“I
will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing praises to
You. I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your
lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above Your name. In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
and made me bold with strength in my soul” (vs1-3).
Praise the Lord for
boldness and strength, as He has acted upon and been faithful to His word. He’s put His word above His name, showing
that His highest attribute is being faithful to what is written. He brings to pass all that He has said, so
that He is trustworthy beyond description.
God isn’t flaky, shady,
or someone who talks and promises but can’t deliver. He saves sinners, He helps
the broken hearted, and He receives all who call upon Him, doing us good.
His trustworthiness
makes Him glorious, so we’ll praise Him in Christ, His way, by the blood, and
we’ll worship Him above all else. We are
right to say, “God is great”, when He delivers us from sin.
Secondly, the proud
and the wicked do not have this relationship with the Savior (vs4-6). He says, “Though
the Lord is high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar”.
They are known, but they are not loved intimately with salvation. Even children of God, loved as we ALWAYS are,
are not near to God in experience and power, when we get lifted up. But, the wicked who hate Christ, who don’t
receive God’s word, and who refuse to bow to the blood of salvation, they are
rejected. Their prayers are unheard by God like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14
who prayed “thus with himself”, “for everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted”. If you don’t come to God by Christ, waiting
on Him to save you, then you won’t leave with His blessing. It is reserved for believers,
for people who have nothing else, and who see Christ’s death and power as their
all. Without Christ, there is no hope
for you, no God, and no way to get what you need.
Finally,
we have boldness and assurance because of Who He is, and so we confidently
expect help in the future, as we ask for help right now. He
says, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will
stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will
save me. The Lord will perfect that
which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; do not forsake the
works of Your hands”. It is NOT that we
worry and fret, nor is it that we have a fleshly confidence that refuses to
pray.
Personally, I’ve
begun a new sales job, and my first attempt was disastrous, reinforcing the
truth that salvation and provision come from Him. So, instead of quitting, I’ve taken to more
prayer, “Lord, bless my labors, bless me in this job”, and I’m relying upon Him
because I can’t succeed if He is against me.
Likewise, prayer shows that our faith is real, as we go to Him
confidently for what we need, not saying, “I will worry and do it myself”, and
not saying, “It’s in the bag, so prayer is unneeded”. This “I don’t need to
pray because He’s promised it” mindset is disobedience and being wiser than God
in your thinking. He not only promises
to care for us, but He commands us to work, laboring with our own hands. Paul says, “For even when we were with you,
we commanded you this: if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess
3:10). He not only promises to save His elect, but He commands all men
everywhere to repent. The whole counsel of God is both confidence in the
promises, and it is also prayer that God fulfills them. It is never one or the other.
You shall be saved by
grace, so know it, and ask Him for it.
Be confident and obedient, asking for what you need, knowing He’s chosen
prayer to meet our needs by His own faithfulness to the word. He wouldn’t teach us to pray, and then not
use prayer, as if it isn’t needed. He will be faithful to His word, and only
the wicked deny it, choosing to live some other way.
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