Psalm 55:16, 17

In a time of great distress and darkness David resolved to call upon God. I find it worded so appropriately and eloquently “As for me, I will call upon God: and the Lord shall save me” (Psalm 55:16). He further goes on to state “Evening and morning and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice” (v.17). There are times in our short but eventful lives when morning prayers are not enough. Prayers in the darkness of the early morning must be seriously followed up by noon prayers and then evening prayers. As the Body of Christ, making our ways through these tension-filled time of the last days, not only must we whisper a prayer in the morning, but our prayers must be urgently offered up around the clock. Like the Early Church, having set times of prayer will, I believe, really put us in good stead spiritually (Acts 3:1).

Here King David speaks not just of ordinary praying but also of “crying aloud.” It’s a little more desperate! Indeed life, even as the children of God, brings us to these desperate situations. It calls for more than the routine. Morning, noon and evening! May the Almighty God hear us and save us! The pernicious enemy is after our souls, not just to wound and lame us, but to permanently disable and destroy us. He will use anything or anybody to carry out his nefarious schemes. He will use those who don’t even know us and he will use those closest to us.

Here, it is believed that David wrote this Psalm when his devious son Absalom violently and cruelly rose up against him in rebellion, aided and abetted by his former friend and trusted counselor, Ahithophel, a man whom David trusted explicitly. They were not only after the throne but David’s life. It is rebellion and betrayal of the ugliest form. This is not the case of a foreign power seeking to overthrow the king but the case of his own son and trusted confidant treacherously rising up not just to unseat and drive him out but to literally have him killed and completely wiped out. It portrays the gross darkness of the human heart and how low some would go to seize and wield power. They will easily destroy anyone whom they think stands in their way.

As David graphically paints a picture of the insurrection and riot in the city brought about by his “gangster’ son Absalom, the reader shudders. He uses words like – violence, strife, mischief, sorrow, wickedness, deceit and guile (vv. 9-11). He names seven evils unleashed. As much as David desired peace for himself and his people, they sought after division, disunity, disruption and destruction. It was a sad sight indeed to see King David fleeing from his kingdom, as he ascended the heights of Mt. Olive, weeping, with his head covered, barefoot, fleeing from his own son (2 Samuel 15:30). There are very few scenes in Scripture as agonizing as this – “Elderly, benevolent father frantically flees from vile, power-crazed son!”

However, what is most uplifting in this passage is that as David flees, he is not so distressed and overwhelmed that he forgets to pray. We find it inspirational that this Psalm is not only a song but a sermon. It is a Maschil psalm, according to the subtitle. It is a psalm written for our instruction. We must never be so intimidated and overpowered by our circumstances that we pray less. David does not pray less, he prays more. According to the passage, he intensifies and amplifies the apparatus of prayer. When evil is contrived to wipe us out and the forces of darkness conspire to ensure our demise, we must never succumb to the temptation of praying less. Even when the medical report is not so good! Even when we feel abandoned by God (vv.1-2) and abused by men (v.3) and our first instinct is to run away, mourn, complain and be afraid (vv. 2-8), like David, we commit to praying even more! “As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me” (Psalm 55:16).