We tend, I believe, to think of David as this bigger than life figure who enjoyed all the princely trappings of royalty, who spent leisure hours in writing songs and perfecting his music, and who, generally, all around, just lived this most amazing of lives. I suppose this last part is certainly true; David’s life was, indeed, amazing. But, oh my, on any given day, I suspect David might say to us, “Mine is the most difficult and miserable of all lives.” I mean, just think about it. In psalm after psalm, David recounts the many battles with his enemies and how he would almost despair. And, of course, his greatest enemy of all was his own sinfulness and sin. But he comes back, time and again, to this: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock” (27:4,5).
And how about this? "Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime" (Ps 30:5). With David, let us sing those praises to our God even when all around us seems as darkness and despair.
Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom, sometimes where Eden's flowers bloom, by waters calm, o'er troubled sea, still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, he leadeth me;
by his own hand he leadeth me:
his faithful follower I would be,
for by his hand he leadeth me. -- J. H. Gilmore (1862)
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