O God, hear my prayer. Give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen against me. Ruthless men seek my life. They do not set God before themselves. (vs.2-3)
For You have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners. As heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. Isaiah 25: 4-5
Nothing worse than when the enemy is our friend. The Ziphites were from the tribe of Judah. Jews. Acting like Gentiles toward David. The young warrior had been dwelling quietly and safely in their land until they decided it was to their advantage to give information about his whereabouts to King Saul. "Strangers" in this context can also be translated to mean "insolent men." Insolent - arrogant, insulting, disrespectful, rude, impertinent, cocky, offensive or impudent. The Ziphites failed to put themselves before God in this matter for Him to lead their way. Perhaps, thus the arrogance.
The passage doesn't say if David did anything to make these men decide to sabotage him in favor of the king's adulation for their great compassion on him. That would be enough for most of us, I think. "Good job! You guys did the right thing!" The king is thrilled that his agenda is approved by the men from Judah. Will we do anything for the approval of men? Without first taking our options...our hearts to God? Loyalty to an earthly king put these men on the wrong side of God and of the new king He had already established. It seemed reasonable to them, I am sure, though. One man, David, could not be right when the king has an opposing take on what is going on. The Ziphites thought themselves to be heroes for championing the king. But the heart of the king was black with jealousy and David was God's anointed. Had the Ziphites checked this out with God, perhaps the Philistines wouldn't have attacked Israel in the midst of the manhunt.
God is the author of our vindication. A stronghold against our enemy. Our shade when things get too hot for us to handle. With hurricane Isaac blowing its way up the coast today, the imagery here is poignant. The belief in personal "rightness" can be ruthless, like a hurricane blowing against a wall. A smug arrogance that one has the answer when God hasn't even been sought.....or, more upsetting, even when He has. The only thing to do when we are found on the other side, like David, is to wait for God to subdue the noise of the foreigners because the more we assert our own position, the more the danger we become like the adversary. If we are on God's side, have sought Him as our shelter and strength, He will subdue the noise of our enemy. The cloud of God's presence will defuse the heat so that our enemy will not be able to sing the victory song over us forever.
I am saddened when our enemy is from within our circle of Christian brothers and sisters. We are all so capable of reading our circumstances out of the context of our separate experiences. How I was raised might well make me a judge of how well a sister is raising her own kids. My own anger that lies beneath the surface of my life might rise up over the words of a brother when the brother was not the root of my anger in the first place. An infinite number of scenarios can bring us to the place where we are "strangers" to each other and the offense so deeply rooted that we don't even bother to "set it before God." It just is right because that is how we feel.
I am learning to do what David did with the "breath of the ruthless." Stay away from it and let God deal with the circumstances and hearts of His children who are involved. Mine included. David didn't want to be accused of being like the enemy. I don't either. So, God has the right to change me, too.
For You have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners. As heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. Isaiah 25: 4-5
Nothing worse than when the enemy is our friend. The Ziphites were from the tribe of Judah. Jews. Acting like Gentiles toward David. The young warrior had been dwelling quietly and safely in their land until they decided it was to their advantage to give information about his whereabouts to King Saul. "Strangers" in this context can also be translated to mean "insolent men." Insolent - arrogant, insulting, disrespectful, rude, impertinent, cocky, offensive or impudent. The Ziphites failed to put themselves before God in this matter for Him to lead their way. Perhaps, thus the arrogance.
The passage doesn't say if David did anything to make these men decide to sabotage him in favor of the king's adulation for their great compassion on him. That would be enough for most of us, I think. "Good job! You guys did the right thing!" The king is thrilled that his agenda is approved by the men from Judah. Will we do anything for the approval of men? Without first taking our options...our hearts to God? Loyalty to an earthly king put these men on the wrong side of God and of the new king He had already established. It seemed reasonable to them, I am sure, though. One man, David, could not be right when the king has an opposing take on what is going on. The Ziphites thought themselves to be heroes for championing the king. But the heart of the king was black with jealousy and David was God's anointed. Had the Ziphites checked this out with God, perhaps the Philistines wouldn't have attacked Israel in the midst of the manhunt.
God is the author of our vindication. A stronghold against our enemy. Our shade when things get too hot for us to handle. With hurricane Isaac blowing its way up the coast today, the imagery here is poignant. The belief in personal "rightness" can be ruthless, like a hurricane blowing against a wall. A smug arrogance that one has the answer when God hasn't even been sought.....or, more upsetting, even when He has. The only thing to do when we are found on the other side, like David, is to wait for God to subdue the noise of the foreigners because the more we assert our own position, the more the danger we become like the adversary. If we are on God's side, have sought Him as our shelter and strength, He will subdue the noise of our enemy. The cloud of God's presence will defuse the heat so that our enemy will not be able to sing the victory song over us forever.
I am saddened when our enemy is from within our circle of Christian brothers and sisters. We are all so capable of reading our circumstances out of the context of our separate experiences. How I was raised might well make me a judge of how well a sister is raising her own kids. My own anger that lies beneath the surface of my life might rise up over the words of a brother when the brother was not the root of my anger in the first place. An infinite number of scenarios can bring us to the place where we are "strangers" to each other and the offense so deeply rooted that we don't even bother to "set it before God." It just is right because that is how we feel.
I am learning to do what David did with the "breath of the ruthless." Stay away from it and let God deal with the circumstances and hearts of His children who are involved. Mine included. David didn't want to be accused of being like the enemy. I don't either. So, God has the right to change me, too.
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