision of the means to make it so. David already knows that his life belongs to God, and he also realizes that this state of being a servant to the Lord is the best one that he could possibly dwell within.

 

As I look at David’s view of his situation from within the stark walls of his hiding place as he waits for Saul’s merciless sword to strike him, I am humbled by his faith and inspired by his trust in the Lord. I too can look out at my day and view my world with the same realization as David had. The Lord does have a plan and a purpose for the days of my life. That roadway may be obscured by debris or by smoke and haze, but it is there because the Lord has promised it to me and to all of His people. He does have plans and purposes for our lives (Jer. 29: 11) that He will bring about. These times of struggle and trial are often ones in which we are asked to simply ride it out as we turn to the Lord as our singular resource and source of hope. We can place all of our trust in Christ, for He has saved us for all of eternity, and He also will fulfill all that He has set out for us as His people during the days of our lives.