Psalms 54

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.

For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, "Is not David hiding himself among us?"

Save me, O God, by (A)Your name,
And [a]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2(C)Hear my prayer, O God;
(D)Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my life;
They have (H)not set God before them. Selah.
4Behold, (I)God is my helper;
The Lord is the (J)sustainer of my soul.
5[b]He will (K)recompense the evil to my foes;
(L)Destroy them (M)in Your faithfulness.
6(N)Willingly I will sacrifice to You;
I will give (O)thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.
7For He has (P)delivered me from all trouble,
And my eye has (Q)looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

There is the same, very typical progression we've seen in so many pslams: "Save me O God"-->"for strangers have risen against me" -->"He has delivered me from all trouble." I see this and I think of Israel's need for a Savior, of all our desperate need for Jesus Christ. Things were much more physical then with the laws, sacrifices, and wonders of God but David has caught the heart of it. Its not just that God will do good things for you if you obey him but that God is a good and mighty God and therefore should be praised. David gives sacrifices willingly from the overflowing gratitude of his heart-not simply bc the law tells him to and so he will not be consumed by holy fire. We don't come to God just because if we do we're saved from hell (though people do) but much more--we recognize our great need for a savior and we see how good and mighty is our God. You miss so much if you miss this