Stand Up

To the Chief Musician. Set to "Do Not Destroy." A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.
BE merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;

And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by.
I will cry out to God Most High,
To God who performs all things for me.

He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who would swallow me up.
Selah
God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.

My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen.
Selah

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.

Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the nations.

For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth

Psalm 57

Not even going to lie, yesterday was rough. It was one of those days where you expect everything to go your way and you walk home with your tail between your legs, asking why did I even get out of bed. But one has to resist temptation. You have to resist the temptation to give up, to doubt; to doubt whether your prayers are even being heard. I'm learning, I'm learning that faith isn't an exclamation point put on events that go your way when you need them to. Faith is looking at the mountain and saying move. It's reaching out towards your goals when you know you alone can't lay hold of them.

He tells us all things are possible if we believe, not all things are possible if everything lines up right. I've heard it said that faith doesnt look into the mirror to see what's there, but rather Faith has its own mirror that reflects what is possible. Let's lay it down. There is the temptation to say the storm will swamp the ship, but what are we told. If we cry out to God, he perfroms all his purposes for us. Things may look bleak and may feel even worse, but Christ slept in the boat while it was tossing and that sounds like a much better plan to me than trying to plot the course of every wave.

So here is the final word. We have to praise him, we have to praise not in the hopes that something will happen if we do, but because we know he has set his face towards us and he is worthy of our praise. There is one sure sign of free heart, its filled with song. You can't help it. And now I will follow the psalmist example I will sing unto the nations his praises and not look to what is going on around me. I'll sing for his mercy and I will sing because his faithfullness cannot fail.