Before we conclude our studies in 1 Samuel with the death of King Saul, we will pause to examine a few Psalms of David written while Saul was pursuing him. Following the advice of Saul’s son Jonathan (chapter 20), David fled and received help from the priests at Nob (chapter 21). An evil man named Doeg was present and reported this to Saul, resulting in the treacherous murder of these priests at the hands of Saul and Doeg (chapter 22). In this context, David penned Psalm 52 (which we have already discussed in a sermon entitled, “The Good, the Bad & the Ugly”). Psalm 54 is intertwined with Psalm 52 historically and was written by David in one of the bleakest moments of his life before his reign.
The title of the Psalm tells us that it was written by David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?” This is a reference to events that take place in 1 Samuel 23. The immediate background for Psalm 54 had David inside the walled city of Keilah, which he liberated from the attacking Philistines. Though they benefited from David’s protection, the Keilahites considered David a threat to the monarchy and sought to turn him over to Saul. Upon being warned by the Lord, David slipped out of the city, seeking refuge in the wilderness of Ziph. David was unsafe even in this remote inhospitable area as the Ziphites also sought to turn him over to King Saul. Later, in 1 Samuel chapter 26, while David and his men were hiding in the same wilderness, the Ziphites again went to Saul reporting, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah?” (1 Sam 26:1). The treachery of Doeg the Edomite against David could be expected, but here David finds himself betrayed by his own people – the Jews in Ziph.
Having nowhere to turn and hardly anyone he could trust, David turned to the Lord in prayer and wrote a song about it – the words of Psalm 54. This Psalm is for anyone who has felt abandoned, rejected, or publicly denounced by a friend. When one might feel as though, “no one cares,” Psalm 54 reveals a God who not only cares but is powerful to deliver His people from their affliction. The Psalm serves as a model prayer: he calls on God to hear his lamentation (2-3); he encourages himself by remembering who God is (4); he makes his request (5); and he offers thanksgiving demonstrating a firm confidence that God would indeed deliver him. Having brought his anxiety to the Lord at the beginning of the Psalm, David is restored to quiet trust and confidence by the end of it.