Psalm 57:7-11
My heart, O God, is steadfast,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Devotion
The feature of this Psalm that is so interesting to me is that even in the midst of his battle, David is determined to sing praises to God. The Psalms are songs that were written to worship God. The Psalms record deep devotion, intense feeling, exalted emotion, and dark dejection. In some ways the Psalms are so counterintuitive. Usually in the midst of the battle, we are complaining about our situation rather than singing a song of praise to God. With David, there is a determination to praise God despite his circumstances.
One of the things you will notice about the Psalms is that David’s soul is jumping back and forth between faith and fear. This is so real! This is what we experience on a daily basis. One minute we are consumed with thoughts about our current struggle, and the next minute our thoughts turn back to the size and love of our God. It is like a spiritual rollercoaster. This would be a great passage of Scripture to memorize and recite the next time you find yourself in the valley of despair.
Questions to Ponder:
Are you able to sing and praise God in the midst of the storms of life? How do you “take every thought captive” when you battle the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms? How do you “fix your mind on things above” when you are dealing with things in the here and now?
Prayer Points
- Remind me to sing directly to You. Remind me to open Your word daily, to meditate on it, to pray through it, and to sing it back to You.
- Ask God if there is any offensive way in your heart or mind (unconfessed sin).
- Ask God to help us love Him with all our soul, mind, body and strength.
- Pray for those in Government leadership. They are in the heart of the COVID-19 Battle and leading our nation, state…. Pray for their salvation or relationship with the LORD to be strengthened. Pray they will know they can talk to the LORD about anything. Pray for National Day of Prayer on Thursday May 7th – our leaders to be upheld in prayer throughout our Nation.
Suggested Prayer
Father, You are so wonderful. I love the way You think. I love the way You move. I love how you are so faithful. Forgive me for when my heart wanders. I confess that many times I go to other things when I’m in need and “in the battle.” Forgive me for allowing my mind to ponder negative things. I confess to not taking captive my thoughts but actually allowing my thoughts to capture me.
I ask by Your Holy Spirit that You would empower me to go right to You first when the enemy comes into battle. Remind me of Psalm 57, to look to You, come to You, because You are the answer! With You God, everything changes.
Just like Psalm 16:8 says, help me by Your Spirit to set You, my LORD, ever before me. Help me to cast down anything that sets itself up against the knowledge of You, oh God.
Shepherd our hearts into Your love once again. I praise you that You are faithful, even when we are not. Thank You that I not longer come to You as a slave, but I come to You as your child! For You have called me chosen. You call me to be holy as You are holy, and I belong to You and You alone!
Thank You for saving me. Thank You for calling me out of the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of Your light, Your sonship! I declare You and You alone are my God. I worship and adore You regardless of this present situation I am in. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.