10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God. – The underlined phrase is true even if some deny it! But the ‘you’ at the beginning of the phrase underlined must be considered deeply for it is of primary importance. Some call ‘Allah’ God but he is not! Whether ‘gods’ be magnificent golden images of Buddha or the simple pelican’s head held on a stick being carried high by the priest and followed by a horde of worshippers, as I saw in Western Africa, all people have a ‘god’, in their lives! Whether or not people title it ‘God’, if one of the following is the main goal, the most important part, of someone’s living – ‘pleasure’ or ‘wealth’ or ‘family’ or ‘sexual achievement’ or ‘fame’ – that is their ‘god’!
One of these is not the ‘God’ David is referring to! The name ‘God’ includes much more than a group of letters! It includes the character of the one bearing the name! The Bible is explicit in revealing the character of God (Adonai, Yahweh, Jehovah etc) which adds meaning to whom David is referring when he says ‘you alone are God.’
11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever. – The heart needs to work in an organized way! Mine doesn’t do that, so that I need a pacemaker to unite the work of atrium and ventricle! Determine what you think unite my heart means, but keep within the bounds of the truth of what the Bible reveals because we cannot draw/imagine the God whom we wish to worship! He has revealed Himself! To me ‘the whole heart’ means ‘the core’ of life, a desire to be integrated in every part of my living.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. – Is this because David was in many situations where he was likely to have been killed and God saved him from death (which is one meaning of ‘sheol’)? Or is David facing his physical death and looking forward to the time when He answers to God -face to face! A time when, as a sinner, he would, apart from the intervention of God, be in hell? (a second meaning of Sheol!)
14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant,
and save the son of your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign of your favour,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me. – As I sit in a small Australian city, relatively comfortable and in peace with God and my neighbours, loved by many, I can’t easily put myself into the mind of David. As king of a great nation I can’t even begin to think what ‘a band of ruthless men seeks my life‘ meant to David! The signs which God gives me as I face, at 87, death within the next x-months or years are the cross and an empty tomb. I can’t help but think of Sudan, the Middle East, Nigeria where many people daily face martyrdom or death. But I have signed death certificates for teenagers who set out expecting ‘an ordinary day’ of worshipping their ‘own god’ only to be facing the Eternal God’! The old scout motto of ‘Be Prepared’ is relevant to everyone of us if we think seriously!
Ecclesiastes 12: 13,14 – The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Prayer: Please help me to live ‘prepared’.