R.C. Sproul

That was the grace of God before my conversion that I was exposed frequently to the words of that anthem which were taken directly from Scripture because it is the fundamental truth.

of the Christian faith, that not only does he have mercy and not only does he pardon, but his pardon is abundant for those who seek him.

For this cause, everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time when you may be found.

And surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him, for you are my hiding place.

you shall preserve me from trouble, and you shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

I just mentioned a few moments ago David's allusion to the drought in the desert, and I mentioned that these great wadis were there and they were caused by the flash floods that rained twice a year in the desert.

And when it would rain,

The water would come pouring off the mountain sides, and you would have these flash floods.

So now David expresses the opposite metaphor from the drought, and that is the metaphor of the flood.

If you've ever been to Masada and you see how the Jewish people lived up on top of that mountain with its sheer cliffs where they were besieged by the Romans and their ramparts and so on, and how they were able to survive up there on the top of that mountain because they had cut these huge cisterns out of the rock

to store their water supply at the top.

And at the base of Masada, down by the floor of the desert, they also had these huge cisterns cut out of the rock and connected to these wadis so that when the days of the flooding came and the water would be rushing through them, then that water supply would be captured in these massive cavernous, hollowed out rocks.

And then when it was captured at the base of the mountain,

The workers would go down there one at a time with buckets, and they would hoist those buckets up to the top and keep them into the supply in the cisterns up there.

But again, the whole defense structure of Masada was tied to these annual phenomena of drought and flood.

And so, David is saying that after a person experiences the forgiveness of God, they have now come to a safe hiding place, a safe place where in the midst of the flood of the great waters, no harm will befall them.

You shall preserve me from trouble, and you shall surround me, he says, with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.

I will guide you with my eye.

And of course, he's not instructing God, but God is instructing him.