Psalm 17:15 “And I-in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.” (NIV)
Psalm 17 is another prayer of David asking for God’s intervention in his life to protect him from King Saul as he pursues David in the Desert of Moan. Have you ever been in a situation that you were evading someone’s efforts to find you? When I was in the Army we would exercise our escape and evade skills in the German country side. We would be taken into the German mountains and forests and dropped off one by one with a map and a compass to navigate with. Soldiers would be deployed to track you down, find you, and bring you back to their camp. Even in a training exercise I can’t tell you how scary it was to be hiding from men that wanted to track you down and find you. It was bone-deep exhausting to trek through rough terrain in fear that you would be caught.
Then I come to our devotional text and think of poor young David on the run from Saul. In 1 Samuel 23 we find that David was on one side of the mountain and Saul on the other and they were closing in. I can visualize David dropping to his knees in a state of exhaustion and fear and praying the words of Psalm 17. Look at some of the great spiritual truths of Psalm 17 and ponder on them, for there is much to learn from David’s words. David recognizes that his relationship with God is not a one way street. God examines us and probes our hearts, and tests our faith to see where our fidelity lies (Psalm 17:3). Any relationship we have with our God is interactive and it is never passive!
David also understands that we need to remain in the circle of the will of God if we are to be the apple of his eye and secure in the shadow of his wings (Psalm 17:8). Whenever we drift away from God, we go in harm’s way, and the further we drift, the more danger we find ourselves in with the devil lurking about as a roaring lion. David realizes that Saul has tracked him down and is closing in on him when he raises this plea for help in his trouble. David knows this situation is dire and he may not make it through the night, but he closes his prayer with our devotional text recognizing that even if he dies, he will see the face of God when he awakes. He further states that he will be satisfied with seeing the likeness of God.
Job had a similar thought in his stress when he stated in Job 19:25-27: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him and not another…” My friends, we will not get out of this world alive, but immediately upon death we are with the Lord and we will see him face to face. What of David and his capture by Saul? It didn’t happen, since at the moment he was ready to close in on David, he received a report that the Philistines were raiding the land and he turned around and went home to engage them. Who says God doesn’t answer prayer and that he doesn’t intervene in the affairs of men? Friends, don’t believe that devil’s lie for a second.
DEAR LORD, I AM COMMITTED TO SEEKING YOUR FACE AND BEING YOUR PERSON IN THIS SIN SICK WORLD BECAUSE I KNOW YOU CARE FOR ME AND WILL BRING ME HOME TO YOU NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS LIFE. AMEN!
Article source: Mike White @ Summit church of Christ
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