Psalms 57:7-11 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.
The psalmist describes his heart as being fixed. The word fixed means "settled, established, firm, stable". We see that the psalmist is saying that he has gotten some things settled in his heart and they will not change.
He says that he will praise the Lord in verse seven. Wouldn't it be good if we decided that we were going to praise the Lord no matter what happens. Not only was he determined that he was going to praise God no matter what happened but also in verse nine he says he is going to praise God no matter who hears it. He is not praising God just when he is among other people that are praising God, but he is praising God when he is surrounded by those who are cursing God. He has established in his heart that he is not going to let people's opinions or reactions effect his worship of the Lord. We need to be determined that we will praise God no matter what and no matter who likes it or doesn't like it.
The psalmist reveals his reasons for his heart being fixed. It is not that everything is going well for him. Beginning in Psalm 51, he is wrestling with the consequences of his sins. In Psalms 52 and 54 he is betrayed by Doeg and the Ziphims. In Psalm 56 he is among the Philistines in Gath, and in Psalm 57 he is hiding in a cave from Saul, who is seeking his life. You see we can determine to praise God and worship and serve God when we stop thinking like the humanists "What has God done for me lately?" and take a good look at God.
In verse ten we see two reasons that God is worthy to be worshipped, praised, and served no matter what's happening in our lives. The psalmist declares that God's mercy is great. Haven't we all experienced the wonderful mercy of God? God has mercifully delivered us from the bondage and penalty of sin and reconciled us to God by mercy alone through Christ's death for us on Calvary. Even those who have not believed the
Gospel have still experienced the mercy of God as God has given them one more day to repent and believe the Gospel instead of allowing them to receive the end of their rebellion and sin in hell. The psalmist gives another reason to praise, worship, and serve the Lord when he declares God's truth to be great unto the clouds. Isn't it wonderful that God has given us the Bible? God has revealed Himself, His provision for our salvation, and His purpose for our lives in the wonderful Book we call the Bible. God didn't have to reveal anything to us, but He did. What a wonderful God!
You and I need to follow the pattern of the psalmist. While everything is changing before our eyes, we need to determine that by God's grace our hearts will be fixed on praising and extolling God. We, like the psalmist, need to fix in our hearts that we will praise God all our days for the salvation that He has provided and the Scriptures He has given. Let us renew our commitment to praise, worship, and serve God no matter what happens or what people say until the Lord Jesus returns.
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 8
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 8
No comments:
Post a Comment