Hey, Bible readers. I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Yesterday, we read all about David's life as a refugee and a fugitive. And today we read several Psalms he wrote, either during or in response to that time in his life, most likely. The first chapter we read, Psalm 7, is a lament. David is a refugee, and he declares that God is his refuge. He may be on the run, but he maintains his innocence, much like Job did. He invites God to let his enemies punish him if he is guilty. And if he's innocent, then those who are falsely accusing him are the ones who are guilty. So he's asking God to punish them. He knows that God is a God of justice, and he appeals to God on that level. Near the end, he makes some general references to the terms of God's covenant with Israel in regard to sin and repentance. And he asked God to turn the acts of the wicked back on them as a part of God's plan to bring restoration on the Earth. Then we move on to Psalm 27. It's also a song of lament and of confidence in God.

David calls God his light, his salvation, and his stronghold. And it's possible that he may have even written this while he was in the stronghold in the wilderness. Despite having a safe place to live, what he really wants is the neerness of God. In verse 5, when he says, He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. The word tent here is the same word used for the tent of meeting, where God's special presence dwelt. Instead of dwelling in the stronghold, he wants to dwell in God's tent. Then David says he'll offer sacrifices and shouts of joy, and those are probably the same types of shouts of victory that Israel used when they defeated Jericho. It seems like he's recounting God's relationship with Israel through the years, remembering who God is before petitioning God for help. David believes he'll see God's goodness in this life, not just in eternity. He has God's promise of his kingship to cling to. So he believes God even when his life appears to be at stake. He closes the Psalm by preaching the truth to himself again, telling his heart to be strong and courageous and wait for the Lord.

By the time we at Psalm 31, you may have begun to see a pattern in how his laments tend to go. He starts with praise, brings his complaints and requests, and ends with praise again. By bookending his laments with praise, he's surrounding his needs with reminders of who God is. In this chapter, he refers to God as a stronghold, again, a rock of refuge. Some commentators believe David was living at Masada at the time he wrote this. Masada is a huge rock in the wilderness where King Herod would later build his desert fortress. To this day, it's Israel's most popular tourist attraction. It's magnificent. And by the way, if David was there when he wrote some of these Psalms, that would explain a lot of the imagery he's using. You may have recognized verse 5 as a verse Jesus quotes on the cross. It says, Into your hand, I commit my spirit. David trusts God with his life. And that trust comes not only from personal experience, but from remembering God's covenant to his people. In verse 10, he says, My strength fails because of my iniquity. It's possible that David is just wondering if he's done anything to bring this on himself, but it's also possible that he might be more learning over the deaths he caused by lying to Ahimelech in 1 Samuel 21.

Even though that lie wasn't the cause of his distress, it was a sinful response in the midst of his distress. Like a lot of us when we're going through a dark time, David feels like God has cut him off. But now he realizes he was hasty in thinking that, and it was just his fear speaking. God came to his rescue in his own time, and David ends by calling others to trust in God when they're waiting for him to act. Psalm 34 is our first non-lament Psalm today. It's a Psalm of Thanksgiving. David praises God for delivering him and invites others to trust God, too. He reminds the listener that looking to God delivers us from fears, not necessarily from the things we fear, but from the actual fear itself. In verse 13, David says, Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. And I wonder if David's preaching to himself here in regard to the way he lied to Ahimelech. He says, God attends to the righteous. And even though their lives won't be trouble-free, as verse 19 points out, God is in the habit of delivering his people. The righteous and the wicked will both have trouble in this life, but the righteous are promised a different ending.

Verse 20 says, He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken. The gospel of John points to this verse in chapter 19 as a prophecy of Christ on the cross. It was standard in those days to break the legs of people who were crucified to expedite their deaths, but they didn't break Jesus legs. This prophecy was fulfilled. Psalm 52 is our final Psalm of the day. David has harsh words for Saul here, and possibly for Doug the Edomite, who exposed David's location to Saul. But David also emphasized God's justice and faithfulness, as opposed to his own desire for revenge. He trusts his relationship with God to be all he needs in the midst of trouble. Today was our first day of all Psalms. There's a lot of content about God and his character here, so what jumped out at you? My My God's shot was in Psalm 34:5. It says, Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. When I read that verse, you were the first thing that came to mind. All of you out there listening and reading the Bible alongside of me. You're all looking to him.

And I keep hearing stories about how he's changing and expanding your understanding of himself. I can only imagine how that's impacting your days, that you are carrying with you a new light and hope that's brighter than it was 105 days ago. I bet there's a new radiance to you because you're fixing your eyes on him, and he's where the joy is. Okay, Bible readers, it's time for our weekly check-in. How's it going? Several of the Psalms we read today were songs of lament. David basically sandwiched his complaints and request with praise to God for who he is. God never promises that life is going to be all 72 degrees sunny days with a side of Blue Bell ice cream. Instead, what he does promise is that he will be with us, and I praise him for that. So whatever you're dealing with today, I'm happy to remind you that you are not alone. And I'm happy that you're here today in God's word, getting to know him more, because sunshine or not, he's where the joy is. In every section of scripture we've recap together, I've asked you one important question. What was your God shot today?

I can't express to you enough how learning who God is and what his character is your life. I want to invite you to dig deeper into this topic with me as I talk with Denise from KSBJ. To hear our conversation, just click the link in the show notes.