“O Lord, I will trust in you.” This statement of trust comes at the end of Psalm 55. This prayer has the clear tone of familiarity for us for we have prayed from this sentiment often in our daily lives. We may not have used the same words, but we have felt what the psalmist is expressing here in this powerful prayer.

It starts with a desperate appeal to God. “Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!” (verse 1) How often have I sent up such a cry in my own life? How often have I felt on the edge of desperation in the face of some seemingly overwhelming trouble and cried out to the Lord for his help, moaning and fearful? Have I not wished at such times that I could “have wings” so that I could fly away from my troubles, to escape what, in reality, could not be escaped? There have been many times that I have longed for some quiet, far away place in the wilderness where I could hide and be at peace

I have known anguish. I am no stranger to it. As a combat veteran, I have felt the abject fear of death bearing down on me with the enemy all around me and I have sent up wild, desperate prayers to God. Yes, I know the terrors that the psalmist writes about in this psalm. His prayer here sounds all too familiar to me. I’ve known, too, the unfaithfulness of a friend, with whom I took “sweet counsel.” In reality, what makes this psalm so powerful a prayer for us is the fact that we all know what David is talking about. We all have known such fears, such assaults from enemies within and without.

But this prayer’s true power is in the complete, unquestioning faith in God that it expresses. “But I call to God, and the Lord will save me” (verse 16). In faith, we know, as David does here, that God will not abandon us. He will hear our cries and answer them. “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you, he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (verse 22). If we have faith enough in this truth we too will be able to say with David, “But I will trust in you.”

Lord, increase in us a faith so deep that we will never again fear the false and unjust attacks that can come against us in this life. Empower us with a love for you that will make us strong both in trials and in mercy. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen!

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