Verses 1-12, “I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. Now in my prosperity I said, 'I shall never be moved.' Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled. I cried out to You, O Lord; And to the Lord I made supplication: 'What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; Lord, be my helper!' You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.”
Those who wait upon the Lord will experience His deliverance, and have something to rejoice about. In this psalm, David was rejoicing at the dedication of his house, which was an impressive accomplishment. He could have fallen into pride and taken credit for its completion, but instead turned the focus to praising God. David knew that it was God who established him as king and exalted his kingdom, and the adversity he had faced along the way only demonstrated that all the more. God even provided the workers and materials, giving David favor among others, including the king of Tyre. II Samuel 5:11-12, “Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters and masons. And they built David a house. So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted His kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.”
How do you respond to your accomplishments? By taking personal credit for your achievements, you may be missing out on a bigger work that God has planned through you. Maybe He has given you skills, blessed you, and brought you to the place you are, so that He may bless others through your obedience. Yes, we are all individuals, but we are also collectively members of the body of Christ. By focusing on self, you miss the opportunity to serve the needs of the whole body. I Corinthians 12:18-27, “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'; nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”
What churches seem to ignore today, is that when one part of the body is suffering spiritually, it affects the whole body. This is why you cannot turn a blind eye to sin, but it must be dealt with. Not only is the sin bad for the person that is sinning, but it renders that part useless to the rest of the body. Then the part becomes like cancer, infiltrating the healthy parts as well. Furthermore, they act as though they are healthy, glorying in their iniquities. I Corinthians 5:6-8, “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
ReplyDeleteFor His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” Lord , by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled. I cried out to You, O Lord ; And to the Lord I made supplication: “What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth? Hear, O Lord , and have mercy on me; Lord , be my helper!” You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
Psalms 30:5-12
When we humble ourselves before the Lord, He is the one who lifts us up. When we seek His will, we are blessed. There is always a temptation to forget about God when life is good, but during the hard times we cry out to Him again. We need to remember God always, and seek Him daily, relying on Him. During some seasons of life, it can seem like we are all alone, but we always have God! We should be relying on Him and only Him in our life! If everything would be taken away from us today, would God be enough? It was for Job, a man who served the Lord no matter what!