Even as we have entered a new year, most of us have entered with a lot of baggage of the year that has gone by. You could have the same thoughts the Psalmist had when he began the Psalm: Lord everything and everyone is against me and now they are questioning my faith. (Psa 3:1-2 paraphrased) Are you in such a situation? Though David began the Psalm with doubt and uncertainty, he ended it with deep assurance and confidence in the LORD his God. 

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How did this assurance and confidence build up in him? We find the answer in Psalm 3:3-4. We find David doing 2 things in these verses.

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• He PRAISED GOD for all that He was to him and all that He could do for him. [Psa 3:3] “You are a shield around me and you bestow glory and lift up my head.” David could never forget God’s protection when he faced Goliath or the Philistines. He had seen God’s goodness, His greatness, His protection and honor in his life. So, now even as he faced opposition from his own household from his beloved son, he knew whom he worshipped. He turned his eyes towards this Great God and praised and thanked Him for who He has been in his life thus far.
  
Praise always brings down walls of doubt and fear, for then we are focusing on the Lord and all that He can do for us and not on the intensity or the severity of the problem. So, if you are in such a situation today, take time to remember His faithfulness in the past and begin to Praise Him in your present situation. Soon you too will see the problems pass away even as you Praise HIS NAME!
   

• He POURED Out His Heart to God. Psa 3:4 says “To the Lord I cry aloud.” Most of us respond to a difficulty in two ways, either we build a strong wall around us so that no one would know what we are going through. We do not want their sympathy or help, and then there are those who, the minute they face a problem run helter-skelter looking for someone who would offer them a ray of hope in their difficulty.
  
But here in the Psalm we see someone who knew exactly what to do and where to go for help. That is why, David in Psalm 121:2 declares – My help come from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

 

 

This new year let’s all make a decision to “…continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise” [Heb. 13:5] in every situation. Let us learn to run to God first to pour out our hearts when we are burdened before going to our brothers and sisters in Christ for help.

 

When we do this there are 3 benefits we reap:

• We receive calmness in our storm. (Psa 3:5)

• We get courage to face our battles. (Psa 3:6)

• Our intimacy with God gives us confidence to ask what we want. (Psa 3:6)

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What are you facing today that you think you can’t handle? Or how can we face the days ahead with renewed hope? May we, this day/year experience God’s deliverance as we wait on Him!    

Thought for the Day:

“When everything has gone down, God wants you to look up”

~Richmond Akhigbe

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LIsten- ‘Always’