Written~ 07-27-2023
Psalm 59:16-17
“But as for me, I will sing about Your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about Your unfailing love. For You have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. O my Strength, to You I sing praises, for You, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.”
Have any of us had something happen that absolutely breaks our heart? I believe I can very confidently say yes. I truly believe each of us has had a situation which exceeds our comprehension and causes great pain and anguish. What would God have us do in these heart rendering times? Cry out to Him. Yes. Pray with the innermost groanings of our spirit. Yes. But sometimes the most difficult thing to do is sing. Singing during a great time of pain is probably one of the hardest things to do because we are so focused on the distress. God is alive in our praises to Him.
As we read in a lot of the Psalms, David is under incredible duress, and he cries out to God for help – but for the most part he sings – he praises God for Who He is during those times of great pain and anguish. When life throws us into a distressful situation – most of us will have the first response to lash out or attack the situation head on. I think that’s human nature. We have the need to set things straight. We have our own ideas of how things should be and grow impatient when things don’t work out the way we had planned.
GOD HAS A PLAN.
In Isaiah 55:8-9 it says,
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Most of the time all we see is the here and now, our focus is on today. What’s happening right now, and sometimes our hearts can’t handle the events of today. God doesn’t focus on “today” He sees the grand picture – He sees and knows the outcome of the situation we are in anguish over.
Luke 1:37 says,
“For the Word of God will never fail.”
Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is release all the pain, the hurt, the rejection, the confusion and place it among the Promises of God. Have His Promises, His Word covers the whole situation that has our hearts twisting in anguish. His Word never fails. I believe God’s heart breaks when He sees His children in such turmoil. He’s reaching out with His loving arms as a father would when he sees his child crying out in pain.
I think we can get incredibly caught up with the emotion of our situation and who can blame us!! Some of the things we go through here on earth really suck!! It’s hurtful, it’s draining! But guess what! God asks us to trust Him. That doesn’t mean we aren’t to cry and feel the deep emotion of whatever we are going through – but there needs to be the release into God’s Hands so we might have peace, the calm that comes over us that cannot be explained.
Oh, the enemy would love to use your hurt, pain, and anguish to keep you in a state of emotional paralysis. He would love to see you remain hurt to remain in duress.
OK… So… let’s go back to our verses for today…
“But as for me, I will sing about Your Power.”
What better way to snap us out of that emotional state than to sing the Praises of who God is. Through our tears, sing. Through our uncontrollable wailing.
~SING~
Do we have an All Powerful, All Mighty God? How loudly can I shout, YES!
“Each morning I will sing with Joy about Your unfailing love.”
Have you ever wondered why David says to sing each morning? Have you ever taken notice how many of his psalms begin with him waking up and singing, praising, and worshipping the LORD? When we wake up – what is the first thing, the foremost thought on our minds, usually it’s what is grieving us the most. It can wake us up with the dread of facing yet another day with the anguish of our situation.
No matter how hard it is, we must change the dialog of our hearts, from anguish to praise.
God is our refuge.
God is our strength.
God is the one who has unfailing love for us.
In this life – in this fallen world – sin will captivate those hearts that turn from the LORD’s Word. It’s devastating – but it is the truth – But we have a God who can do miraculous things.
When our lives get thrown into what feels like a pit of despair I can’t emphasize enough, how much God loves us. He’s working behind the scenes to show us His Power.
What are we focusing on?
Do we focus our hearts on pain and anguish?
Do we focus our hearts on the Power, Strength, and Love of our God?
Here are a few scriptures we can meditate on when going through a difficult season.
God’s Word Never Fails – Lean on His Promises…
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His Will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”
1 Peter 5:7
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”
Philippians 4:6-7
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His Peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 28:7
“For the LORD is my strength and Shield. I trust Him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.”
Isaiah 26:3-4
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the Eternal Rock.”
Psalm 37:5
“Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust Him, and He will help you.”
The last scripture I want to list here is a wonderful Promise from the LORD – Cling to God’s Promises.
Psalm 30:11
“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with Joy!
In conclusion –
We can choose to live our days clinging to the anguish of our hearts…
“But as for me, I will SING about the LORD’s Power…” Psalm 59:16a
Praising You Father in Your Name and the Name of Your Son Jesus, fill my heart with Your Joy – trusting You fully because You love me and care for me.
~AMEN~