Aug-11-0487-God is my helper
487_God is my helper Psalm 54 O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might. 2 O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth. 3 For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah 4 Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. 5 He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them. 6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. 7 For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. In the spring of 1940, during World War II, Allied forces found themselves trapped at Dunkirk, surrounded by advancing German troops. Almost 400,000 soldiers faced annihilation on the beaches of France, and escape seemed impossible. In desperation, the British government called for a national day of prayer. Churches across the UK were filled with people crying out to God for deliverance. What followed became known as the “Miracle of Dunkirk.” A massive evacuation—codenamed Operation Dynamo—was launched. Civilian boats, fishing vessels, and naval ships crossed the English Channel under a cloak of unexpected fog and unusually calm waters. Over 338,000 soldiers were rescued against all odds. It was as if God Himself had intervened. Many later said it felt like the hand of heaven reached down to deliver them from the jaws of destruction. When we’re cornered, when all escape routes are blocked, and we feel overwhelmed by forces greater than us—where do we turn? This is the situation that gave rise to Psalm 54. Surrounded, betrayed, and pursued, David lifts his eyes—not to the hills, not to his weapons, not to his men, but to God—and declares, “God is my helper.” The setting of Psalm 54 takes us back to one of the darkest chapters in David’s life. The superscription tells us that this psalm was written when the Ziphites went to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?” Twice they betrayed David, first in 1 Samuel 23 and then again in 1 Samuel 26. Probably the psalm dates from the first event, where David was hiding in the wilderness of Ziph, fleeing from the jealous and vengeful King Saul. The Ziphites weren’t Philistines or foreign enemies. They were fellow Israelites, men from David’s own tribe of Judah. He had done them no wrong. And yet, without provocation, they went to Saul and offered to turn David over to him. Whether envy or fear, or ambition, their betrayal was a clear affront to God himself, who had set Saul aside and chosen David to be his king. Saul’s response is hypocritically religious. He who was seeking to kill God’s anointed says piously to the Ziphites: “May you be blessed by the Lord.” Saul’s religion had become an empty shell. Though he had long since stopped walking with God, he took his name in vain. True religion doesn’t seek the death of the