Sometimes the best thing to do is pray (Ps
17). And notice the weaving of petition and an illustration of what the
experience of the answer would be like. He is examined by the LORD (v3) and he
has not compromised (v4). This is in response to his prayer for vindication
(v2). He wants the LORD to hear him (v6) and being shown love would be the answer
(v7). It is OK to suggest what an answer would be to your prayer, but be open
to the LORD doing even more than we ask or imagine.
I like jubilant worship! I am not someone
who wants to restrain myself when it comes to offering praise. Psalm 47 is a
noisy psalm. There are hand-claps and shouts (v1), shouts and trumpets (v5), and
of course singing (vv6-7). All this noise in worship because He reigns over the
nations (v8). He is in charge. The leaders of the world are no match for Him.
When people know Him, they realize how small and insignificant we are. How big
are you?
Most people wait until a crisis before they
pray. They are praying as a last resort, rather than as the best option. Even
the psalmist (Ps 77) seems to be praying out of desperation. I get the feeling,
though, that this was not his last resort. I get this from several places like
verse 10. He has spent years as the recipient of God’s favor, His right hand. The
LORD has shown up and performed miracles. They delivered Israel from the
oppression of Egypt, even though His presence did not leave physical marks
(v19).
One of the patterns of humanity includes
failure and the resulting desperation. This pattern is lined out in Psalm 107: lethargy,
judgment, desperation/repentance, and then God’s intervention. As you read,
find this outline again and again. Look at the start of the cycle, the slip
into disobedience. What are some of the things that they did that showed they
were slipping away? Then look at the what repentance looks like? Then look at
what the LORD does in restoring His people. Looking at the past can teach us
about the character of us and of the LORD.
Psalm 137 gives us an inside look into the
souls of those who were under God’s judgment. They were in a foreign land
because of their sin. I am sure they sang these songs in Hebrew while their
captors spoke Babylonian. Right under their captives’ noses they sang of their return
to the Promised Land. Notice that they sing of the destruction of their captor’s
civilization (vv7-9). Even the killing of their children. Wow, that is guts. How
much guts do you have? How much confidence do you have in the LORD’s justice?