Daily Devotion - Psalm 55:1-23

Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets. For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company. Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee. -Psalm 55:1-23

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed that you just don't see the light at the end of the tunnel?  Writing to homeschoolers, I know that happens too often.  You get overwhelmed by the details of life.  It happens to anyone, but I think it magnifies itself in homeschooling because there's that consistency of always being there.  If you're having problems at work, you go home and you don't have to deal with it for another 12 hours.  If you're having problems at home, you go to work and you don't have to deal with it for another 12 hours....With homeschooling, it's always there, 24/7, no relief, no break, just relentlessly hanging there.  It seems that the kids never stop fighting.  It seems that they never listen to you.  It seems like you never stop disciplining them.  What should be fun turns out to be a burden because all of the joy has left you.  Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to have a pity party here.  This is just what happens.  It's inevitable that it will happen when you're doing the same thing, over and over again, day in and day out.  You start to have those thoughts - 'Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.'
In this psalm, David is lamenting over the rebellion of Absalom.  You think you have problems?  Could you imagine your own son trying to overthrow you?  It's bad enough that I lament when one of my children talks back to me.  I wonder where I'm going wrong, how can I teach them better to obey me and God.  I can't imagine the stress of rebellion to that degree.  This is an interesting psalm to me.  David was a strong man, one of the bravest and strongest, in my opinion, in the Bible.  Often in his psalms, he talks of striving against his enemies, but here he's almost fearful.  He's definitely in great distress, if not fearful.  What does he do?  He turns to God.  Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. He prays and he calls out to God for deliverance.  He relies on God to sustain him.  Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
I know we don't face the same problem David faced.  His life was in constant danger.  What we face, though, isn't a physical war, but a spiritual war.  Ephesians 6:12 says, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. I really don't know, when trials come, whether it's God testing me or if satan is trying to discourage me.  I do know, though, that God is in control.  Rememer how satan went to God to get His permission to test Job?  Don't think for a moment that satan can win.  Don't think that God doesn't know what's going on in your life.  God will always win.  Just cast your burden on Him.  God will sustain you.