J.M. Boice said, “Righteousness we may hope for and sometimes discover; sin we can count on. Sin is everywhere and in all people.”
It is bitter to suffer at the hands of the wicked, but it is far more bitter to suffer at the hands of one we thought to be our friend. Charles Spurgeon stated, “None are such real enemies as false friends.”
This psalm gives us an example of a prayer on such an occasion. This example of prayer on a difficult occasion should help us. We need to be praying constantly. But many of us struggle to do so. This psalm models three characteristics of an ideal prayer. Having such a simple model of prayer, in time of intense difficulty, should encourage our prayer life.
Honest
It is an honest prayer. The pain is fully expressed. The writer does not hold back his pain and frustration. He honestly expresses it. We make a mistake when we try to hide our frustration from God. He is not fooled, and we are robbed of the opportunity to cast our burdens on him.
My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. (4-5)
The writer wants to escape, and he honestly acknowledges that desire.
And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; 7 yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; 8 I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.” (6-8)
A desire to escape temporarily is not wrong. Even Jesus turned aside from the multitudes at times. We must not flee our assigned task, but to have the desire to flee is not sin. To not feel such a desire would be to be less than human. To feel the desire for escape, but to choose God’s will over our own will is to find our higher humanity. MacLaren said of this desire, “It may be ignoble, or lofty and pure, it may mean only cowardice or indolence; but it is deepest in those who stand most unflinchingly at their posts, and crush it down at the command of duty.”
Some of the methods of the enemies are mentioned.
- They use noise (3).
- The enemies are led by a former friend (12-14).
- The chief enemy is deceitful in speech (20-21).
The psalmist had each of these methods used against him. Jesus did as well and we may often encounter them ourselves. To be forewarned should help us to be forearmed. It should also help us to realise that we are in good company when such problems come.
Persistent
It is a persistent prayer, offered evening, morning, and noon. (17).
This raises the question, “Do we pray?”
Muslims often refer to those who convert to Christianity as those who have stopped praying. While it is good that Christians do not make a show of praying, as some Muslims do; it is unfortunate that some Christians pray very little.
J.C. Ryle wrote,
“I can find that nobody will be saved by his prayers, but I cannot find that without prayer anybody will be saved. It is not absolutely needful to salvation that a man should read the Bible. A man may have no learning, or be blind, and yet have Christ in his heart. It is not absolutely needful that a man should hear public preaching of the gospel. He may live where the gospel is not preached, or he may be bedridden, or deaf. But the same thing cannot be said about prayer. It is absolutely needful to salvation that a man should pray.”
………………………………………………….
“To be prayerless is to be without God, without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven. It is to be on the road to hell. Now can you wonder that I ask the question: Do you pray?” (A Call to Prayer, 4)
Expectant
Psalm 55 is an expectant prayer, a prayer of faith (17-19, 22).
“Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. 18 He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. 19 God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, because they do not change and do not fear God.
… 22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. (17-19, 22)
Yes, we all have problems. This is nothing new. We are weak, not because the world has changed, not because our enemies have new methods, and certainly not because God has changed, but because we have failed to rely on HIM.
Let us close with another quote from Ryle,
“And what is the best means of cheerfulness in such a world as this? How shall we get through this valley of tears with the least pain? I know no better means than the regular, habitual practice of taking everything to God in prayer. ……………..
“The only way to be really happy in such a world as this, is to be ever casting all our cares on God. It is trying to carry their own burdens that so often makes believers sad. If they will tell their troubles to God, He will enable them to bear them as easily as Samson did the gates of Gaza (Jdg 16:3). If they are resolved to keep them to themselves, they will find one day that the very grasshopper is a burden” (16).