Psalm 28:7-9 (NIVUK)
6 Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
9 Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them for ever.
These words of joy in God’s salvation come not in the middle of a period of peace, or celebration when all is good, but in a time of despair. The Psalm opens with its author crying out for help, pleading with the Lord not to remain silent. Towards the end there is a sudden shift from desperation to the hope of these lines. This is not the only time this happens in the Psalms, or indeed in Scripture. I’ve often wondered what happened in the middle to bring about this shift. Has the writer had a dramatic experience of God’s intervention? Maybe, but I’m not convinced. My suspicion is that having brought their fear, their worries and their doubts to God at the start of the Psalm as an act of worship, it’s not that everything has changed and become easy or good, but that they’ve discovered a quiet reassurance that God is God, and that despite appearances, he has not deserted them. This ‘peace beyond all understanding’ helps them to see their circumstances in a new light, in the light of the promise of God’s salvation.
What are you worried about? What scares you at the moment? What doubts do you have? Don’t deny these thoughts, instead, bring them to God and pray that he will give you a new perspective.
Photo by Duncan Kidd on Unsplash
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