We have seen that David’s response to those who attacked him was to wait and withhold his hand, allowing God to recompense and defend him against their attacks.  This is further defined by this last phrase in this verse.

“But” is an adversative and sets one part of the verse against the other.  The opposition put forth in the first part of the verse ought to have, from a human point of view, excited a responsive attack back from David.  All human wisdom dictates that you can’t sit still for such things – you have to take care of them.  “But” David responds differently.

The truth be told all such responses are really expressions of human ego and pride.  There may be a few occasions when such a response (individually – corporately is another matter entirely) is needful but most often, there is no justification for violence (physical or otherwise) in our actions.  David understood that and his godliness restrains his nature.

Remember that David was a man or war – a violent man by training and by nature.  It is true that he was, as a young man, a shepherd and was capable of great gentleness; but even then he was also capable of great violence.  No one is that good at war purely by training or choice.  David was born to the sword and that makes it all the more amazing that he demonstrates restraint in the face of what must have been his natural tendency to “go to war” so to speak.

The reason is seen in how he addresses himself.  “Thy servant” is an expression, I believe, of how David truly saw himself before God.  He was God’s slave, his servant.  The word actually speaks of a personal servant who did service willingly to God.  David could be patient because he truly saw himself as on the “bear it” end of things and God on the “do something about it” end of things.  God was sovereignly in control and he had to allow for God to exercise that control in allowing whatever he saw fit into David’s life.  It was God who oversaw all of this.

That high view of God’s sovereignty was essential to David’s successful servanthood.  It is every bit as essential to ours!  We need to take care that we are not falling away into an anthrocentric world view and away from a theocentric world view.  Too many people today view man as the chief motive force in the world and in events.  God is held captive to man’s will and is often seen powerless to act unless man “lets him”.

David would have heartily disagreed.  God would and could do whatever He desired in the lives and affairs of men and nothing could forestall that power.  David could rely on God to do what was right and needful in the lives of those around him and in response to their attacks on him.

David’s response is to meditate on God’s statutes.  “Statutes” speaks once again to God’s Law as rules and regulations, commands that must be followed.  “Meditate” seems to be a word that refers to the rehearsing or repeating of a thing over and again in the mind.  It is not, however, they dry repetition of a thing, but also involves the contemplation or consideration of the implication of those facts as well.

When confronted with opposition David allowed his character to dictate his response and not his emotions or his nature.  This simply underscores the importance of building Godly character and of simple obedience to the revealed word of God as over and above obeying our own impulses.

Instead of rehearsing over and again the offense and his own hurt and anger, David rehearsed the commands of God.  We ought not believe that the commands he meditated on were generic or whatever he happened to turn to.  Rather, we ought to see that he meditated on the particular commands that bear on his immediate situation.  It isn’t the act of meditation that is significant, it is the content that is significant.  The world will tell us that it is the act of meditation that is significant and that has power – but that is human centered, and we wish to be God centered!  David understood that it was the content of the Word of God that made the difference and not his own efforts.  It is as we discipline and train ourselves to think the thoughts of God that we can say that we are dealing with ourselves in the way God wishes us to deal!