March 2nd Devotion

People Problems – Chuck Swindoll

For many years, I opened the daily newspaper looking forward to another dose of wisdom from the mind of Charles Schulz, the creator of the comic strip "Peanuts." In one particular scene, Lucy chides her little brother Linus, "You a doctor! HA! That's a big laugh! You could never be a doctor! You know why? Because you don't love mankind, that's why!"

Linus ponders her indictment for a moment and then shouts, "I love mankind. It's people I can't stand!!"

There are some days I have to laugh and say "Amen!" Let's face it; most problems are people problems. You can have a job that demands long hours and great physical effort, but neither the hours nor the energy drain gives you the problems difficult people do. You can have financial difficulties, physical pain, a tight schedule, and face miles of driving each day, but these things are not the cause of our major battles. It's people, as Linus said. Difficult people are perhaps the most challenging problems of all!

Psalm 54 is David's lament over the constant grind of people problems. Take a moment to observe the superscription; you'll find it worth your while. (By the way, I hope you are learning to do that when studying the ancient songs in the Bible. The words that appear before the first verse of each psalm are part of ancient text, giving the reader some helpful hints about the song.)

In the Fifty-fourth Psalm the superscription reads:

For the choir director; on stringed instruments.
A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites came and
said to Saul, "Is not David hiding himself among us?"


This unusually long superscription tells us that David wrote the song. We also learn that it is a "Maskil." All Maskil songs offer instruction and insight for dealing with certain situations. In this case, Psalm 54 provides some very practical advice on how to respond to problems created by other members of the human race who are just as ornery as we are!

According to 1 Samuel 23:14-26, David was being chased by jealous King Saul, whose murderous manhunt forced the singer to take refuge in a bleak and rugged location. He feared for his life, so he was desperate to find a place of safety. But everything backfired. The spot called "the hill of Hachilah" appears safe within Ziphite territory, supposedly neutral ground. But David found no rest there. The Ziphites turned against him and reported his location to Saul, and the chase resumed. David fled to the wilderness of Maon but soon found himself surrounded by Ziphites and Saul's soldiers.

I can just picture David. He's dirty, sweaty, hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and no doubt, discouraged. He slumps beside a leafy bush or beneath the shadow of a rock to escape the searing rays of the desert sun, and he begins to pour out his feelings in a poem. Attacked and betrayed by people, he is led by the Holy Spirit to record his feelings. Those expressions are what we have today preserved in the lyrics of this song, Psalm 54.
Posted in
Tagged with

No Comments


Recent

Archive

 2024

Categories

Tags

10 nations 5th bowl judgment 6th Bowl Anxiety Armageddon Attributes of God Autism Battles Battle Be on Guard Be still Bearing with one another Being Still Bible Blessing God Bowl Judgment #2 Bow Busyness Christmas Comfort Coming of Jesus Contentment Content Courage Crown of righteousness Directing our paths Disappointment Discipleship Earthquakes Easter Encouragement End times Eric Lidell Eternity Evil Exemplary prayer Faith over fear Faith wavers Faithful with Litlle Feeding the Fire Fellowship with God Free Generosity Giants Gideon Giving thanks God at work God in our midst God is working God's Help God's Holiness God's Involvment God's Timing God's Whispers God's call on your life God's delays God's direction God's pleasure God's will Grattitude Guarding our words Hearing from God Heart of Service Heart of the problem Hidden Blessings His Love Hope If Only Incomparable Word Jesus' Kingdom Jesus' return Jesus Lightning Listen for His voice Listening Little by little Living godly Love Loving God's word Moments More Need New Covenant Not Looking back Obstacles One world religion People Persistence in prayer Pour in spirit Power Praise Praising God Pray without ceasing Prayer life Prayer Pray Progress Protection Proverbs Purpose Rainbows Reading the bible Reason Redemption Rejoicing Rock Self-Focus Serviing Setbacks Shepherd Singing Spiritual Vitamins Standing tall Stepping out Still on the throne Striving Thank God Thankfulness The Good News The Prize The Tongue The Word The gift Thunder Time with God Trumpet Two witnesses Vision Waiting patiently Waterfall Weak Weary Soul Wisdom Worry Worship You matter Your race all together antichrist assumptions balancing things best laid plans blessings coming of the Lord continuing in sin daily bible study darkness delight in the word of God delight distractions doubt drinking water endurance everyday faith family breakdown fear forest for the trees godlessness godliness godly life good times grace growing up grumbling hard times hearts towards heaven heat joy kings of the east knowledge lasting Covenant living for Jesus longing for God loving one another make a way mark of the beast miracles missing names of God needing Answers nothing goes right patience peace pleasing God prepared provision rapture relationships running searing seas turned to blood season set example setting out sing unto the Lord sin spend time with Jesus sunburn thanksgiving thanksgivi thought life trusting God two-witnesses unanswered prayers understanding unfulfilled desires waiting walk faithfully walk in the light walk with God walking with God want water to blood waver in prayers weapon white horse willingness word of God world chaos yes to God