Psalm 59:16 (NIV) But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

David, among many other things, was a psalmist. That means that he wrote, played and sang songs that the Lord gave him as he waited on Him. There are stories behind many of the psalms and for the psalm above, a note before the psalm lets us in on what was happening. King Saul was jealous of David and tried to kill him on many occasions. This particular time he sent men to David's house to kill him, but his wife Michal had heard about the plan and warned David to run for his life. Saul's men entered the house the next morning, but Michal told them that David was not well and that he was sleeping. She had set up a figure in their bed and covered it, making it look like David was in the bed. They finally discovered that he wasn't there when they uncovered the figure. It was as David was running away from Saul and his men that he wrote this psalm.

Knowing the back story to this psalm makes you wonder how David had it in him to write this song while he is running for his life, and especially why he was singing about God's strength and love. There he was, having to run away from his wife and from his home because his crazed father-in-law (who also happened to be king) wanted him dead. But we see in just the verse above alone why he was able to sing. It was because he had made God his fortress and he had learned to make him his refuge in times of trouble. He knew, somehow, that even though it looked like the prospects of him staying alive were very slim (there was an army looking to kill him), he was safe because he had found his way into the safety of God's protection. Even though things looked as bad as they could be, he had hope enough to sing because of his relationship with God and his trust in Him.

This challenges all of us because we many times despair over things that can never compare to that season in David's life. How many people reading this have ever had to run for their lives? Out of those who may have had this horrible experience, how many had a king and his army after them? How many have had to run for their lives for a few years (estimates are that David ran from Saul for between 7 to 15 years). Yet he did not give up and did not give out, because he kept his hope in God and God alone. He even could have ended his suffering earlier because there were two times that he was near Saul and could have killed him, but he wouldn't do it out of reverence for God because it was the Lord who had originally anointed Saul to be king. We need the faith in God that David had who, even when it looked like his life would come to a violent end, could compose and sing a song about the strength and the love of God. How about you? What are you going through? Whatever it is, sing your way to hope and joy as you make God your fortress and refuge. It's a great song to sing!

Pastor Joey Vazquez