Praise in the Pain


Psalm 67
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
1May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
3Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
5Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
6The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.
7God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

I don’t know about you, but I’m finding global events to be fairly disturbing.  It seems that our lives this week have gone from the ridiculous (Pokémon) to the terrorizing (Nice, France). And even if you don’t bother to watch the news, there are most certainly circumstances in your own life that are less than ideal. Life feels a little shaky sometimes. And then we come to a Psalm like this one for today and it just doesn’t seem to fit. Why would we praise God when the world is a dangerous place and can so easily send us into fear?

But that is where my thinking is wrong. That is exactly the perfect time to praise God. In the midst of strife, pain, sorrow, and struggle praising God needs to be at the top of my “to do” list. Even when all around me are trembling, God is not. He is strong, perfect, and control of the world has not slipped out of His hands. He is still worthy of praise. In fact focusing on God rather than on my circumstances is the best, healthiest, wisest thing I could put my mind into in those moments.

The focus of this psalm is the harvest; not a harvest of grain, but a harvest of souls for His Kingdom. In the midst of strife the Gospel goes out like a soothing balm for the wounded spirits that inhabit this world. We have the answers for this pain and those answers are all found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I have every reason to praise Him, even in the midst of the storm.

Dear Lord Jesus, we are a hurting world. The hatred of others batters our spirits and causes our hearts to melt. Please, Lord Jesus, please; keep us ever mindful of Your awesome love and power and help us to share that love with our world. Send Your message out upon our lips and center our thoughts upon You rather than ourselves. May words of praise be on our lips even as we suffer evil in this world and keep us ever focused on You. In Your name I pray. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more