“Cry Out to God Most High” (Ps 57)

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.” (vs1-3)

I cry out to God in Christ (vs1-3). I don't sit around waiting for mercy, but I go to God, call upon His name, tell Him my needs, and IMPLORE Him to deliver me for Christ's sake, as He promised. The Psalmist said, “I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me”. You and I are not to sit on our hands, expecting to be fed miraculously, but we're to pick the fruit from the tree: knock, seek, and ask. Faith isn't, “If He wants to save me, then He will, and there is nothing I can do about it” licentiousness. Faith is, “God told me to cry out, to ask, to beg, to believe, and I will do this. I will be ACTIVE in my mercies”.

A hungry baby cries, a sick man asks for medicine, and the leper came to Christ saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean” (Matt 8:1-3). He didn't say this to himself while Jesus passed by, but he came to Him and made the Lord HEAR his voice, because God answers prayer, and coming to Him glorifies Him for meeting our needs, reconciling us in Christ, and being trustworthy enough to be relied upon amidst the difficulties of faith.

I know that I'm to walk in the Spirit, in peace, and in love, and CRYING OUT to the Lord in our fear, guilt, and powerlessness is the way to get this done. Cry out to Him now, if you need mercy, and DON'T stop crying out until mercy comes your way.

Secondly, we ask God to show His glory in saving us (vs4-6)! He says, “My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men who are set on fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth”. Connect your salvation to God's honor, and see that He is praised for rescuing you. He shows Himself great by delivering you from your sin, from Satan, and from the world's opposition. He shows Himself by how He saves, who He saves, and the fact that He gives relief and heaven's bliss. God is known as good by the GOODNESS that He does to us. Ephesians 2 says that we were saved, “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (vs7). Wow! Call upon Him to be great and gracious, so that He can be praised by all eternity for what He does for you. Say, “You will be highly honored by saving this sinner and putting praise in my mouth. It will lift up Your name for helping me to overcome my enemies who are unjust”. Connect yourself to God's glory and reason with Him to save you.

Finally, wholehearted praise will be the result, not only from others who see your salvation, but also from you (vs7-11)! He says, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory(tongue)! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds”. Yes, I will praise God early, waking up the sun with my thankfulness bursting out! I will be THANKFUL for You saving me, and I'll love You from the heart. I will know God's goodness by experience, and my heart, life, and person will think upon Him as worthy of the glory that He demands, for He graces me continually.”

These good fruits that we're promised in Christ are our promises back to God. He gives us reason to praise, and then, He gives us praise too. This is good news to us, that He saves sinners and helps saints because He loves to see us in awe, in joy, and in pleasure THROUGH the Lord Jesus Christ. He is exceedingly willing to give you happiness in Christ - rescuing you from sin and temptation, delivering you from injustice, and doing it so that you may rejoice in the God's character and His goodness to you. Personal salvation is God's glory, whereby He makes Himself our Rock, Refuge, and Strength.