Troubled, evil, raging, distraught, crumbling are all words that come to mind when I think about the happenings in our world today. With Dorothy, I have to say “Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore.”

But is this the first time the world has gone awry?

I hear people longing for the ‘good old days’, and I admit that I sometimes join them, but has there been a time since Eve succumbed to the slippery words of the serpent that evil has not been rearing its ugly head? It may be less restrained today. It may be closer to me and invading my comfort zone now, but it has always been on the warpath against good, against right, against TRUTH, against GOD.

In Psalm 59, around three thousand years ago, David railed against the evil attacking his world. His descriptions are amazingly like the occurrences in our nation and world today. Check it out.

• They lie in wait for my soul. (verse 3)
• The powerful are gathered against the righteous. (verse 3)
• They prowl in the dark. (verse 6)
• Filth comes from their mouths. (verse 7)
• Their words cut. (verse 7)
• They think no one can detect their deviousness. (verse 7 )
• They are filled with cursing and lying. (verse 12)
• They are filled with pride. (verse 12)

Pick your ‘they’ in today’s news, and you will find that the descriptions above apply.

How do we respond as Christians? In the conflict and the danger that surrounded, how did David respond three thousand years ago?

• David cried to God for help and deliverance (verses 1, 4-5, 11-13). He didn’t just cry one time; he cried repeatedly. David knew that only God could provide the wisdom that he needed to survive. Only God could deliver him.
• David waited on (depended on) God (verses 9 -10). David had times in his life that he acted rashly and outside of God’s will for him, but when he waited on God, the right answer always came.
• He determined to sing of God’s power, God’s mercy, God’s defense and refuge (verses 16-17). David refused to be silent about his God. He refused to be intimidated by the enemy that wanted to silence God’s song. David made up his mind to sing of God. The act of determining or choosing is a strong act that God can use. A line from an old song goes like this, “I’ve already decided His will is my choice.”¹ Before the challenge, before entering the war, David decided to sing.

I like David’s choice.

This morning, though dark clouds may gather,

• I will commit my way and the world to the mercy of God.
• I will praise His unfailing love.
• I will sing of His power and His mercy.
• I will stand in His TRUTH.

I will not despair, and I will not be silent, for He is the God of my mercy, and He has been and will be my “refuge in the day of my trouble” (Psalm 59:16).

See those “I wills” and “I will nots”? Those are choices.

God help me make the right ones – every.day.

Psalm 59:¹⁶ But I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for Thou has been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. ¹⁷ Unto Thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defense, and the God of my mercy.

¹ Whatever He Wants for Me, written by Louis Paul Lehman

Photo – Sunrise over the City, Beth Mims