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True Education
Psalm 23:1-4
, KJV.
In his manhood a hunted fugitive, finding refuge in the rocks and
caves of the wilderness, he wrote:
“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. ...
You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.”
Psalm 63:1, 7.
See also Psalm 42:11; 27:1.
The same trust is breathed in David’s words written when, as a
dethroned and crownless king, he fled from Jerusalem at the rebellion
of Absalom. Spent with grief and the weariness of his flight, he and
his company had stopped beside the Jordan for a few hours’ rest. He
was awakened by the summons to immediate flight. The deep and
swift-flowing stream must be crossed in the darkness by that whole
company of men, women, and little children, for approaching them
rapidly were the forces of the traitor son.
In that hour of darkest trial, David sang:
“I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. ...
I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.”
Psalm 3:4-6.
After his great sin, in the anguish of remorse and self-abhorrence,
he still turned to God as his best friend:
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkind-
ness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out
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my transgressions. ...