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A look at the Psalms today gives us insight on our cry to God, our praise, and our vows.
Let us look first at Psalm 61
Psalm 61 NKJV
Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
–Has your heart been overwhelmed at times? If you are honest with yourself, that answer is no doubt, a yes.
There are times that everything seems to go wrong.
The best hopes we clung to came crashing down.
The job didn’t come to you.
The girlfriend or boyfriend disappointed or disappeared.
You are left struggling in a flood of disappointment.
You finally cried out in prayer to God.
You laid it all down before Him. You feel so overwhelmed and you remembered that there was comfort in HIM.
He was a Rock for you to cling to in the past, and you came to Him again.
If only your relationship with Him was an everyday occurrence.
Somewhere deep inside, you know that it can be.
God didn’t move away, you did.
You remember that He is truly a Rock, unchanging, strong, able to shelter, and hide you.
You rest there now, thinking that nothing has felt so good, since the last time you ran to Him for the Comfort that only He can bring.
–Our passage continues:
3 For You have been a shelter for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;
I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
–God truly is a shelter.
He keeps us safe, while He shows us the next step, the next plan.
You are kept from the enemy, the one who, perhaps, kept you from a closer walk with God earlier.
Now you have turned from that path and decide to stay with God, trusting in the shelter He provides those who seek Him in sincerity.
You decide to follow and obey and promise to do so, in your great, renewed love for God.
He hears you.
He always does.
5 For You, O God, have heard my vows;
You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
6 You will prolong the king’s life,
His years as many generations.
7 He shall abide before God forever.
Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him!
8 So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may daily perform my vows.
Yes, God heard your vows to follow Him. He gives us the blessing of Himself for those who love His Name and honor Him.
He gives us life and will bless us with His mercy and truth.
We praise Him every day, daily performing our vows to continue to follow God and keep His Commandments.
Praise Our Rock
Let us also look at Psalm 63:3.
Psalms 63:3 NKJV
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
How wonderful when we realize that God and His lovingkindness is better than life.
We praise Him.
May our lives be lived so that they are a constant praise for God.
I am also thinking of the second portion of verse 3 in Psalm 17 that says,
You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
Let us read that again.”…I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.”
May our purpose be keeping our mouths from transgressing, and instead, praise Him, as our verse in Psalm 63 states.
May our lives be spent praising God and watching all else that we say.
He truly is better than life and following and obeying Him in our great love for Him, brings blessings.
Sometimes, those blessings require patiently waiting for them to apprear, but choosing God’s Way is ALWAYS best for our lives, now and throughout eternity.
Put Him first, follow Him, obey Him, love Him. Keep on the path. He will help you to do so.
Others might seem to be doing it better. You might think, like the disciples of Jesus, that one of the others is doing something differently than you.
Look at John 21:22 NKJV 22 Jesus said to him, “…what is that to you? You follow Me.”
Simply keep following Jesus.
Cry out to Him, He hears. Praise Him, He deserves our adoration. Give Him your vow to obey, love, and follow Him, for it is the way of true life.
Keep clinging to God. Keep following Jesus. It is the path to Glory.