Thursday 13 December, 2019

1 My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul. 2 Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 3 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 6 Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered. 7 God has spoken from his sanctuary: “In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth. 8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah is my scepter. 9 Moab is my washbasin, on Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.” 10 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? 11 Is it not you, God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies? 12 Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless. 13 With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

I love how David has written this Psalm. Everything is going well. The sun is shinning. The birds are singing. The flowers are blooming. Everything is great and David is praising God. Happy as Larry!

Until I get to verse 11 – things are not going well. David is singing these praises to a God who has rejected him. A God who refuses to fight on his behalf.

And here lies a beautiful question –

do I praise God when it’s hard? I mean really praise Him – as if everything is rosie. Do I praise Him when I think He’s let me down? Do I call to mind His promises and praise Him in the middle of the storm as if the storm is over? Because He will get me through!

Lord, please teach me to have this sort of faith. A faith that praises you in the middle like I should at the end.  Amen

Written by Boudy Van Noppen