Introduction

As we begin to look at this Psalm, lets examine the background for it

The introduction to the Psalm in the King James Bible says this

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?

Lets look at the incident as it is recorded in 1 Samuel 23:15 - 20

So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. {16} Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. {17} And he said to him, "Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that." {18} So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house. {19} Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? {20} "Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand."

So, here we have the specific background for Psalm 54

There was a second time that something very similar happened

The Ziphites betrayed David to Saul twice

But, the one is sufficient

Now, we have to realize that David and his followers protected the area where they were staying

We could turn to 1 Samuel 25:14 - 16, now here we have the testimony of one man’s servants as to how they were protected by David’s men

1 Samuel 25:14-16 (NKJV)

Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he reviled them. {15} "But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. {16} "They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep.

Saul and the army could not be every where at once

If he heard of trouble, Saul would go and fight to protect the people

But, while Saul was out looking for David, David was staying in some place and protecting the population

In 1 Samuel 23:4 and following, the Philistines were attacking a town called Keilah and David heard of it and so he called upon the Lord

Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand." {5} And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. {6} Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand. {7} And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, "God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars." {8} Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. {9} When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here." {10} Then David said, "O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. {11} "Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant." And the LORD said, "He will come down." {12} Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will deliver you."

So, we see that in more than one instance David protected the people of Israel

But the people remained loyal to Saul

Even to the point of betraying their protector

Now, this is the background for David’s Psalm

So, now let us turn to Psalm 54:1 - 3 and begin to examine this song and the

Body

APPEAL FOR GOD'S HELP Vss. 1-3

Save me, O God, by Your name, And vindicate me by Your strength. {2} Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth. {3} For strangers have risen up against me, And oppressors have sought after my life; They have not set God before them. Selah

It has been pointed out that in the Hebrew mind the name is the person

But, I have also realized that the name of God is more than just a name

In Psalm 111:9 we find these words

He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.

I would like to read to you some words by Rev. Dr. M. J. du Plessis, of the Reformed Church, Beltville, Maryland

According to the good reverend Doctor du Prisses, there is a strange and persistent phenomenon among us, namely:

Those Christians who still attend church, listen every Sunday to the Law, and then specifically to that commandment which forbids us to use the Name of God in vain.

It then happens that some of these people, after passing out through the door of the church building, in their conversations with others commit profanity, that is, they use the Names of the Lord as swear-words, or simply as expletives or exclamations.

How did this situation come about?

The awe and respect there should be for the Name of God has been lost.

That means that the authority of almighty God also no longer exists for the person who so profanes the Name of the Lord.

That is also why many of our social structures frequently exhibit such signs of decay.

This is to be expected. If we cannot honor the Name of God, how are we to honor a relationship in society, or a relationship with our neighbor?

Lets turn to Leviticus 24:10-15

Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. {11} And the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) {12} Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the LORD might be shown to them. {13} And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, {14} "Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. {15} "Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.

How serious is it to misuse the Lord’s name?

You hear God Himself speaking. He demands sentence of death on everyone who profanes His Name.

So holy and awesome is God's Name. Not even a heathen is excused

God’s names are as holy and awesome as He Himself is

God is Himself synonymous with His Name.

The one is the other.

That is why it is such an extremely serious matter.

David calls upon God for salvation by His name, that is God’s name

In this Psalm David uses three names for God

Elohiym - God

Jehovah or Yahweh - Lord

And Adoni - Lord

All three of these names and the many more found in Scripture are sacred, holy, and awesome

If you recall, David was faced with what might seem to be a problem. The people he had been protecting might turn him in to Saul

So what did David do?

In the previous adventure around Keilah David asked the Lord a couple of questions

Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard?

Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?

David is asking for some very specific guidance

This becomes a very real lesson for us

God is interested in every single aspect of our lives

What we might consider big important matters to God are important; but, no more important that those aspects of our lives we might consider inconsequential

The essence of David’s prayer is for salvation

As I consider David’s words, Save me, O God, by Thy name I am reminded of the words of John in John 1:12

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Or Peters words in Acts 4:12

"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

There are many places in the New Testament that say our salvation is in the name of Jesus

Now we know that it is in the person and work of Christ

But as we have said, the name is the person

Our plea for help, for rescue, for salvation is to be addressed just as David did - to the person named Jesus, God, Lord, Jehovah, Adoni, and Elohiym

David pleads for a hearing

And then lays before the Lord his problem

In Hebrews 4:16 we are guaranteed the same privilege that David had

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We sang What a Friend We have in Jesus and in the very first verse we sang What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

Well, this is precisely what David has done.

In Psalm 54:4 & 5 we have David’s

ASSURANCE OF GOD'S HELP Vss. 4-5

Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life. {5} He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth.

I can feel the confidence of David as he says, Hay, Look, I will prevail because God is right here by my side

God is my helper

I’m not sure that David got that quite right. I remember a friend of mine used to park her car next to mine and she had one of those stickers that said, God is my co-piolet. I told her that she should change her sticker to read God is my piolet, I’m just along for the ride.

David, God should be the one in charge.

Well, I guess we can be gracious and give him a little slack. He’s got the right idea

He does qualify his statement in the next phrase, The Lord is with those who uphold my life

The righteous stand before God secure

Does that mean nothing bad happens?

No!

Remember Job

And David, he had to run and hide all those years before Saul died

Secure How, then?

Secure that we will be His forever.

If we live, we are God’s children

If we die, we are still God’s children

Death has no hold on God’s people

Because He has conquered Death

Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life. {5} He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth.

David prayed that God would bring justice

David was secure in the fact that Justice would be done

Not by him

In Romans 12:19 we find that justice is God’s department

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

This is a quote from Deuteronomy 32:35

Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.'

Part of the LAW in Deuteronomy 17:18 - 19 was the commandment that each succeeding king of Israel had to write out his own personal copy of the LAW and study it

"Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. {19} "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes,

I am not sure when David would have done this; but, judging from the contents of the Psalms and David’s actions he was very familiar with the LAW

Suffice it to say that David left vengeance and justice in God’s hands

It sounds like David is asking God for more that deliverance doesn’t it?

But if you really look at what he has to say

He is asking God for deliverance from, in this case, Saul

And asking for the Lord to deal with them

The NIV says destroy them; but the King James, the New King James says Cut them off

Now the Hebrew word that David used means to destroy or to cut off

When I consider the idea of being cut off

It could mean to terminate or it could mean to keep them from their intended goal

I’m thinking of the police trying to cut off someone who is fleeing, they try to keep the fugitive from reaching some intended goal

Remember the idea of praying for the salvation of Saddam Hussain?

Salvation for that man would have cut him off from his intended goal

That of doing evil

The last two verses of our Psalm show David’s

ATTITUDE CAUSED BY GOD'S HELP Vss. 6-7

I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good. {7} For He has delivered me out of all trouble; And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

This last part of the Psalm shows an attitude of worship

I was looking for an appropriate illustration of sacrifice and worship when I found these two.

A vital part of worship is giving. We are to respond to the needs of the church and God's people in a loving, sacrificial manner. Leslie B. Flynn illustrated this kind of personal giving in his book Worship. He wrote, "A man was packing a shipment of food contributed by a school for the poor people of Appalachia. He was separating beans from powdered milk, and canned vegetables from canned meats. Reaching into a box filled with various cans, he pulled out a little brown paper sack. Apparently one of the pupils had brought something different from the items on the suggested list. Out of the paper bag fell a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a cookie. Crayoned in large letters was a little girl's name, 'Christy -- Room 104'. She had given up her lunch for some hungry person."

We might say, well that’s silly, the little girl’s lunch would never have made it to Appalachia. That is not the point. The point is the thought and sacrifice. David said that he would freely sacrifice, he would generously worship. Christy of room Room 104 went without her lunch to give. That is generosity.

The second illustration I found says, A budget is a theological document. It indicates who or what we worship. If we examine our church budget, whom or what do we worship? If we examine our family budget, whom or what do we worship?

I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good. {7} For He has delivered me out of all trouble; And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

We know that praise is a form of worship

For what do we praise God?

In searching some items for this message I found that some equate gratitude with praise, Alexander Whyte, the Scottish preacher, always began his prayers with an expression of gratitude. One cold, miserable day his people wondered what he would say. He prayed, "We thank Thee, O Lord, that it is not always like this."

If we have to reach that far, it is still praise and praise is worship

David began by asking God to save him out of the situation he was in.

Just a few verses later David is thanking God, worshiping, God and praising God because in David’s mind the deliverance was a done deal

The last portion of the last verses says, And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

There are Christians who have a problem with this because they do not see the forgiveness that Christ preached

But, what did David ask for in the previous portion of the Psalm?

I saw the idea of being cut off as keeping some one from their intended goal

David cried for justice

David asked the Lord to stop the enemy’s plans for his down fall

What David sees in the last verse is just that.

Looking back at the incident in 1 Samuel concerning the Ziphites. David was warned of the treachery and escaped

We have no record of any retribution

Just that David escaped

Summary - In this Psalm we see three divisions

APPEAL FOR GOD'S HELP Vss. 1-3

David’s life was at risk so he turned to his God

We may never find ourselves in such a spot; but, we do find ourselves in predicaments that seem insurmountable to us

We have the same privilege that David had

To take it to the Lord in prayer

And we have this guarantee from Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

ASSURANCE OF GOD'S HELP Vss. 4-5

If we look down one verse from Romans 8:28 to verse 29 and 30 we find the good promised

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. {30} Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

David was being taught lessons he would need as King of Israel

Lessons to conform him to the image of Christ

The good is to be conformed, formed into the image of Christ

Patient

Loving

Forgiving

Unselfish

upright

Righteous

And so on

The Lord brings into our lives those things needful to teach us and form us into the image of His son

ATTITUDE CAUSED BY GOD'S HELP Vss. 6-7

The attitude should come as one of humble worship

To praise the Lord and attribute to Him glory