Look Back


Psalm 60
To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
1O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us.
2You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters.
3You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
4You have set up a banner for those who fear you that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah
5That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
6God has spoken in his holiness: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
8Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
9Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
10Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man!
12With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

The old adage says “hindsight is 20/20” and our Psalm for today is an example of David living out that very idea. This song deals with a time during his reign as king that was less than successful. The exact events are lost to us now, but if you want a suggested history, look at 2 Samuel 8-10. In the words of this prayer, David shares his fears and his ultimate hope.  We’ve found numerous events in the Bible where one of God’s people was able to look back in their lives and see God working in ways they didn’t understand at the time. That is particularly true of King David. While he is in the midst of a struggle, you will quite often find him looking over the times in his life where God’s faithfulness was manifested. All of us do well to learn this skill, for a vision of how God has been instrumental in your life can alter your entire perspective for you will most certainly be able to say “there was God, in the midst of my strife.”

This is a helpful skill even if you aren’t in pain. God is always worthy of praise and it is often uplifting to review His work in your life. There are events and people who rise to the surface regularly when I take the time to review God’s amazing hand in my life. There are numerous things that would have been totally different if I had had my own way instead of being directed by a Sovereign God. Frankly, I would have missed out on a great deal of joy and blessing. Every time I hug a grandchild I am aware of the path that got me to the place of having them in my life. Every time I teach a class at my church I am aware of the many other things I may have pursued that would have been completely wrong for me, but God sent me His way instead of my own. At the time I was being denied those things, I was probably angry or certainly disappointed. But God’s steady hand has kept me within His plan all along the way. My faith soars as I see what He has done to bring me into His Kingdom and use me to serve His plans along the way.

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