Psalm 60: Desperate Times

Read Psalm 60:1-12

Desperate Times Calls For Divine Measures

You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow. Selah
Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.
(Psalm 60:3-5)

David’s reign as king over God’s people came to be known as the Golden Age of Israel. Yet there were times during his reign, as you can discern from this psalm, that all was not well with the nation. There were situations and seasons where it seemed as if the people had abandoned their God, and God had abandoned his people.

On this occasion, David sensed that God had not been with Israel in battle as he had expected. We’re not told why—if there was some national sin that caused God to withhold his favor, or if David’s leadership was to blame, or if God was just simply testing and deepening Israel.

That is so true of our lives as well. Sometimes we just don’t know. Sometimes difficult things happen and after some serious soul searching, we simply cannot produce an adequate explanation. I am sure many Christians who are caught in the vise-grip of our present downturned economy may be feeling this way today. And I certainly know of several God-honoring churches, too, that are experiencing severe financial challenges. I’m sure a lot of believers right now would join David and say, “You have shown your people desperate times.”

So what are you to do in those desperate times? Unfurl your banner, that’s what! In other words, declare your loyalty to God! Shout your trust in his goodness! Make clear to the world whose side you are on! Affirm your submission to his will and align yourself once again to his sovereign purposes. Refuse to surrender to fear, self-pity and defeat. Intensify your intentions and redouble your efforts to be God’s man or God’s woman no matter what the times are like—good or bad.

And then simply and patiently entrust yourself to God to save and help you with his strong right hand. After all, the One who loves you goes by the name “Deliverer” for good reason.

“Go forth today, by the help of God’s Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life—come poverty, come wealth, in death—come pain or come what may, you are and ever must be the Lord’s. For this is written on your heart, ‘We love Him because He first loved us.’”
—Charles Spurgeon