SCRIPTURE: Psalm 54
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive! [Psalms 54:4]
David is in hiding from King Saul, who wants to kill him; David prays this prayer after the Ziphites betray him to Saul.
Were these the words he prayed after God rescued him, or what he prayed while he was still at risk?
It could be that he prayed (and wrote) this after God rescued him, which would explain the voluntary sacrifice he offers.
But it could also be that he prayed this during the crisis, and that the voluntary offering is a demonstration of his God-confidence.
It is easy for me to say that God is my helper, that He will keep me alive, AFTER the danger has passed and I am alive and safe!
But will I praise God and trust in Him while the future is still uncertain, and I am still in ‘hot water’?
Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” [John 11:25-26]
Jesus asks Martha to believe this while Lazarus is still dead, and they are still grieving.
Will I choose to believe God’s promise when it still remains to be fulfilled?
Will I choose to praise and trust God while His rescue still hasn’t happened?
If the doctor says its cancer, will I say But God is my helper, the Lord keeps me alive! [Psalms 54:4]?
If I am dying, or going through the valley of the shadow of death, will I still trust Him?
I think of Paul and Silas in prison, praising and trusting God while they were still in chains.
They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. [Acts 16:23-25]
It is good to praise God after He helps us; but it is also good when we praise Him before He helps us.
Repeat this line again and again today, no matter what you are going through: But God is my helper, the Lord keeps me alive! [Psalms 54:4]!
PRAYER:
Lord, You are my helper, You will keep me alive, (even after dying)! I choose to believe and say this, even before You help me!
At all times, I need to talk to God – in the good times and in the bad times. As my Father, I need His guiding hand at all times. I need to stay in touch. I need to rely on His strength. I need to rely on His wisdom. I need to rely that He is always there for me. I need to rely on His listening, caring, encouraging, advising, helping, comforting, being there. I am never alone. He is always there. That I know but do I live it with my actions?
David surely did. In times of joy and in times of sorrow.
Help me at all times to bring a sacrifice of praise. As the Psalmist also states, the Lord God is my Shepherd, I do not fear for You are with me always!
May that truth be evident in my walk with You Lord – today and always.
We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord
We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord
And we offer up to You the sacrifices of thanksgiving
And we offer up to You the sacrifices of joy