Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

“ Then I will hold my head high, above my enemies who surround me. At his Tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.” (6)

Shouting, singing and playing music with joy in God’s sanctuary was an act of confidence and trust. Music is physically a form of light and when directed towards God it is a mighty spiritual weapon that de- fies natural reasoning and encourages our soul. The New Testament tells us: “ Don’t be intimidated by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.” (Phil. 1:28) The ‘ shouts of joy ’ is the same shout that the Israelites used to de- feat the city of Jericho: “ Shout! For the lord has given you the city.” (Josh. 6:16)

III LISTEN TO MY PLEADING - 7-10

“ Listen to my pleading, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.”(7,8)

The confidence of the first half of the psalm turns inward to a battle of faith. The invitation by God to speak with David and his eager answer is referring to the Ark of the Covenant that was in David’s tent. God had promised to speak directly from there: “ I will meet with you there and talk to you from above the atonement cover between the gold cherubim that hover over the Ark of the Covenant.”(Ex. 25:22) Jesus is initiating a relationship with anyone who will respond to him. Next comes a desperate struggle of faith represented by four ‘do not’ prayers: • “ Do not hide yourself from me. ” (9) The one who hid David from his enemies is now out of the view of sight and can only be seen by the faculty of faith. • “ Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. ” (9) God will not reject us when troubles come, that is when he his ‘light’ shines the brightest. • “ Don’t leave me now; ” David is no longer in the beauty of the sanctuary but in the brutality of life. He will soon discover the God of the sanctuary is also the God of human struggles. • “ Don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation! Even if my father and mother abandon me, the lord will hold me close.” (9,10) The parental bond is the closest of human relationships yet God is even more deeply committed to us than our earthly father and mother. Before David fled from Saul to the wilderness he made sure that his parents were taken care of: “ Later David went to Mizpeh in Moab, where he asked the king, ‘would you let my father and mother live here under royal protection until I know what God is going to do for me?’ the king agreed, and David’s parents stayed in Moab while David was living in his stronghold.”(1 Sam. 22:3,4) “ Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the path of honesty, for my enemies are waiting for me to fall. Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done and breathe out violence against me.” (11,12) David had something that his enemies did not have. He had the light of Christ’s revelation and pres- ence that taught him to walk in the path of honesty while his adversaries fell into the darkness of their lies. “ Yet I am confident that I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.” (13) Because the Lord was his light, David was confident that he would see his goodness even though a vi- cious army surrounded him. Most people expect to see the goodness of the Lord in heaven but the proper scriptural focus is that we will see it in this life in some measure. IV LEAD ME - 11-14

' Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” (14)

63