Psalm 54: When You Are On God’s Side

Read Psalm 54:1-7

When You Are On God’s Side

Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
(Psalm 54:4)

You will often hear people talk about God being on their side. Politicians, religious leaders, even ordinary people like you and me toss that belief around like a pro athlete guaranteeing a victory in the big game. But just saying it doesn’t make it so!

President Abraham Lincoln was once asked during the Civil War if he believed that God was on his side. His response was one that we would all do well to think about, since it represents the only true guarantee of Divine help and victory. Lincoln said, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side, my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

Here’s the deal: If we’re on God’s side, we cannot fail. If we’re on God’s side then God will be on our side, and our victory is guaranteed. David discovered that—the story can be found in I Samuel 23:7-29—which is the basis for this psalm. He was on the run from King Saul, because the king was bent on having David killed. The young shepherd had just landed in the next of what had been too many hideouts, Ziph, when the people of that village turned him in to Saul. Saul seemed to finally have David cornered—it looked like it was game, set and match this time.

But David was on God’s side—and God was on David’s side. Suddenly, just as Saul was ready to pounce, the king got some bad news that enemies on another front, the Philistines, were attacking, so he left pursing the cornered David to tend to that pressing business. And David was once again delivered when there seemed no way possible to escape. (I Samuel 23:27-29)

Was it a coincidence that Saul was distracted in that moment when he had David dead to rights? Not at all! You see, God was at work here, bringing about his purposes in David’s life. David was destined to be king, and God was teaching him how to be a good king. And good kings need to know that God can be counted on for help and sustenance when the king is on God’s side.

God wants you to know that too. Even when there seems to be no way out for you, God is close by; he is working out his plan; he is teaching you how to be a king; he is showing you that he can be counted on to help and sustain you. And there is only one way to really learn that, which like David, means that you will have to have your back against the wall so that the only way out is through a mighty and miraculous deliverance through the strong hand of God.

And when you are on God’s side, sooner or later, like David, that will be your story too!

“Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.”
—Charles Spurgeon