What to Do When You’re “Hiding Out”
Psalm 57
We are in the midst of, but hopefully coming to the end of the greatest mass quarantine in human history. When you consider that this is a worldwide Pandemic and stay-at-home orders have included such places as China and India, as well as our own country, it’s easy to conclude more people, even several billion people, have been quarantined during this unprecedented pandemic.
And the quarantines aren’t quite over, though states are gradually easing restrictions. Schools here are out for at least another three months. California state universities have already declared that they will not open even in the fall, that all classroom instruction will be on-line. More than that, those with underlying health conditions, compromised immune systems and the aged—all three apply to yours truly--are being encouraged to continue to stay home until some vaccine might be developed, and that is still months away at best.
To put our incredible circumstances in more common terms—we’ve all be hiding out. We’ve been hiding out until the danger passes. And many of us to some degree or another, with social distancing and small meetings still the order of the day, will continue to do so for some time.
How should we as believers respond as we’re hiding out? What should we be doing while we’re hiding out? Should we even be hiding out? That’s been a major question among many as there has been unrest, protests and lawsuits over state stay-at-home orders. And if we continue hiding out, how do we quell the fear, the anxiety, even the boredom that comes with following such a plan while quarantined at home.
This morning we come to a Psalm in which the great King David experienced very much the same sort of circumstances. He was hiding out until a very serious danger passed by. The Psalm is Psalm 57. The Prologue tells us the circumstances that prompted David’s writing of the Psalm. He was fleeing from the murderous intentions of the now wicked, ruthless, demonized King Saul, who was seeking his life because of a crazed jealousy against a young man who had faithfully, even courageously served him and Israel.
The lesson we’ll learn from him this morning is, Yes, take precautions, but humbly pray and deliberately affirm God’s faithfulness.
Now Psalm 57 is not one of the better-known Psalms. However, it is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. That’s in part because I have been to the very place I where it was written. I have been in the very cave, the cave of Adullam, where David went into hiding when he was being pursued by Saul.
While we were in Israel, as we came near to the end of the day when we visited the Valley of Elah where David had defeated Goliath, Arie Bar David, a Messianic Jew who has to be the best tour guide in all of Israel, decided to give us a bonus. Arie has been a part of Israel’s army for decades, and in his younger years, he was a cartographer, a mapmaker, for the Israeli army. This required him to personally know the topography and geography of the land of Israel like the back of his own hand. So, on this day, he took us off the beaten path, and boy did he ever! He took us off the paved road onto a barely discernible bumpy dirt road in the Mountains of Israel, known as the Shephelah, and drove for about 10 minutes until we came to trail head. Then it was about a 10 to 15-minute hike to the entrance to the Cave of Adullam where David hid from Saul and his forces three thousand years ago.
The cave is the kind of cave I would have imagined. It did not have a large entrance that is obvious on the side of a mountain. Instead, it had a very small entrance that was more akin to a hole in the ground. Only one person at a time could climb down into the hole, and once everyone was in the cave, the entrance could be covered so that no one who was not already familiar with the cave would even know a cave was there. But once you were inside the cave, and 15 or 20 of us were, you discovered that it was a large cavern, with ceilings 15 to 20 feet high, a flat floor, and so much space that it could easily house the four hundred people who gathered to David on this occasion. So, it was an ideal hiding place, not easily discovered by those who might be searching for someone. And as our party was in the cave, dark as it was, by the light of his cell-phone flashlight, our guide, Arie, read from Psalm 57, the very Psalm that David authored while he was in hiding. It was truly a highlight of my trip to Israel—a rare privilege to experience.
Now to understand this Psalm it’s important to be familiar with the circumstances that led to David’s composition of it. As you no doubt remember, David had become Israel’s hero for his defeat of the Philistine giant Goliath. He continued to be the captain of King Saul’s army, daily winning great battle’s on Israel’s behalf. In fact, he was so successful that his reputation exceeded that of Saul, so that the women began singing his praises in this way: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul, who by this time, had become all about himself and his glory, became insanely jealous of David, and feared David would replace he and, eventually, his son Jonathan, as king, which, as it turned out, was precisely God’s plan. So, Saul determined to murder David. After various attempts to murder David, and Jonathan’s inside information, David ran for his life. He was terrified. David had suddenly become public enemy #1, the most wanted man in Israel, wanted dead or alive. And all the forces of Israel were devoted to his destruction.
I Samuel 21 tells us David immediately escaped to enemy territory, to Achish, King of Gath, who was one of the Lords of the Philistines. They just as quickly recognized him as their enemy, so he pretended to be crazy, and escaped next to this cave. And Psalm 57 tells us how he came to find peace and confidence in the Lord’s protection.
And for the first time ever my first point comes not from a Bible verse, but from the prescript, as well as verse one. “For the choir director, set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.” And then verse one: “Be gracious to me, O God. Be gracious to me.”
What becomes evident is David didn’t just pray. He prayed, and he ran, and he hid. In other words, he took measures to protect himself—he did whatever he could to protect himself from the imminent danger. He not only prayed, but he also ran and hid.
In other words, when in danger, do what you can do to protect yourself, and trust God to do what you can’t. Take the necessary precautions and pray.
So obviously, this has implications for our current crisis. Should we observe the government’s orders and guidelines for social distancing, even wearing masks? When we can, and when it seems necessary, I think we do. This teaches us to do what we can to protect ourselves as well as to protect others. And it seems to me, given how contagious the virus is, and the fact that it has been shown to be most contagious when people are asymptomatic, a couple days before they come down with symptoms, out of love for others, if not for ourselves, we seek to do what is necessary to protect them from the potentially deadly virus. I know personally that I don’t want anyone’s serious illness or death on my conscience anyone’s death due to my carelessness.
Two principles come to mind from other passages. First, Proverbs 21:31: “The horse is prepared for battle, but the battle belongs to the Lord.” In other words, we are to take responsibility for preparing ourselves for the battle, or the dangerous circumstances we will face. We do what we can. But ultimately, we recognize, that the battle belongs to the Lord. So, we prepare, and we pray. We take the necessary precautions, and we trust God. It’s not one or the other, but it’s both.
The second principle comes from Jesus’ wilderness temptation by the devil. You remember, of course, that the devil took Jesus and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and then “tempted” him to throw Himself down, citing God’s promised protection from angels from Psalm 91.
What did Jesus do? Did He jump? No. Instead he cited another Scripture from Deuteronomy, “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” In other words, do not foolishly and recklessly put your life in harm’s away, apart from God’s will, so that God is required to act because of your foolishness. God’s promises of protection apply when we are in His will, when we are serving and sacrificing for His glory and the good of others, not when we are in rebellion to God’s will, and doing the devil’s bidding. Therefore, we should be careful not to test the Lord by acting foolishly or recklessly—we should take the necessary precautions, especially in this situation, because it’s not only our lives that may be at risk, but the lives of the very people we love.
So, if we’re told to social-distance, social distance, if you can. If you’re told to wear a mask, and you can, then wear a mask.
Then, in verse one, we find exactly what we would expect in a Psalm. This Psalm, this song, is not merely a song, it’s a prayer. It’s a prayer of one who initially is desperately fearful. It’s hard to imagine that David, the victor over Goliath, is in this state of mind. However, it’s evident from the desperate sort of actions he takes in I Samuel 21 that he is scared to death. And appropriately, he resorts to prayer, but a certain kind of prayer. And what we’ll find in this Psalm are a number of secrets to answered prayer. The first one is the importance of humility in prayer. This is a humble prayer of an admitted sinner, one who acknowledges he doesn’t deserve God’s help, but as a sinner, he comes seeking God’s grace to help in a time of desperate need.
Second point this morning: Humbly pray for God’s gracious protection.
Notice how he begins his prayer. It’s not just “God help me! God protect me! God save me!” Oh, he’s going to get to those issues. But notice how he begins. “Be gracious to me, O God. Be gracious to me.” He says it twice for emphasis. He’s recognizes that He doesn’t deserve God’s help. He’s recognizes he’s a sinner, and God is holy. That He’s small and God is great.
You know, he could have started the prayer this way: “God, why have You put me in this situation? I don’t deserve this! Hey, don’t You remember, I’m the one who killed Goliath! I deserve better treatment than this. I don’t deserve this! What in the world are You doing?
But that would be accusing a holy and loving God of wrongdoing! No, David admits he deserves nothing as a sinner, but perhaps God’s wrath. He recognizes the only basis upon which God would answer his prayer as a sinner is God’s own gracious and merciful character. And being one who meditated on God’s law day and night, he appeals to that precise characteristic of God’s nature: that he’s a merciful and gracious God.
You know, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if David is appealing to God on the basis of what God revealed to Moses about himself in Exodus 34:6-9. To me, it’s the ultimate revelation of who God is and what He’s like that’s found in the Old Testament. Do you remember the occasion? God has threatened to destroy Israel over the Golden Calf incident. Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to intercede for Israel. God relents because of Moses’ humble prayer. And then Moses asks to see God’s glory. As God puts Moses in a cleft of the rock, God tells him He will pass by, And God’s glory passes by, the Lord proclaims the essence of His nature in relationship to men: “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
Do you see what David was doing? He knew God personally, so he knew what God was like. So, he appealed to the very first thing God tells us about His own nature and tendencies—that He is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and true, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin. No wonder David had such an effective prayer life. He knew God. He prayed to God on the basis of what God says is true of Himself—that He’s gracious and compassionate. So, before and in the process of seeking God’s protection, He makes it clear He’s asking God on the basis of His gracious, merciful and compassionate character, to hear his prayer. As Spurgeon once put it: “How can the Lord be unmerciful to a trustful soul.”
He can’t, and so this first aspect of David’s prayer opens the door for him to be heard by a God who is always moved to grace and compassion upon sinners who seek his forgiveness and favor, sinners who put their trust in Him. And in the second half of verse one, that’s exactly what David says he’s doing. He’s trusting God beyond himself—for he says, “my soul takes refuge in you.” Yes, he’s taken refuge in a cave, but ultimately, he’s taking refuge in the Lord. In the shadow of the Lord’s wings, as a great mother bird, David says he’s taking refuge. It’s humble trust in God that moves God to protect those who come to him in prayer.
Humble trust is a secret to answered prayer in any and every situation. I find it interesting that Moses, who did wonders and signs and miracles like no one else in the Old Testament, is described in this way in Numbers 12:3; “(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)” Here we find Moses’ secret to spiritual power—great power comes with great humility and great faith.
Begin your prayer by acknowledging you’re seeking God’s help on the basis of his grace and mercy, not because you deserve it.
Then David goes on to deliberately affirm His trust in God’s faithfulness. He lists the reasons why He comes to God in prayer.
Verses two and three: “I will cry out to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. Think about that for a moment. “God will send for His lovingkindness and His truth.”
Here we discover not only secrets to prayer, but secrets to finding peace in anxious times. David intentionally reminds Himself and God of the sorts of things God does for those who humbly trust in Him: Here are the four reasons he cites for crying out to God in prayer:
1. God accomplishes all things for him—God does everything for him—gives him, provision, and protection.
2. God sends from heaven and saves Him. He had already experienced this with the lion and the bear and Goliath and in many battles. What God had done before, He will do again even in this seemingly impossible, and terribly unfair situation.
3. He reproaches him who tramples upon me. And then we find Selah, a pause to think about this in the middle of a verse. He tells us to really think about this. A reproach is generally a verbal rebuke or correction. God will deal with my enemy. He will rebuke. And God not only did that to Saul, he ultimately did much more. God will take care of those who threaten you. Though in this situation, we do not face a personal enemy, but an impersonal one, God is able to rebuke a virus so that it has no effect upon you.
And then #4: God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth. Now where have we seen those words, that precisely phraseology before. Yes, in Exodus 34:6-9. David knows God, he knows this is what God’s nature is all about—confirming his loyal, faithful love, his lovingkindness, and demonstrating the truth about Himself. And so, He assures both God and himself that He believes these things, that he’s confident in the ultimate circumstance that trumps all other circumstances—the Almighty Sovereign God is characterized by loyal love, faithfulness and truth. He will never let you down when you seek Him as your protector. He is true to His Word.
And you see what this begins to accomplish? Two things. First, now David, having spoken these truths to Himself, is re-assured. Right and true thoughts bring right and true feelings—confidence and peace rather than overwhelming fear. And second, he has assured God of his total trust in God’s faithfulness—something God likes to hear and is encouraged by. As Jesus once said, according to your faith be it unto you.
When was Jesus offended during His ministry? It was often when people failed to believe. He comes down from the Mount of Transfiguration in Mark 9 and the disciples have been unable to cast a demon out of a demon-possessed boy. The boy’s father implores Jesus, If you can, help, however you can. And Jesus stops him and says, “If you can? All things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23). To fail to believe that God can and will do what He says is an insult to God. If you suffer from this malady of unbelief as I once did, pray as this father prayed. “I do believe. Help my unbelief. (Mark 9;24) And God will do so even as he did for this struggling father and as He has done so, abundantly, for me.
Deliberately, intentionally affirm to yourself and to God your confidence in God’s faithfulness. You will touch the heart of God and bring peace to your own soul as you do. Number the ways in which God is faithful, and you’ll do yourself a favor and honor God at the same time, in such a way that He will be encouraged to prove your suspicions about his loyalty true!
However, David refuses to be in denial about the great danger that he’s in. In verses 4-6 he tells just how threatening his situation really is, even how fearful he is of his enemies. He describes it in terms of the fiercest of beasts, the most consuming of all physical processes, and the sharpest of all weapons. But in the midst of the discussion of just how horrific his circumstances are, he brings in another issue, another secret of answered prayer—a concern for God’s glory in the circumstance:
Verse 4: “My soul is among lions; I must lie among those who breathe forth fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue is a sharp sword. Be exalted above the heavens, O God, Let your glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed own. They dug a pit before me. They themselves have fallen into the midst of it.”
You know what David is really implying here. The greater the danger, the more impossible the situation, the greater the glory will be God’s when He delivers.
Another secret to answered prayer that comes from knowing God. God is forever concerned about His glory—that He be honored before the nations of the world And David recognizes the deeper the trouble He’s in, the more glory will come to God when God delivers Him. And in that, he comes to confidence that God will deliver him. And this is before the deliverance had actually happened.
The key is to seek God’s glory in your prayers for protection and deliverance. Seek God’s glory in your deliverance. And when you do God will act not only in your interest, but also in His own. For as He has said in Psalm 46:10b; “I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted on the earth.”
When you pray for deliverance and protection, do you pray also that God will be glorified in protecting and delivering you and yours? The wise man and woman does so. God loves to act not only on our behalf, but so that men come to acknowledge His greatness.
And having asked for God’s glory, there is a momentum now in David’s positive attitude, in His faith. He began this prayer in desperate fear. He ends on a note of praise, and confidence, assured of ultimate victory, both for himself and for God and His glory.
There is no shaking Him now. He intentionally praises and thanks God in advance for His deliverance. And that’s what we should do in this time of hiding out. Intentionally praise and thank God, yes in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, for His protection and deliverance of us.
Verse 7: “My heart I is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast” He began the Psalm with “Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me.” Now having prayed and made His requests, He asserts that He is confident, His heart cannot be moved away from its faith in God’s faithfulness. He repeats this assertion twice for emphasis. My heart is steadfast now, O God. I trust, I am confident in you and your deliverance. Therefore, “I will sing, yes I will sing praises. Awake my glory”—perhaps a reference to God Himself as David’s glory. “Awake, harp and lyre” in response to my glory, God. “I will awaken the dawn.” Even ever so early in the morning, before the breaking of dawn, David will now sing praises in that dark cave of Adullam. “I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations.” When he uses the words people and nations, he’s talking about singing the Lord’s praises in all the world, even among the Gentiles. He’s promising He will make sure to give glory to God for the deliverance that will certainly come His way. And in fact, today, David is still doing so, through this Psalm, Psalm 57, 3,000 years later, among the Gentiles whom we are.
Why does he bring such glory to God? “For your lovingkindness is great to the heavens and your truth to the clouds. And this then is his final request: “Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth.” David is now certain it will come to pass because He has humbly prayed and affirmed His trust in a faithful God, whose lovingkindness does indeed reach to the heavens.
Yes, another secret to answered prayer--don’t only pray for God’s glory, agree to give Him credit, agree to give Him glory for the great works and deliverances He accomplishes on your behalf. The greater the danger, the greater the deliverance, the greater the glory for Almighty God, who is indeed worthy of all our praise, honor and glory.
So, you might ask, “How did this prayer work out for David?” What was the ultimate outcome of this prayer first penned and sung in a dark cave in the wilderness?
David was completely delivered, empowered by many who joined him on this occasion. His enemy, Saul, indeed fell into the very trap he had laid for David and died by his own sword in battle. And David was exalted as the next king of all Israel.
Are you hiding out? Are you afraid? What do you do until danger passes you by? Yes, take precautions, but humbly pray and deliberately affirm God’s faithfulness. And you will experience deliverance and victory, even as David did!
Let’s pray.
