"But I will hope continually and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth will tell of Your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge." Psalm 71:14-15
Reading Psalm 71 was very humbling for me. David made it clear in this Psalm that his enemies were abundant. There were those who sought to accuse him, to put him to shame, to seize him, and to kill him. Can you imagine? I know how "down" I can get just knowing that there are people that don't like me anymore! Rejection can hurt...badly. Life can be very painful at times...in this world we will have trouble. What was happening to David seemed so undeserved...and how many times do circumstances in our own lives seem unfair?
I am humbled by David's response. He didn't dwell on the injustices around him. He didn't complain, grumble, stomp his feet, or mope.
He praised the Lord. And he didn't just do it halfheartedly he did it more and more. His hope didn't last for a season, it was continual...for He knew that God reigns and is sovereign over all. He knew that the righteous acts of God were numbered beyond his comprehension and that God was mighty to save! Instead of his praise decreasing in the midst of difficult trials and difficult people, he praised yet MORE and MORE!
Joni Eareckson Tada was talking about the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in a devotion that a friend gave me and she said this in regards to trials and praise:
"The refining process (trials) is supposed to turn out things all the more beautiful, all the more durable. But how many of us go through the refiner's fire and come out the other end looking like...charcoal? Or rusty iron. Or smoking ashes. We may be like the Pharisees of old who wore long faces and rumpled clothes when they fasted. Often when we come through periods of suffering, we want to make sure that everybody knows all the sad and sordid details. The thing of beauty that God wanted to create by sending us into the flames becomes tarnished by our complaints and woebegone expressions.....
There is a better way. Let's offer sincere, wholehearted praise to God as we walk through the refiner's fire. Perhaps those who pause to peer in our furnace will see the Son of God walking with us."
May we all seek to praise our precious Lord and Saviour yet more and more!
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