In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth. I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD. I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction and my bones grow weak. Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and lie silent in the grave. Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous. How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues. Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city. In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. (NIV)

I can see this as a psalm that the Lord would prayer, since it reflects his life on this earth.

As I read this psalm today I could not help think of David’s life from the time that Samuel anointed him as the king that would replace Saul in I Samuel 15:13 to the time of his death I Kings 2:10,11. I King 1:29 is David’s testimony to this “And the king swore, and said, as Jehovah lives, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, verily as I swore unto thee by Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; verily so will I do this day. David knew that his seed would reign after him as promised by God; however his son Absalom try to take the kingdom from him by the use of force. Adonijah try to take the kingdom when David was well stricken in years by using politics to arrange a collation that would make him king. It is interesting that David did not interfere with Adonijah setting himself up as King. I Kings 1:6 “His father (David) had never interfered with him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom”. However, when informed of what was happening he charged Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada to set up Solomon as king. As I study David’s life I see a pattern of how David waited on the Lord to make major decisions. His indecision is sometimes viewed as not taking a stand, however the more I study David’s life I can see how this was his waiting on God to intervene.

Studying the life of President George W. Bush I learned that this psalm as well as psalm 91 were his two favorite psalms. I can see several of the characteristics in his life and his administration that seem to others as being indecisive, but in reality he was reflecting the characteristics of a mature servant of Christ.  The characteristic of waiting on the Lord is a characteristic that only comes by having a personal wilderness experience where God’s presence since so far removed from you.  In fact some of the verse that Christ quoted to Satan in Matthew chapter four when he was in the wilderness came from Psalms 91. Knowing about the faith of President George W. Bush in God I can now see how the role of President given to him by God came about after much preparation of the events God placed in his life.

I have tried to apply this principle of waiting in my own life over the past several years I realized how strong my personal belief must be in God’s ability to take care of everything in our life. What then is the role I take in making those major decisions in my life?

Keys from this chapter:

• I have taken refuge in the Lord
• I let God lead and guide me
• Into God’s hands I commit my spirit
• I hate those who cling to worthless idols
• I trust in the LORD
• I will be glad and rejoice in your love
• I trust in the Lord
• I have cried out to the Lord
• I called to the Lord for help
• I will be strong and take heart
• I hope in the LORD
• And most important, I will leave the judgment of the wicked, proud and those who cling to worthless idols to the Lord.

Sometimes my waiting on the Lord may be viewed by others as indecisiveness, a weakness or not taking a stand on an issue, but like David I have learned to wait upon the Lord.