“Oh, That I had the Wings of a Dove” ~ Psalm 55:1-7

“Give ear to my prayer, O God, And do not hide Yourself from my supplication. Attend to me, and hear me; I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily, Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me, And in wrath they hate me. My heart is severely pained within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me, Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me. So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Indeed, I would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness.”

Ever have “one of those days” when everything seems to go wrong, when nothing is going the right way , or when you find yourself wondering why you even got out of bed? You’re troubled and distraught over circumstances beyond your control. You’re overwhelmed and fearful of news that you just received from the doctor. You’re not certain if you will have a job tomorrow. You wonder where your children’s next meal is going to come from. You hope you will be able to meet this month’s rent in time. You simply want to run; far, far, far away from the stresses and struggles of your life. Ever have one of those days?

Take heart, my friend, the Psalmist David knows exactly how you feel! He was no stranger to the tough, discouraging, frustrating, overwhelming moments of life. He faced many a crisis! Psalm 55 records one of those days.

We don’t know the specific details of the circumstances in this Psalm, and we really don’t need to know. But we do know that the problem involved one of David’s closest companions, as he gives us that clue later on in the chapter (verse 13) “But it is you, a man my equal, my companion, my close friend.” Obviously David was betrayed by his close friend. Reading through these first seven verses of the Psalm, we realize that David was deeply hurt. And that hurt, led to the desire to run away. Ever have one of those days?

I am almost certain, that every person reading this blog can relate to David’s emotional heart-cry when he says,

David also said he would “wander far off . . . I would hasten my escape.”

Have you ever had one of those days?

My friend, if you could run away from your life hardships and struggles right now, where would you go? Would you – –

1. Go back to bed and cover your head?
2. Head for the bathroom, lock yourself in, and have a good cry?
3. Call your mom or a close friend and meet for lunch and a good chat?
4. Break out the credit card, get in the car, drive to the mall, and go shopping?
5. Go to the freezer, grab a container of ice cream, pick up a spoon, and savor every single bite until the container is empty?
6. Or would you do something else? (Write me a reply and tell me what you would do, where you would go to run away!)

David ran to the place that I’d like to go to. That place I should go to every time I want to run away from life and its struggles, but it’s the one place I don’t run to as often as I should. David ran to God! Listen to this – – “As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me.” (verses 16-18).

Running to God, is the safest place to go! He loves! He listens! He cares! He will comfort! He will give advice! He will renew your strength! He will eat ice cream with you!

Oh, that we would hasten our escape to Him! He is waiting patiently for us. He is listening to our cry for help. We really don’t have to be overwhelmed with life. We really don’t have to struggle with the circumstances of our life. Don’t run away! We’ve just got to learn to fly! Fly, my friend, to the God of David. He’s got this! Spread your wings and fly to HIM!

David gives us one final word of encouragement in this chapter, found in verse 22: “Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” He’ll take that burden, no matter how big it is, away from you!

Oh, that we all could learn a life-changing lesson from the Psalmist David. When you are having “one of those days” and you simply want to run away from it all, consider following David’s example instead. Mount your dove’s wings and fly! Fly straight to the God who eagerly awaits you. Find your rest in the God who cares for you!