Psalm 54

God, save me by Your name. Vindicate me by your might.

O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

Behold, (look!) God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

With a freewill offering I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.

For You have delivered me from every trouble; and my eye has looked on victorious over my enemies.

This is a shortened version of Psalm 54. Hopefully a way to prompt memorization of this wonderful prayer of David to our Lord.

David here was not laid up in a palace popping grapes and guzzling wine. He was in the thick of it, in a stressful situation where Saul and the Ziphites were actively seeking David to snuff out his life. As Matthew Henry wrote, “David has no other plea to depend upon than God’s name, no other power to depend upon than God’s strength, and those he makes his refuge and confidence.”

David is in a distressing situation. I’m so thankful that God’s Word meets us in distressing situations. I found myself in one yesterday. No, there was not a king named Saul playing hide-and-seek for my life. But I was surprised with an unexpected financial situation, and not even like a definite situation. More so a possibility that something could go financially-south in the near-future. Money issues have a way of doing that; of revealing the idol within my heart. See, it’s not only those with excess money who worship money as an idol. It’s often also those with little-to-no money, constantly worrying about money, that find themselves also worshipping money as an idol. I think this is why the apostle Paul wrote the verse about ‘being content in every circumstance’, whether in want or in plenty, in rich or in poor. Idols cannot make a home in a heart that’s content.

But it’s oft easier said than done. Everything requires money. Homes require money. Diapers and pull-ups and clothes and pre-school require money. Vacations require money. Cars require money. Food and gasoline and that beloved product known as insurance requires money. And it’s hard, for me at least, to view money with a sense of calm because it seems as soon as the calm moment appears, two other things break down that require…you guessed it…money. This isn’t the case, though. In reality, I can look back and see God’s provision through money in our 6.5 years of marriage. Hospital bills and car repairs and mini-splits and HVAC systems and gutter repair and student loans being wiped out. And where I should be giving God that freewill offering of thanks to His name, I often wait for the next thing to spend money on. This is an example of walking in the flesh and it’s a miserable way to live. If I’m only living for the things of this world, I need to readjust my hope and vision b/c two things are fading away: me, along with this world.

So thankful that God hears us whenever we call upon Him. I have many friends that I have not spoken to in years. To be quite frank, if I passed away tomorrow, I would only count myself as having one friend and even he and I have been distant the last couple years since COVID began. We text maybe once a week back and forth to do the minimal least of keeping in touch with each other, but there’s not really a closeness there. Thankful that God isn’t like that. Even though I cease praying to Him for days/weeks/months at a time, God is still present and still sees and God hears and God knows us and God cares for us, truly. Though we have nothing to offer him, God loves us and gives us everything in Himself.

God is my helper. The Lord upholds my life. I need help. Financial temptations pop up again and again and again. I need help to remember that it’s actually God who makes the world go round – not money. It’s God that saves the soul, not ones money. In fact, Scripture paints the disparity between those who love their money and who trust in their money against those that can enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Lord has upheld my life. I had a colonoscopy a few months ago and a couple biopsies were taken and they came back benign. How quickly I just move on and forget this! Our son had an eye surgery Nov. 2 and everything went well. We journeyed to and from Gatlinburg last week and came back through about 30-40 minutes of VERY limited visibility and the Lord got us home. My wife and I received raises to start 2022. I should continually be praising His name!

The name of the Lord is a good name. Money can surely help but it cannot uphold one’s life. Money can provide but it can’t ultimately save. Quite the opposite actually, the bible shows us. God delivers us from every trouble. God is ultimately victorious. We are in a battle and troubles are the norm this side of eternity. But God is with us! He hears us when we call out to Him, He cares for us and loves us, and He is certainly worthy of all glory, honor, power, and praise.