WE NEED TO LEARN TO LET
GOD DEFINE WHAT IS GOOD FOR US
1 I will bless
the Lord at all times;
his praise shall
continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes
its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear
and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify
the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name
together!
4 I sought
the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all
my fears.
5 Those who look to
him are radiant,
and their faces shall
never be ashamed.
6 This poor man
cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of
all his troubles.
7 The angel of
the Lord encamps
around those who fear him,
and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see
that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who
takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear
the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him
have no lack!
10 The young lions
suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek
the Lord lack no good thing.
We should read these
verses at the start of every day, to remind us of what our attitude toward the
Lord should be. Our lives should be filled with praise. David not only is
expressing his praise to the Lord, but is inviting others to join him. The
humble will listen to this invitation and join him in praise and worship.
The humble are those who
recognize the hand of God and realize that know that in their own power they
cannot do anything. They know they are completely dependent on God, and are
satisfied in His care.
We should ask ourselves if
our lives are continually expressing our praise to God and if we are truly
inviting others to join us in this praise.
One of the greatest examples
of praise that invited others to know and worship God is found in Acts, when
Paul was in prison.
Acts 16:25-32
About midnight Paul and
Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening
to them, 26 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. 27 When the
jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was
about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had
escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself,
for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and
rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and
Silas.30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to
be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you
will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the
word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
What a testimony! In the
worst of times, Paul and Silas were faithful to God. Even when imprisoned by
the hands of the ungodly, they knew that it was under the direction of the
careful sovereignty of God.
As we read in the psalm,
David had gone through a hard time, and when he prayed, God had answered him.
He knew that the Lord was watching and protecting His own. There is such peace
for those who live with an awareness of God’s presence and love. Reality is
that God is always at work, but we can lose sight of this truth. How grateful
we are, for this reminder of God’s goodness.
Read verses 8 through 10
carefully … there is great blessing for those who take refuge in God. Placing
yourself in God’s hands does not mean that God will do all things according to
your will, but that you are confident that all that He will do, will be good!
We need to learn to let
God define what is good for us. Often we let the world or our desires define
what is good, and then we become discontent. Our unhappiness turns into
ungratefulness and that turns into complaint; that path leads us to sin.
I just came home from a
hard day at work. All I will say is that it would have been very easy for me to
go down that wrong path, but by God’s grace, these months in the Psalms have
been teaching me so much.
The worship in this psalm
is the response of a man in whom God was working, through His Word. David had
learned about God’s character, he had learned to trust in it, and this trust
had produced godly results.
Dear friends, why is it so
important to begin our day with God’s Word? Not because we will receive some
special blessing by God, but because it informs our minds, it transforms our
hearts, it prepares us for the difficulties of life, and it produces worship.
Invite someone to join you
today in grateful praise and worship. Lead them to the Scriptures. David knew
that his invitation to others needed to be by example, as well as by audible
praise. May our lives invite others to worship the Lord God, because He is
good!
No comments:
Post a Comment