Psa 34:1  <A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.> I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 34:2  My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

You know, God’s really got a lot of questions to answer. How could He let- wars take place and millions of people get slaughtered; uncle Cecil die of cancer with all those kids to raise; the bottom fall out of the finances with everything apparently going wrong at once; relationships turn bitter, with long time friends or family members maliciously turning on each other; or anyone be condemned to eternal punishment for just trying to live a little? There really is an endless litany of grievances that could, and often do, occupy the mouth, sometimes without even being aware of it. After all, it’s really just observing how things actually are, and you’d have to be ignorant or somehow disillusioned to not recognize these things, right? 

There is another side to David’s proclamation here in Psalms that sort of stood out to me while reading it this morning. After saying how frequently praise would proceed from his mouth, after assuring that it would be his boast in the Lord that would make others glad, he goes on to instruct those who obviously have reason to think otherwise, that it will really be in their best interest to join him in learning the power of praise. He is inviting those who might have great reason to speak otherwise, to discover release and the ultimate victory in merely acknowledging the good things He has done. From a life of incredible challenges, where the circumstances were dead set against him, David found that there was a way to relief in determining that it would be a positive declaration of his God that would displace the space of discouragement, discontentedness, and skepticism. While it may seem like he was just in a party mood, ready to strike up the 2/4 music after experiencing a coincidental upturn in life, there is really a voice of experience rising above the sound waves of dissension to declare what he had found to be true over a lifetime of repeated demonstration. Surely praise hadn’t continually been in his mouth, and to read some of his other Psalms, it would dispel this notion, but even when his own behavior and conversation had let him down, he had discovered the beauty and escape to be found in merely adjusting his focus through a simple declaration of praise. This wasn’t just a post-victory exercise. He had learned that when the “God question” list was the longest and most grievous that the application of praise was the most essential. The one element of a challenged life that will ensure its ultimate destruction and defeat is only the inability to access deliverance and the way out. 

While it is so very natural to be engrossed in why this or that happened, there is another occupation for those who will learn it. There is a way of praise that can remain in place through the strongest of storms and greatest shakings of the foundation beneath us. In spite of the circumstances and instead of the grievances, a very beautiful and precious jewel can begin to sparkle with the spoken praises of One who has proven His will and his power to bring the best and the perfect end to those who will just choose Him over those insignificant others. David knew that the situations in which he found himself could keep him from the answer, but that there must be a determination to hold on to the praise. This, he had learned, was his way out. This may be a wonderful day of victory and unobstructed sunshine. It, on the other hand may be a darkened and cloudy day of sobering considerations. No matter the depths of despair that may be imposing their gravitational pull, no matter the former tendency to merely question or discount God, there is this new way set before us that David is calling us to. It is a way that cannot be taking without the vehicle of praise. In order to make it all the way to the top, where the view is the greatest, there must be a willingness to utilize this means and disallow all the lemons that would purport themselves as a “way”. It will be this embrace of the Father Himself that will be our savory substance, our evidence when what we would hope for is yet unseen. By merely calling to Him and opening the door to a vision of His face, the answer to that endless list of questions will be found in the sound of praises. 
 

This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2007 at 6:54 am and is filed under Praise. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.