2 Samuel 22-23; Psalm 57

David’s last words are recorded in these chapters.  It is not surprising that they would be words to a song…he was an artist at heart, for sure!

I can just imagine the emotion behind David’s praises.  I can hear in my mind the pitch of his voice as he praised the Lord for delivering him out of the snare…for sheltering him…for causing his enemies to fall into their own traps.

One line from Psalm 57 jumped out at me.  The note in my Bible says that this was written when David fled from Saul and hid in a cave.  There he was, hiding out from the deranged Saul who wanted his head on a platter.  What did he do?  He praised God.  How did he do that?  (here’s the phrase that jumped out at me for its artistic imagery and example of exuberant worship):

I will awaken the dawn.

He writes that his heart is not shaken in the midst of all his troubles…it is steadfastly set on the LORD.  He determines to sing and make music with his mouth, the harp and the lyre, praising God among the nations, awaking the dawn with his song.

Isn’t that a beautiful picture?

Dawn is not something that I awake very often.  Now that my work is in the home instead of in a classroom with set hours, I am now a night owl who stays up late and sleeps in (if 7:30 a.m. is considered sleeping in!)  But there have been moments when I am up early before dawn, and there is something majestic about watching the sun rise up over the horizon.

In just a few days, I will go to the beach for a week away with my husband.  Being at the edge of the sea just makes me feel closer to the Lord.  I can’t explain it.  Maybe it’s the majestic waves and the beautiful power they contain.  Or maybe it’s the scent of salt in the air and the sound of waves crashing, shaping, and molding the coastline much as the Lord shapes and molds us.

I do hope to take a page from David while I am there and take a walk on the beach before the sun rises so that I, too, can awaken the dawn with my song of praise.