A Song in the Desert

How many of us have been, or are going through, a rough season right now? Well if you are you are in good company with this Biblical story. It is found in 1st Samuel 23 verses 13 to 29. In a summarized version, David is escaping from King Saul due to his anger. David has returned to protect a town. But now he, and 600 of his men, are escaping to another town named Ziph. This is where we start.

So David is found to be in Ziph. It was within the tribal area of Judah, So this is David’s own people by tribe. It is an area in the hillsides which had many areas to hide. So let's go back to the Story. The Ziphites were loyal to their King Saul so they rat David out and Saul now knows where David is. This pushed David to go on the run again to hide in the Judean desert. King Saul reaches the hiding place of David but then receives word that the Philistines are wreaking havoc again so Saul returns to fight.

But, while in the desert, David starts to write Psalm 63. Imagine how David felt in his heart and mind knowing that the people from his own tribe sold him out like this.Knowing this David writes this song in the desert. So let's take a closer look at this Psalm. The first theme in this psalm is that David is telling the truth of how he is feeling.He is thirsty for God as if God was a large body of water He wanted to drink out from. -His body longs for him as if God were his food. The second theme is the part of the turn around. It’s interesting how he talks about God in midst of the desert. He says that God’s love is better than the life he is in itself. He praises God for securing him in land that has no security; many things could’ve happened to David here. But in the midst of the desert, he chose to rejoice in God. Wow.

So what do we learn from David's desert Psalm? David could have been mad for coming back into the same place where he had just left from. But God wanted to show David His divine protection again. This makes David rejoice in God even though he is in a dry land. What if God allows us to go through dry spiritual deserts to show us who He is? Actually, He does. He does it to shape and mold us; but then these moments give us a sweet song to write and sing. And when we start to think about how much God has blessed us while being in the desert, it will cause us to look up and thank God over and over again.