This morning, I was reading in the Psalms and was greatly encouraged by Psalm 28:6,7. I am so thankful to God for having the Psalms written down for us to be able to read about the heart of hurting people before Him. God, in His perfect patience and mercy, knows that we are needy people, but He doesn't just leave us 'needy'. Psalm 28:6,7 says, "Blessed be the Lord! for He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him." In Him, David's heart trusted and in Him, David was helped. I believe that this is true for us today. In Him our hearts can trust because He is so worthy of trust. In Him we are helped, because He is the only One who really can help.
Matthew Henry puts it this way in his commentary on Psalm 28:
II. He encourages himself to hope in God for the perfecting of every thing that concerned him. Having given to God the glory of his grace (v. 6), he is humbly bold to take the comfort of it, v. 7. This is the method of attaining peace: let us begin with praise that is attainable. Let us first bless God and then bless ourselves. Observe, 1. His dependence upon God: "The Lord is my strength, to support me, and carry me on, through all my services and sufferings. He is my shield, to protect me from all the malicious designs of my enemies against me. I have chosen him to be so, I have always found him so, and I expect he will still be so.’’ 2. His experience of the benefits of that dependence: "My heart trusted in him, and in his power and promise; and it has not been in vain to do so, for I am helped, I have been often helped; not only God has given to me, in his due time, the help I trusted to him for, but my very trusting in him has helped me, in the mean time, and kept me from fainting.’’ Ps. 27:13. The very actings of faith are present aids to a dropping spirit, and often help it at a dead lift. 3. His improvement of this experience. (1.) He had the pleasure of it: Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. The joy of a believer is seated in the heart, while, in the laughter of the fool, the heart is sorrowful. It is great joy, joy unspeakable and full of glory. The heart that truly believes shall in due time greatly rejoice; it is joy and peace in believing that we are to expect. (2.) God shall have the praise of it: when my heart greatly rejoices, with my song will I praise him. This must we express our gratitude; it is the least we can do; and others will hereby be invited and encouraged to trust in him too.
I like how Matthew Henry says that 'not only God has given to me, in his due time, the help I trusted to him for, but my very trusting in him has helped me, in the mean time, and kept me from fainting.' How many of us today feel like 'fainting?' How many of us have regrets from 2011? How many of us have set new year's resolutions to do better this year? With all the things that we are facing this coming year, are we taking those to the Lord, or are we just trying to make it through another year with minimal damage? David in this Psalm is encouraging himself to look to the Lord when trouble comes. He is reminding himself that God is his strength and shield and that God is the One who helps.
And this is true for us all today. If you are wondering where and when help will come for your weary soul, draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to you. Remember Psalm 28 as well as Psalm 120:1,2 "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." I am convinced that one of the main reasons we all feel like 'fainting' or weary and that God feels distant is directly related to the amount of time we spend with the Lord in prayer and Bible study. Just as Jesus taught us in John 15:5, " I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." When we don't spend consistent time with the Lord in prayer and Bible study, it is like we are cut off from the vine. Our hearts can wither and feel dry because our life blood has been slowed. Now, I am not talking about salvation. He who is a believer in Christ and has asked Him to be his Lord and Savior has been permenantly attached to the Vine, Christ, and will never be cut off. Also, the true believer cannot be cut off from the Vine due to how they are feeling or their sin (Romans 8:38,39). Most times, when we are not consistently spending time in God's Word, the truth, we are tempted to allow our feelings to dictate our responses to life and circumstances. Therefore, a question arises, how well do we 'know' the Lord? How well do I know Tim Tebow? I know of him, but I don't know him. Getting to know someone deeply requires lots of time with that person and lots of giving of ourselves to that person, whether they are a spouse, a friend or family member. We don't just wake up and really know someone we've just met. I desire to 'know' God and not just know 'of' Him. In His grace, He had His Word written down for us to be able to get to know Him better.
This year, may we resolve to further deepen our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ by trusting Him to help us be more consistent in our walks with Him. We just might find that things that felt insurmountable in our lives aren't that big of a deal after all. They may still hurt and suffering may continue, but our responses to these will be grounded in the truth of who Christ is and who we are in Him instead of how we are feeling. Feelings are deceiving, but God's Word stands forever true!
Matthew Henry puts it this way in his commentary on Psalm 28:
II. He encourages himself to hope in God for the perfecting of every thing that concerned him. Having given to God the glory of his grace (v. 6), he is humbly bold to take the comfort of it, v. 7. This is the method of attaining peace: let us begin with praise that is attainable. Let us first bless God and then bless ourselves. Observe, 1. His dependence upon God: "The Lord is my strength, to support me, and carry me on, through all my services and sufferings. He is my shield, to protect me from all the malicious designs of my enemies against me. I have chosen him to be so, I have always found him so, and I expect he will still be so.’’ 2. His experience of the benefits of that dependence: "My heart trusted in him, and in his power and promise; and it has not been in vain to do so, for I am helped, I have been often helped; not only God has given to me, in his due time, the help I trusted to him for, but my very trusting in him has helped me, in the mean time, and kept me from fainting.’’ Ps. 27:13. The very actings of faith are present aids to a dropping spirit, and often help it at a dead lift. 3. His improvement of this experience. (1.) He had the pleasure of it: Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. The joy of a believer is seated in the heart, while, in the laughter of the fool, the heart is sorrowful. It is great joy, joy unspeakable and full of glory. The heart that truly believes shall in due time greatly rejoice; it is joy and peace in believing that we are to expect. (2.) God shall have the praise of it: when my heart greatly rejoices, with my song will I praise him. This must we express our gratitude; it is the least we can do; and others will hereby be invited and encouraged to trust in him too.
I like how Matthew Henry says that 'not only God has given to me, in his due time, the help I trusted to him for, but my very trusting in him has helped me, in the mean time, and kept me from fainting.' How many of us today feel like 'fainting?' How many of us have regrets from 2011? How many of us have set new year's resolutions to do better this year? With all the things that we are facing this coming year, are we taking those to the Lord, or are we just trying to make it through another year with minimal damage? David in this Psalm is encouraging himself to look to the Lord when trouble comes. He is reminding himself that God is his strength and shield and that God is the One who helps.
And this is true for us all today. If you are wondering where and when help will come for your weary soul, draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to you. Remember Psalm 28 as well as Psalm 120:1,2 "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." I am convinced that one of the main reasons we all feel like 'fainting' or weary and that God feels distant is directly related to the amount of time we spend with the Lord in prayer and Bible study. Just as Jesus taught us in John 15:5, " I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." When we don't spend consistent time with the Lord in prayer and Bible study, it is like we are cut off from the vine. Our hearts can wither and feel dry because our life blood has been slowed. Now, I am not talking about salvation. He who is a believer in Christ and has asked Him to be his Lord and Savior has been permenantly attached to the Vine, Christ, and will never be cut off. Also, the true believer cannot be cut off from the Vine due to how they are feeling or their sin (Romans 8:38,39). Most times, when we are not consistently spending time in God's Word, the truth, we are tempted to allow our feelings to dictate our responses to life and circumstances. Therefore, a question arises, how well do we 'know' the Lord? How well do I know Tim Tebow? I know of him, but I don't know him. Getting to know someone deeply requires lots of time with that person and lots of giving of ourselves to that person, whether they are a spouse, a friend or family member. We don't just wake up and really know someone we've just met. I desire to 'know' God and not just know 'of' Him. In His grace, He had His Word written down for us to be able to get to know Him better.
This year, may we resolve to further deepen our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ by trusting Him to help us be more consistent in our walks with Him. We just might find that things that felt insurmountable in our lives aren't that big of a deal after all. They may still hurt and suffering may continue, but our responses to these will be grounded in the truth of who Christ is and who we are in Him instead of how we are feeling. Feelings are deceiving, but God's Word stands forever true!
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