26 June 2024 - Psalm 57

In difficult times, praise God

David began the Psalm by calling out to God for safety. Psalm 57:1(NLT) Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by.

2 Timothy 4:18(NLT) says: Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

David immediately transitioned to praise after contemplating his God and explaining his fear. Rather than allowing his mind to wallow in the gutter of his own trouble, he set his mind on God above.

Psalm 57:4-5(ESV) My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts— the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Like Paul and Silas when they sang hymns to God after being thrown in prison, David used his trial to bring glory to God. Acts 16:25-26(ESV) About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

The best way to break loose from your prison of sickness, trouble, trials, and difficulty, is to start praising God for who He is. Knowing that God would carry David through another trial, he became more interested in proclaiming the God he knew rather than the fear he felt. Psalm 57:7&11(ESV) My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! . . . (11) Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

I conclude with Habakkuk 3:17-19(NKJV) Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.

In difficult times, praise God!