November 25.
A Time Of Anguish

Psalm 86:1

Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy.

It is obvious that the writer of this psalm was going through some kind of calamity. The person was dealing with some kinds of problems, pressures, and situations that led him to have a personal conversation with God. This psalm is believed by some to have been written by David when he was running from Saul. Saul was a king that fell out with David. You don’t have to do anything for folk to dislike you. You can be minding your own business. You don’t have to say anything negative about them or to them. You can create enemies by just being you.

If you are saved you do have enemies. Some people may not like you because they don’t know you. If you would get to know people, the folk you can’t stand you may find yourself embracing. And then often we don’t like certain people because they remind us of us. We see so much of ourselves in them that since we can’t get mad at us, we just get mad at the person that reminds us of us.

However, other commentaries say David was distressed because of his son, Absalom, David’s prized possession. He was the apple of David’s eye. David wanted Absalom to have everything. But the problem was that David’s own son rose up against him. When your enemies move in your house, it’s a horse of a different color. You can handle your enemies when they are down the road or even next door, but it is difficult when your enemies move right in your house. Your enemy is part of your own family.

Absalom disliked David so much until he coveted the position that David had. Absalom devised a plan to turn the people’s hearts toward himself and set out to make himself king. It was Absalom that led David to write Psalm 55:6. Oh that I had wings like a dove for then would I fly away and be at rest. He called on God in his distress.