An Encouragement to the worried pray-er
Psalm 108
A song. A psalm of David.
1 My heart is confident in you, O God;
no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!
2 Wake up, lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn with my song.
3 I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.
I will sing your praises among the nations.
4 For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.
May your glory shine over all the earth.6 Now rescue your beloved people.
Answer and save us by your power.
7 God has promised this by his holiness:
“I will divide up Shechem with joy.
I will measure out the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine,
and Manasseh, too.
Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors,
and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings.
9 But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant,
and I will wipe my feet on Edom
and shout in triumph over Philistia.”10 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will bring me victory over Edom?
11 Have you rejected us, O God?
Will you no longer march with our armies?
12 Oh, please help us against our enemies,
for all human help is useless.
13 With God’s help we will do mighty things,
for he will trample down our foes.
I often come to God with a worried heart, something very specific on my mind that is churning my thoughts.
It can make me feel very unspiritual and very unready to spend time in prayer.
But in Psalm 108 we are given license to bring our worried heart before our God.
I read at the end of this Psalm from vs 10-13 that David is worried. His armies have obviously suffered some defeats… a terrifying outcome for a king.
David brings his worry to God in prayer but not by starting there.
Instead, he starts at his bedrock, God himself, praising him and declaring the wonder of his good character.
He then moves to a promise that God has made. He calls out this promise so that he knows with confidence that he can stand in prayer and ask God to fulfil this promise.
Finally, he reveals his worry and lament … but now with confidence that his prayer has been heard by a God who spoke a promise to him, a God whose character is love and faithfulness.
Lord this morning I begin by praising you, by declaring your unending and constant faithfulness and love towards me. From the heights of your goodness and strength I ask for help and deliverance from all my worries today. Amen.
Written by Andrew Mellor