Today is a good day. To be honest everyday is a good day because another day in my life is another opportunity for me to live for Christ. But some days are significantly better than others. Today is one of those days for me. God has been so good to me so far this year and I just couldn't help but share that. Last year was very difficult for me. I had a lot of anxiety and personal battles within myself that seemed to control my life. I asked God to help me to overcome the battles that raged in my mind but it seemed as though he was doing nothing about it. Towards the end of last year I began to feel hopeless as if God did not see my struggles. I know, in light of all that happened last year, that many of you may have felt the same way. You may have been praying and felt like God wasn't answering. But God always sees our struggles and is working for us behind the scenes even when we can't see what he is doing in the moment.
My dad taught a Sunday school lesson recently about David when he was running from Saul during the time before his reign as king of Israel. It was over David's prayer in Psalm 35. The passage that really spoke to me was Psalm 35:22-28. This is the last little bit of David's prayer. The full text is below.
Psalm 35:22-28 ESV
You have seen, O Lord; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me! Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, O Lord, my God and my Lord! Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me! Let them not say in their hearts, "Aha, our heart's desire!" let them not say, "we have swallowed him up." Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me! Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, "Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!" Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.
Background
Before we move any further lets look at some history. When we look at the whole picture of God's plan for his people we can go all the way back to the Judges to see how we got to the point of this prayer. After the Israelites made it to the promised land God appointed Judges and prophets to the people to help keep the peace within the camps and to deliver His words to the people. During the time of the Judges the people of Israel decided that they wanted a king to rule them. (1 Samuel 8:4-9) The last Judge, whose name was Samuel tried to warn the people about the kings and how it would not go well for the people because they wanted to put their faith in men and not God. He warned that the kings will tax the people and become greedy and the people will be oppressed by their own king. (1 Samuel 8:10-18) The people insisted and God granted their request and Saul was anointed as king. (1 Samuel 8:19-10:16) While Saul was king he became cocky and began to lose sight of God and began praising himself. Then God told Samuel to anoint David to be king. David did a lot of things between the time he was anointed and when he became king. This included gaining the favor of the Israelite people. Saul became jealous and tried to kill David many times and this is what began his pursuit of David. This constant pursuit and threat on David's life is what sparked the inspiration for this prayer.
What about us?
This psalm tells us how David felt during that time. It shows us the hopelessness he felt that God had forsaken him and left him to fight the battle with Saul alone. He begs God not to be silent or far from him in this difficult time. Earlier in the psalm he askes, "How long, O Lord, will you look on?" (Psalm 35:17a). We can see that David felt as though God had left him "hanging". I don't know if anyone else felt that way last year or even recently. I know that I found myself asking that same question of "how long O Lord" and I felt that God's presence had been stripped from me. Do you feel like God is distant in your life?
Moving on from that we can see that the last thing David asks is for God to fight his battle for him and in return God will get the glory, and in saying that David gives God the glory in advance for what he is confident God can do for him. This is where I want to focus. If you read the entire prayer we can see the great despair David has for this situation but then we can see how he turns that despair into confidence and praise if what he knows God can do for him. He acknowledges that God is greater than his situation. Last year I had to remind myself that God is greater than the battles that I face just like David did in this psalm. I had to remember that God was still with me and He never leaves me I just needed to be patient and allow Him to prepare me for the win. Is there a battle that seems too big for you to face? Have confidence and praise God because He will come through for you.
We can see how God came through for David because God allowed Saul to die in battle in 1 Samuel 31 and David became king. God does hear our prayers and he does not leave us in our darkest hour. He is doing things behind the scenes to prepare us for his blessings. Because God is so good to us, even when it seems he has left us, we can have confidence that He is greater and praise Him in advance.
God came through for me this year in ways I could have never chosen for myself. And I have to admit they are so much better than what I had in mind. It was difficult to have confidence and praise Him during my difficult moments, but now that I can see all that He was preparing me for. I glorify His name tenfold! David could not have said it better, "'Great is the Lord who delights in the welfare of His servant!' Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long."
Challenge
I don't usually do this, but this week I challenge whoever reads this to share one thing on your social media that God has done for you this year and praise Him for He is good!