In today’s passage, we witness David’s trust and surrender to the Lord as he cries out for the Lord’s help. Within the first 15 verses of Psalm 55, David shared his overwhelming distress with the Lord. Many theologians believe that David wrote Psalm 55 when his third son, Absalom, rebelled against him and attempted to dethrone him with the help of Ahithophel, who was David’s most trusted advisor and who turned on David to join in his son’s rebellion. In verses 16-17 there is a shift from David describing his distress to now expressing his trust in the Lord. In verse 22 there is another shift from David expressing his trust in the Lord to now fully surrendering to the Lord.
Friends, no matter where we find ourselves, we need to allow our faith to lead each and every moment. By his faith, David chose prayer, trust, and submission to Almighty God in his time of distress, and that is a great example for us to follow. We need to remember that we are never alone. When life is too heavy for us to carry, we need to remember to invite God in so that He can carry us through each and every moment until we are reunited with Him in eternity.
Psalm 55:16-17, 22
16 But I will call on God,
and the Lord will rescue me.
17 Morning, noon, and night
I cry out in my distress,
and the Lord hears my voice.
22 Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
For our prayer today I chose one of my favorite prayers:
Footprints in the Sand Prayer
One night I dreamed I was walking
along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed that
during the low periods of my life, when I was
suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,”You promised me
Lord, that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods
of my life there have only been
one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
“The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you.”
Thank You, Jesus, for carrying each and every one of us. We lift up this devotional time, this prayer, and our lives to You, Jesus. Amen.