Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

David has had a rough time lately, so his songs are going to reflect that.

We opened today with Psalm 3, which he wrote when he had to flee Jerusalem because

of Absalom's attempt to steal the throne from him. The people he used to lead are now speaking

ill of his soul. They're saying he's beyond saving. Not only is that hurtful to David personally,

I'm sure, but it's also an affront to God's character. God loves to save even the most wicked and

vile. It displays his mercy and forgiveness. David has no idea how many people Absalom has turned against him,

but it's at least in the hundreds, if not thousands, especially given all the people Absalom

won over when he was flattering people at the

city gates. So in verse 6, when David says, many thousands of people have set themselves against me

all around, this doesn't seem to be hyperbole. Despite all that, David knows who God is. He trusts

God and asks God to rescue him. These circumstances haven't dimmed the brightness of God's goodness to him.

In Psalm 4, we see a lot of the same themes repeated, except this song was written for corporate

worship, not personal worship, so it's less specific to David's life than Psalm 3 is.

This song expresses confidence in God and points out that the anger David feels for being

mistreated has to be submitted to God too. That's part of what it looks like to put your trust in God.

He knows that ultimately, the nearness of God is where his peace will be found, not in circumstances.

He finds more joy in knowing God than all his enemies find in their

prosperity and abundance. God can't be taken away like wine and grain and material blessings can,

so David doesn't lie awake, anxious at night about losing everything he has. He knows that

ultimately he has all that matters, so he can sleep peacefully. Psalm 12 talks

about the utter lack of righteous people in the world. It seems like almost no one is faithful to God.

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