Psalm 55 – Argument & Anguish

It’s Holy Week. Some call it Passion Week. Today (Tuesday) is known as the “Day of Argument”. It was the day when Jesus’ authority was challenged in the temple. It was the day he confronted the Jewish leaders, the day of the Olivet Discourse (The Great Eschatological Discourse), and the day Judas agreed to betray Jesus.

I can’t help but think about these confrontations as I read David’s words about the “stares of the wicked” and those who revile him in their anger:

At the voice of the enemy,
at the stares of the wicked; 

for they bring down suffering upon me 

and revile me in their anger.

My heart is in anguish within me; 

the terrors of death assail me.

Fear and trembling have beset me; 

horror has overwhelmed me.

I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! 

I would fly away and be at rest.

Psalm 55:1-6

For David, there was much anguish and terror in this season. For Jesus, we know there was much anguish as he considered the gravity of his journey later in the garden. And just as there was a moment of surrender for Jesus when He submitted to God’s will, we see David’s surrender to the reality of resting in God’s rescue and peace (vs.6)

Then in verse 22, David reminds us again of God’s “upholding” and sustaining power:

Cast your cares on the LORD 

and he will sustain you; 

he will never let the righteous fall.

Psalm 55:22

On the cross, what might have seemed to an observer, to be the greatest fall… of the one we know to be the most righteous… to those who believe, became the greatest victory.

David knew this truth. Not yet framed with the exact path in which Christ would give up his life, but certainly with the surrender and trust that it represents. The full absorbing of the reality that even in death, we find victory.

David understood the paradox in our journey. The one that we so easily forget… that in our worst moment, thru our greatest trial, at the time of our most horrifying fear, we can find peace. Most of what we know, feel, and see is temporal. God is sovereign, His love is eternal, and His grace is enough.