FROM SOBBING TO SINGING

“I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”  (Psalm 13:6)

            Psalm Thirteen ends with a song, but it began with a sob. David asked, how long?  How long?  How long? 

            John Phillips says when David wrote this Psalm he was exhausted and depressed.  His trouble with King Saul had gone for years and years.  The Psalm was wrung out of extremity of soul.  David simply could not go on- not another day-not another hour-not another minute.  He was at the end of himself.

            But here we are reminded that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.  It is often when we are wit’s end that we meet God.

            How long?  This was David’s question.  It may also be your question.  You may be wondering how long the sadness and sorrow of your life will last.  You may presently be in circumstances that appear to be hopeless.  David felt abandoned and alone.  He felt that his enemies exalted in his oppression.  He saw no end to his suffering until he trusted in the Lord and rejoiced in His salvation.

            David demonstrated the great fact that singing (praising and worshipping) to the Lord has liberating power.  Praise can deliver God’s children from the pit of despair.

            There is a dramatic demonstration of the power of praise and worship in Acts 16:25-26.  Paul and Silas were beaten, placed in the inner prison with their feet fastened in stocks because they had preached the gospel of Jesus Christ and cast a demon out of a young girl.  It was truly a dark moment for these two servants of God.  But notice what happened, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.  Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.”  Talk about songs in the night!

            David looked past his circumstances and saw the God of his salvation.  He said, “I have trusted your mercy; and my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.  (v.5)

            Your sobbing can be turned into singing if you will just praise the Lord! – Dr. Roger Willmore is a popular speaker at America’s Keswick and will be here again this summer: America’s Keswick 2012 Summer Line Up

Team YOU: 1 Kings 1-2; Proverbs 27; Luke 20:27-40

Motivations: I urge upon you communion with Christ; a growing communion. There are curtains to be drawn aside in Christ that we never saw, and new foldings of love in him. I despair that I shall ever win to the far end of that love, there are so many aspects to it. Therefore dig deep, and sweat and labor and take pains for him, and set by as much time in the day for him as you can. We will be won in the labor. Samuel Rutherford

Practice to Remember: Level 1:Ephesians 6:2-3; Level 2: Ephesians 5:15-21

Powered Up:  I have learned that God’s silence to my questions is not a door slammed in my face. I may not have the answers – but I do have him. Dave Dravecky