Psalm 71 (NIV)
David is yet again being accused, under threat of harm and death (v 10 &13). He is in a place where he feels that God is far from him (v12)
We may never be under threat of death but there will be many times when we feel that God is far from us.
It is at times when we feel as if the fog of life has rolled in, when we have nothing but trouble, nothing but bad news, nothing but difficulties that we can come to this Psalm and be challenged to respond in the way David did. He did three key things:
1. He had hope:
As for me, I will always have hope...(v14)
No matter how much life seems to go against us, no matter what else we lose, we must never lose hope. We are never ever in a situation that is beyond hope. Why? Because we are never in a situation that is beyond or bigger than God. And so long as our God is there, whether we can see Him or not, we can have hope.
2. He praised God even more!
I will praise you more and more. (v14)
Wow! I was seriously challenged by that. Despite the fact that he is in such a dire situation - people still out to kill him, he says he will praise God even more! What a challenge! If I was in David's position I would say, "I will complain more and more about how unfair life is and why God isn't doing more for me and oh I don't deserve all these troubles...."and so on.
But David makes the decision to praise God EVEN MORE! Will we do that? Will we praise God even more than usual the next time we go through a difficult season? The praise of a broken and tired heart is the sweetest song of all.
3. He praised God publicly
my mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long. (v15)
Another HUGE challenge! Aren't we so quick to complain to friends about life, about how we are struggling and how busy our lives are and how crappy our jobs are and how much pressure we are under and so on.
Sure, there is a place for that (and that place is NOT Facebook), but the challenge to us from this Psalm, is that even in the midst of that, do we ever talk about how amazing God has been to us in the past. Do we say, "You know, I am having a really rough time, but it reminds me of a similar time a couple of months ago, and God really provided for us miraculously, or he really gave me the strength that I needed just at the time I felt I was going to break." (You can do this on Facebook if you want).
Folks, difficult times are a great opportunity to grow in hope, in private and in public praise.
I don't mean we put on a lots of fake tan and Joel Osteen teeth. But I do think we should be challenged to big-up our God, not big-up our problems. The more we talk about our problems, the more they will weigh down on us. The more we talk and sing about how amazing our God is, the lighter our burdens will be.
Do you want big problems or light burdens? If the latter, then keep hoping and keep praising - privately and publicly. This promise is true:
Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter,
You will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
You will again bring me up. (v20)
Hope. Praise. Rest.
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