Psalm 68:1-3 (NASB)
Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before God. But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
In 2 Samuel 6, David brings the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem and in doing so, as seen in the opening verse of this psalm, he makes a historical connection to Israel’s storied past. In the days of Moses, when God’s people were making their way through the wilderness to the Promised Land, they would follow God via the movement of his chosen physical representation at the time; a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When the pillar would begin to move, God was commanding his people to follow him to the next resting place along their journey towards their true home.
Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, “Rise up, O Lord! And let your enemies be scattered and let those who hate You flee before You.” Numbers 10:35
David knew that when he and his people followed God, his enemies would be scattered while the righteous would “rejoice with gladness” (v. 3). In the writing of this psalm the immediate context was in following God via following His Ark, but David knew by experience – and so do we – that when one follows God in obedience, enemies are “driven away” while the righteous will “be glad.” David had a spirit of confident dependence, which in the American context seems to be an oxymoron. For many of us, to be dependent is to be weak in some way. One might be dependent on government assistance, or a wheelchair, or medicine of some sort, or the help of others just to get through the day…and with this dependence comes a feeling of weakness or inadequacy. For David, as it should be for us, dependence on God brought confidence while independence from God brought disaster.
Do you have a hard time asking for help? Do you struggle when people offer their assistance? Do you charge ahead of the Ark and then seek its assistance when you encounter trouble, or your plans do not come to fruition? “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling” (Pr. 16:18). David had learned, by experience, that if he proceeded without God’s blessing and leadership, even his best laid plans would fail. Jesus echoed this truth when He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5)
Perhaps not in word but certainly in deed, far too often we have a tendency to get ahead of God or choose not to include him at all. We march off to meet our enemies all alone, handicapped by our own lack of strength and ignorant of our weaknesses. In our American spirit of Independence, we cry out, “Let me arise, let my enemies be scattered, and let those who hate me flee before me!” In those moments, I don’t believe God mocks us or laughs at us…I think he simply grieves. And when our lack of confident dependence reaps what it has sown, God is there amidst the rubble to comfort us and teach us and once again…He offers to arise and go before us…if we would choose to but follow.
