Trust. Cry. Praise

 

Sometimes I wonder how I would survive without the Psalms being a part of my daily life. The book of Psalms or the book of songs, has some of the most quoted, most well-known, most loved verses in all of Scripture.

We read the Psalms and are comforted. Sometimes warned. Instructed. We turn to the Psalms and find hope. Love. Comfort. But also, anguish, turmoil and emotional outbursts. But there is also a beautiful balance of true worship from a heart overflowing with God’s love and goodness to us.

The Psalms seem to show us the whole spectrum of emotions and maybe that is why they speak to me so loudly.

Emotions are God-given and not to be afraid of. Don’t let them rule you, but don’t be afraid of them!

Some of the Psalms are written so heartfelt that you can almost feel exactly what the writer is going through. And I think that resonates with many of us as it helps us see that we are not alone in our suffering or our fears.

The book of Psalms is made up of 150 individual Psalms, written by various authors over a period of approximately one thousand years in Israel’s history.

It is one of the most diverse books of the Bible dealing with subjects such as God’s creation, war, worship, wisdom, sin and evil, justice, judgement and the coming of the Messiah.

It is a treasure trove of precious gems and promises.

Many of the Psalms were penned by King David and we often see him in difficult circumstances, fearing for his life, falling on his face before God and then worshipping him with all his heart.

This past Sunday, Psalm 56 was brought to my attention, and I noticed three things I wanted to share briefly.

Our need to:

Trust in the Lord

Cry to the Lord

Praise the Lord

Over and over in the Psalms, and in many other books in the Bible, we are told to trust in the Lord. What a comfort it is to know that God is totally trustworthy, will never let us down and will never fail us, as others often do.

In verse 3 of this Psalm, we read:

Psalm 56:3 KJV - What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

What a beautiful and yet, simple verse. We often teach this verse to our children to comfort them, but it’s not just for children. I need this verse more often than I care to admit.

I have a Saviour who is there when I am afraid. He knows when I’m fearful. And he is totally trustworthy.

In verses 4 and 11, we read the phrase, “In God have I put my trust”.

I notice something interesting in these verses and many others. It’s the use of the words,

 “I will” and “I have”.

There is determination in those little words. I WILL trust. I HAVE trusted. The verse doesn’t read, what time I am afraid, I might trust in you God. No! It is I WILL!

A choice has been made to trust. A determined choice.

Then we look at verses 8 and 9.

Psalm 56:8-9 KJV - Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

I love that we can cry aloud to the Lord. He’s not afraid of our tears. It even says he keeps them in a bottle. (The explanation for that I’ll leave for another post).

Do you ever meet people, or maybe you are one yourself, that is afraid of tears? They are totally at a loss to know what to do with someone who is crying.

As the song so aptly says, Tears are a language God understands. He understands our cries. He hears them, he can interpret them, and he can bring comfort to the troubled soul.

It is so important that we cry to God. He longs to hear from us the thoughts we’re thinking, the fears we’re feeling, the anguish that grips us. He wants us to cry to him. Because he knows just what to do with our cries. He has all the answers, and he has all the comfort.

As we move down into verses 10 and 12, the theme of praise that so often comes up in the Psalms, is revealed.

Psalm 56:10, 12 KJV - In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word. ... Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.

As I’ve said so many times before, it is of utmost importance that we praise God. It’s interesting in this Psalm, that the Psalmist says he will praise God’s word. He saw that even God’s word was worthy of praise because of the author.

Praise needs to be the habit of every Christian. We should never neglect thanksgiving to God. We need to develop a heart of gratitude and we need to learn to praise God sincerely and often.

The beginning of the Psalm sees the Psalmist laying out his problems before God and asking for mercy. Then a remembrance that God is near. And then we read of a cry to God and the Psalm then moves on to praise.

A beautiful progression of turmoil to triumph. Of fear to faith. Of pain to praise.

There is so much more to be said on the subject of trusting and crying and praising, but I just wanted to share these three little things and I pray that you will dig into the Psalms some more and find all the mentions of these things and then put them into practice.

Don’t take my word for it! Look for yourself and you will be blessed beyond measure!

 

Psalm 115:11 KJV - Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.

Psalm 57:2 KJV - I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.

Psalm 57:9 KJV - I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.