I Will Awaken the Dawn

If you have your Bible with you this morning, please open it up to Psalm chapter 57.

Psalms 57 · chapter mention

Psalm chapter 57.

Psalms 57 · chapter mention

David writes this psalm about the time, as it says in the superscription at the very

beginning, when he had fled from Saul into the cave.

How many of you have ever been into a cave?

Okay, we've got a few people.

When I was down in Montana on a family vacation a number of years back when I was younger,

we went to a family camp there and part of the activities were going on hikes in kind

of this mountainous area in southern Montana, just north of Yellowstone National Park there.

And on several of those hikes, we came across some caves.

One of them was an awesome cave.

It was just this huge opening and kind of angled up at the sun.

And so the whole thing was just lit up and bright inside.

It was kind of a neat place to be.

But on another hike, we came across a very different cave.

And it kind of had a small opening and it was kind of shaped like a tunnel that just kind

of went back into the mountain and kind of curved a little bit.

And I remember as some of us went into that cave, just that feeling, the further we got

into the cave, I was surprised at just how dark it got.

The light from the entrance didn't seem to be penetrating into the darkness in the cave.

And before long, when we went around that little bend, it was pitch black.

I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

And you could just almost feel the darkness.

It was cool.

It was damp and humid.

And even talking to one another in the cave, our voices were just kind of swallowed up by the

earth around us.

And I kind of had this feeling like, I don't know how much further I want to go into here.

Like, this is kind of crazy.

I mean, I don't know.

Is there bats in the back of this?

Is there some large predatorial animal just kind of having a nap back here?

Is there, you know, if I keep going, am I going to find this massive hole and fall down

into who knows where?

And the people that I'm with, they don't really know me that well.

They're just kind of other campers.

And so, you know, if something happened to me, would they even notice?

And would they ever find me if I was lost back in here?

It was kind of an eerie feeling.

And I remember thinking, caves are kind of fascinating.

It's not really the place that I want to be or spend my time.

But that's exactly the situation that we find David in as in the time that he writes about

in this psalm.

He's in a cave.

Of course, David has been on the run.

He's been fleeing from King Saul.

King Saul is, he sees David as a threat, as someone who is trying to take the throne from

him.

And so he is hunting David and chasing him all over the land of Israel.

And we're kind of, as we read the story in Samuel, wondering how long is this going to

go on before Saul finally catches up with him?

And gets his hands on him.

And Saul has got the whole army with him.

Not the whole army, but a good chunk of it.

He's got 3,000 armed men with him.

And they're combing the countryside looking for David.

And in the psalm that we're looking at this morning, it's about the time when, at a place

called En Gedi, Saul and his men kind of close in on David.

And they corner him and the 400 men that are with David.

En Gedi is kind of right, it's in the hill country, and it's right against the Dead Sea.

And so there's nowhere for David and his men to run.

And so with their backs up against the wall, they kind of do the best that they can.

And they find a large cave.

They go in there, and they lay low, and they hide.

Can you imagine what this would have been like for David and his men in this moment?

I mean, here you are in the back of this dank, dark cave.

And you're waiting.

And then all of a sudden, one of your guys comes running in the entrance.

Quick, guys, put out the lights.

Put out the torches.

Everybody hit the deck.

They're coming this way.

Be quiet.

And everybody just kind of hits the deck and goes silent.

And your heart is racing.

You can feel the cold earth against your face.

And you're focused on trying to control your breathing and relax it so that you can achieve utter silence.

And then the moment happens, and you hear voices outside the cave.

Come on.

Let's have a look at this one.

And you hear footsteps as men walk into the cave.

And they kind of shine the torch around.

You can see the light a little bit.

And you're trying to be absolutely still and quiet.

And then you hear the voice of King Saul himself.

You guys stand watch at the door.

I've got to do my business in here.

And you hear footsteps of one man coming even closer.

Everybody's holding their breath.

This is the situation about which David writes this psalm.

And we get the chance to see what is he thinking?

What is he feeling in this moment?

And so let me read for you from Psalm 57.

Psalm 57.

Have mercy on me, my God.

Have mercy on me.

For in you I take refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

I cry out to God most high, to God who vindicates me.

He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me.

God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

I am in the midst of lions.

I'm forced to dwell among ravenous beasts, men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.

Verse 6.

They spread a net for my feet.

I was bowed down in distress.

They dug a pit in my path.

David begins this song with a cry of desperation.

He says, have mercy on me, my God.

Have mercy.

A cry of mercy kind of carries with it a sense of guilt, but there's no indication that David

is asking for forgiveness here or that he's feeling guilty.

Probably some of the other translations do a better job when they say, be gracious to me, my God.

Be gracious to me.

I've got my back up against the wall here.

I have nowhere to go.

Help me.

Intervene.

Have favor on me.

He says, I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

Literally, until destruction passes by.

If Saul and these 3,000 men find out that David and his men are in the cave,

this will be a day of destruction.

A day of disaster.

Slaughter.

And so what does David do?

He says, I cry out to God most high.

And what does he cry?

Be gracious to me.

Be gracious to me.

It's just as general as it gets.

Help me out in this situation, God.

David is in a perilous situation.

In verse 3, he describes the men outside the cave as those who hotly pursue me.

In verse 4, he says, I'm in the midst of lions.

Creatures that are known for surrounding their prey.

He's in the midst of the enemy.

He's in the midst of the enemy.

He says, I'm forced to dwell among ravenous beasts.

You notice that word forced.

Literally, I must lie among ravenous beasts.

Who are these people?

They're men whose teeth are spears and arrows.

David's thinking about the 3,000 men outside the cave.

They're armed.

They're soldiers.

But not just the spears and the arrows.

He says, their tongues are sharp as swords.

Most of them are just loyal servants of King Saul.

But there are some of them who have been spreading lies about David.

They've been slandering him.

They've been painting this picture of him as a treacherous enemy.

A traitor.

Someone who's going to put the whole nation in danger.

We must get him.

We must eliminate him at all costs.

Their tongues are sharp as swords.

Their words are deadly to David.

And so David finds himself with his back up against the wall,

literally in this cave with his men.

He's in a perilous situation.

He cries out to the Lord in desperation.

But what amazes me in this psalm is that it's not just desperation that we see and hear from David.

We also hear David's heart, which is full of faith and expectation of what the Lord will do in this situation.

And it starts right from the beginning.

In verse 1, have mercy on me.

Have mercy on me.

For in you I take refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

Do you hear David's faith?

Do you hear David's faith?

Do you hear the expectation that God will care for him in this situation?

There's another way that he could have phrased this.

He could have said,

Have mercy on me, my God, for in this cave I take refuge.

I take refuge in this cave until the disaster has passed.

But he doesn't say that.

David's not trusting in the cave.

He's not trusting in luck or chance that Saul and his men won't find them in the back.

He says,

In you, my God, I take refuge.

I look to you to protect me in this moment.

I take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

The picture we get there is of a baby bird hiding underneath the wings of its mother.

He says,

Until the disaster has passed by.

David knows that this is not the end for him.

He has a sense of confidence and faith that God will cause the disaster to pass by.

This is not the end.

He says in verse 2,

I cry out to God, most high, to God who vindicates me.

There's a little bit of difficulty with the Hebrew in this phrase.

Other translations say,

To God who fulfills his purpose for me.

But either way, the sense is there that this is not the end.

God will vindicate me.

God will fulfill his purpose with me.

God has made a promise to me.

David's been promised that he will be the next king of Israel.

And God will keep it.

And I'm trusting in that.

I'm confident in that.

In verse 3,

He sends, or he will send,

from heaven and save me.

Rebuking those who hotly pursue me.

God sends, or will send forth,

his love

and his faithfulness.

It's amazing.

It's amazing.

In this moment,

in the situation that he's in.

It's a perilous situation.

And yes, he has a sense of desperation.

But there is such faith,

such trust in his God to take care of him.

And expectation that he will come through this.

Because of the love and faithfulness of God,

he will send from heaven and save me,

says David.

At this point,

the tone of the psalm changes drastically.

In verse 5,

David erupts in praise.

He says,

Be exalted, O God,

above the heavens.

Let your glory be over all the earth.

We're kind of left wondering,

what just happened here?

In verse 6, he goes on,

They spread a net for my feet.

I was bowed down in distress.

They dug a pit in my path.

But they have fallen into it themselves.

Notice how David switches to the past tense.

Hence,

probably what's happened here is that

the big moment of deliverance

that he was waiting for came.

And now he's kind of writing,

looking back after the fact.

He's praising God for this great deliverance.

As the story goes,

back in 1 Samuel,

Saul walks into the cave.

And perhaps,

when they think that this is it,

we're going to be discovered.

We're going to be slaughtered here.

Something happens.

Saul,

kind of,

we don't know exactly how it happens

in 1 Samuel.

The details aren't there.

But this is how I imagine it going.

Saul walks into the cave.

Then he walks a little further

into the darkness

just to kind of see,

you know,

like,

is anybody there?

Is there any wild animals in here?

He sets his spear

against the cave wall.

He takes off his robe,

hangs it up.

He doesn't want to get it dirty

in the dirt.

And then he goes

a little bit back into the light

to do his business.

Samuel tells us

that in this moment,

David crept up unnoticed

and cut the corner

off of Saul's robe

and then went

and ran back

into the darkness.

And Saul left the cave

not even knowing

that they were there.

And the story ends

in a very unexpected way.

I mean,

if I was David,

I probably would have

just stayed there

and just let them go.

But when David realizes

what had happened here,

I mean,

he was so close

that he could have

taken the life

of his enemy.

He realized

that God had put Saul

in a position

where Saul's life

would have been

the one lost that day,

not David's.

And so,

I imagine David

emboldened by this

and seeing what God

had done in that moment.

He walks out of the cave

and he confronts Saul

face to face.

I've got the corner

of your robe here.

If I was after you,

if I wanted to kill you,

I could have,

but I'm not.

Of course,

Saul is David's father-in-law.

My father,

I'm not trying

to take your throne.

I'm not after you.

God works a change

in Saul's heart,

at least for the time being.

And Saul

kind of admits

that he's been wrong

to be chasing after David

all this time

and he calls the army off

and they leave

and David and his men

are able to go free.

It's an amazing story.

And so David

just erupts in praise.

I can just imagine it.

Be exalted,

oh God,

above the heavens.

Be lifted up

as high as you can go,

above the stars.

Let your glory

be over all the earth.

Let everybody

in the whole wide world

know

how glorious you are,

how good you are,

how well you take care

of your people.

Why?

Because my enemies,

verse 6,

they spread a net

for my feet.

I was bowed down

in distress.

They dug a pit

in my path,

but they have fallen

into it

themselves.

Do you hear

what God has done

for me?

He's caused

the greatest reversal.

I never would have

imagined it.

I was caught

in this cave,

in this death trap

and God kind of

turned the trap

on its head

and suddenly

it was Saul

who was

almost caught

in it.

And the rest

of this psalm

is David just

going on

with his praise.

In verse 7,

he says,

my heart,

oh God,

is steadfast.

My heart

is steadfast.

I will sing.

I will make music.

Awake,

my soul.

Awake,

harp

and lyre.

No more

being quiet

in the back

of the cave.

No more

whispering.

Come on out,

guys.

Let's get

the instruments out.

It's time to sing.

It's time to make music.

Look at what

the Lord has done

for us

in answer

to my prayer.

Let's sing.

Let's praise him.

Let's exalt his name.

The end of verse 8,

he says,

I will awaken

the dawn.

I love those words.

Those are my favorite

words in all

the Psalms.

I will awaken

the dawn.

The darkest part

of the night

is over

and what remains,

let's chase it away

with praise.

We can't wait

until the full light

of morning

to praise.

We've got to

praise him now

and so let's

wake up

the day

itself.

Let's wake up

the sun.

Let's wake up

everybody around.

Make music

and sing.

David says,

I will praise you,

Lord,

among the nations.

This is

something that

not just for us

here in Israel,

this is something

for the nations

to hear about.

He says,

I will sing

of you

among the peoples.

I don't want

to just sing

this praise

of mine

in the quiet

of my own heart

when I'm in my tent

all by myself.

I want to sing

among the peoples.

I want everybody

to hear my words

of praise

and know that

I mean every word

of them.

This is my God.

for great

is your love,

verse 10.

It reaches

to the heavens.

It's beyond

measuring.

It goes

all the way

up

to the stars.

So great

that we can't

even fully

understand

or comprehend

just how much

he loves us.

And his faithfulness

too,

his faithfulness

he says,

reaches

the skies.

His ability

to keep

his promises

knows no limits.

It knows no bounds.

It doesn't matter

what kind of a situation

you're backed into.

Nothing can stop

God from keeping

his promise

to you.

Let's sing it again.

Verse 11.

Be exalted,

O God,

above the heavens.

Let your glory

be over all

the earth.

this is David's story.

This is David's song.

And I'm wondering

this morning

where these

words of David

find you.

If I'm honest,

the first time

I read this psalm

this week,

earlier in the week,

the first thought

I had was,

how on earth

am I going to

preach

this?

God,

my heart is

anything but

steadfast.

God,

it's all over

the place.

It's wandering

here and it's

wandering there

and today

in this moment

as I read,

it's downcast.

I don't feel like

singing and making

music.

How can I preach

my heart is

steadfast,

oh God,

I'm going to

wake up

the dawn.

But the more I

sat and

listened to

David's

words,

to the sweet

melody that

comes out of

this song,

he didn't

just wake up

his own

soul and

wake up

the dawn,

he woke

up my

soul too.

I don't

know what

troubles

you're going

through,

I know some

of them,

for some

of you,

we all go

through all

kinds of

troubles and

face all

kinds of

difficulties.

And of

course,

the first

thing that we

see from

David here is

that we

should take

those troubles

to the Lord

and call

out to

him for

help.

But beyond

that, what

really struck

me the most

in this

psalm is

how David,

right from

the start,

has this

faith and

trust that

God will

take care of

him, even

in the midst

of all of

this.

It's

beautiful.

I might be

surrounded by

lions, I

might have my

back up against

the wall here

in this cave,

but God

will send

his love

and his

faithfulness.

He will

send from

heaven and

save me.

The disaster

will pass

and until

it does,

I will take

refuge in

you, in

the shadow

of your

wings.

It's

beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

So I don't

know where

you are this

morning.

Maybe you

came in the

doors already

and ready to

just wake

the dawn and

sing the

Lord's praise.

But maybe

like I was

earlier this

week, you

kind of feel

like, I'm

not there.

I want to

say my

heart is

steadfast, oh

God.

But it's

not.

It doesn't

feel that

way.

With

whatever

you're going

through,

let David

encourage you

today.

listen to

the words

of his

song.

Call out

to him

for grace

in your

situation.

Tell him

your troubles,

but don't

stop there.

Stretch out

your faith

and your

trust to

the Lord

Jesus.

Think about

what he can

do in your

situation.

And not

just that.

Think about

what he

has already

promised to

do for

you.

Those of

you who

belong to

him.

Day by

day as we

see, as we

go through

this cycle

of calling

out to the

Lord in

our troubles

and we

see his

love and

his faithfulness

come time

and time

again, we

come to the

place where

like David,

we can't

help but

sing and

make music

and praise

and worship

this God

who gives

of his love

and faithfulness

to us time

and time

again.

And so I

want to

encourage you

this morning

with whatever

you're going

through.

David, he

had his own

unique situation

that God

worked in

his life,

delivered him

from.

What does

the Lord want

to do in

your situation?

are you

trusting that

the Lord

will carry

you through?

David doesn't

want to sing

alone.

He wants to

sing among

the peoples.

He wants

us to

join him

in praising

the Most

High.

Let's pray.

Father, we

thank you for

these sweet

words.

We thank you

for this song

that even

though we

can't hear

the actual

music that

this was

sung to,

we can hear

something of

it in our

souls, in

what he

wrote.

Lord, I'll

be the first

to confess on

behalf of all

of us who

feel like our

heart is not

steadfast.

We long

for that

kind of a

faith and

that kind of

a relationship

with you,

Lord, where

we look at

our troubles,

big ones

and small,

and we

express our

faith to

you.

We put our

trust in

you.

We look

with hope

and expectation.

Lord, I want

that to be me.

And so we

ask that you

would do a

work in us,

Lord, that you

would bring

those of us

who can't

say that our

heart is

steadfast to

that place

where we do

trust you.

We do look

trouble in

the face

and declare

our confidence

in you.

Lord, we

want to join

in this

song.

And so we

ask that you

would come in

the midst of

whatever we're

going through,

all of our

troubles, all of

our situations,

we ask that you

would give us

strength, that you

would help us,

that you would be

gracious to us,

and that you

would enable us

to join in

with David and

sing and make

music.

We ask this in

Christ's name.

Amen.