Scripture: 2 Samuel 19:31-20:26, Psalm 7, 2 Samuel 21:1-22, 1 Chronicles 20:4-8
"For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God." (Psalm 7:9b NLT)
Psalm 7 is referred to as "a shiggaion of David.” This is a lyrical poem written under strong mental emotion, a song full of passionate imagination and accompanied with music. This type of poem is more of a rambling that is full of erratic rhythms and rhyme, revealing the intense emotion and mental anguish of the composer.
When he wrote this, David was in a time of remembering. He recalled one of his enemies, Cush, a Benjamite who falsely accused him of wrongdoing to Saul. The falsehoods no doubt fed Saul's jealousy and paranoia of David which stirred Saul’s hatred for David. This all snowballed into a series of events that eventually led to Saul's death.
Now, let's think about this. Saul had died and David had become king. This false accusation against David must have festered inside him for years. He felt convinced of his innocence, but left justice to be settled by God.
Praise the Lord that we can go to the Him with rambling, erratic words. We can share with Him all our intense emotion and pour out our deepest anguish whether it makes sense or not. Praise the Lord that we have the Holy Spirit to intercede on our behalf. I love Paul's words in Romans 8:26-27:
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. (NLT)
The Holy Spirit takes our feeble words straight to the Father in a manner we can't express. The prayers are looked upon and answered in agreement with God's will for our lives.
Do you have anything festering inside? Is there anything you need to tell the Lord with intense emotion and passion? Let it roll. Ramble on. Don't concern yourself with rhythm or rhyme. Just call out to Him and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
