"Peace in the midst of conflict" 

David learned that peace is not the same as the absence of conflict. One does not equal the other.

What we tend to want, when we ask God for peace, is the removal of all conflict. David discovered that God would go with him through and deliver him out of - but not keep him from the conflict. 

David discovered that God would restore his soul in the valley of the shadow of death. The downside to finding God in the shadow of death or any heavy crisis is that we have to be IN the crisis first.

I recently asked a group of teenagers (who were in a 'lock-down' unit under court supervision) to tell me what the word 'peace' meant to them. Their general assumption was that 'peace' meant 'quiet.'

It is difficult for most people to separate 'quiet' from 'calm.' The metaphor of our lives being like seas continues to muddy the understanding that 'calm' for our souls isn't dependent upon the stilling of a storm.

Jesus did calm stormy seas, but His first intention was to bring 'calm' to the disciples in the boat - even in the midst of a stormy sea. Had they responded to Jesus as He offered, they would not have needed the additional proofs that 'He even controls the winds and the waves.'

David hid in a cave, fearing for his life...God brought peace as David cried out (but didn't deliver him from the cave, nor from his enemies at that time). The disciples hid in the bottom of the boat, fearing for their lives...Jesus brought peace as they cried out (and He stilled the storm, but their lack of trust remained because they hadn't suffered the storm in faith).

God can deliver you from your 'cave' experience and He can still the stormy seas around you, but what might be better for you is to allow Him to bring peace to your soul while all around you the battle rages on.

As an old song says, there can be 'peace in the time of trouble - peace in the midst of the storm.' David, Peter and others found the God-Who-is-there in the depths of their despair, sorrows and anguish. 

Church tradition says that Peter called out to his wife in encouragement as she was being led to her death, to remember their Lord!

Even on a walk to their deaths, Peter was able to apply to the Prince of Peace for that peace he had found so many years before when the winds and the waves were encompassing him.

Practice now, while it isn't a matter of life and death, to experience peace that surpasses understanding even while the battle rages around you.