The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Sunday
September 14, 2008
The Lord is my light and my salvation –
so why should I be afraid?
The
Lord protects me from danger –
so why should I tremble?
When evil people
come to destroy me,
when my enemies and foes attack me,
they will
stumble and fall.
Though a mighty army surrounds me,
my heart will know
no fear.
Even if they attack me, I remain confident.
The one thing I ask
of the Lord –
the thing I seek most –
is to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord's perfections
and
meditating in his Temple.
For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a
high rock.
Then I will hold my head high,
above my enemies who surround
me.
At his Tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the Lord with music.
Psalm 27:1-6
These words were written from the core of King David's heart. In this moment he knew that there was nothing he could do to deliver himself; everything was in God's hands. He recognized that truth and responded with deep, sincere gratitude in the form of praise.
Most of us will never know the torment David went through when King Saul and his men wanted David killed. Even though King Saul was against David, never once did David consider destroying King Saul. Rather than come against this king, David walked away. As a result, David experienced the literal protection he describes so beautifully in this Psalm.
I don't know about you, but I don't have this trust thing down quite as perfectly as David did. When people come against me I am still prone to get in the flesh and attack back. Many times, instead of walking way like David did, I made the decision to stay and be a thorn in the side of those who were against me, but not anymore. That was yesterday – and yesterday's gone.
Like David, I do hunger to live in God's house, to experience the perfection of His love and glory. Although I may not be able to experience that in the flesh, I can in the spirit. In moments of frustration we can literally enter into His house through praise.
What are you going through? Are you surrounded by people who want to see you hurt? Well, it may sound like a cop-out, but take the time to get alone with God and just praise Him. Even if you don't have the voice of Sandi Patty or Steve Green, just start singing "Jesus Loves Me" and see if it doesn't make a difference in the atmospheric pressure around you.
In the Old Testament one of the major battle strategies was to put the singers on the frontline of battle. Many times this tactic alone defeats the enemy. If it doesn't, then God will supply you with other resources for your battles or He will even fight the battle for you. All He wants from you is surrender.
Oh, my Lord, I surrender today. I surrender to praise You. You alone are worthy of praise. You alone merit songs of love to come from my heart and out of my mouth. I trust you to fight my battles for me. I trust You to guide my steps and keep me from stepping into the wrong place or too quickly. Thank You for teaching me Your ways. I want to know more that is why I surrender to praise!
