1. Praying to God v. 1-4; 2. Resting in God v. 5-8; 3. Walking with God v.9-11; 4. Worshiping God v. 12-19 MIGHT BE ONE WAY TO outline this Psalm. The psalmist is not identified. Yet, we do know that he is a recipient of major blessings from God. He realized the Lord had done great things for him and he also recognized that there was really no way to repay the Lord for His goodness to him. Just as you and I do and/or should recognize it.
This is a very personal Psalm...me, mine, I used over 30 times in these 19 verses. The man was desperate - just as you and I should come to the end of self-sufficiency in an everyday walk with the Lord. It is turning from self-sufficiency to God-sufficiency. It is turning from reliance on my self effort to total dependence upon Him. It is turning from Pride to Humility!
The psalmist began with the proclamation of his love to the Lord. What a great way to begin every day. We walk through lifesaving intervention by the Lord in many ways on different days with different ones of our family and loved ones. We face deep personal crisis that only He can see us through.
The psalmist cried out to the Lord for help and the Lord inclined his ear to him. He rescues the individual because of Who He is not because the psalmist or we deserve His graciousness. Indeed our Lord is gracious, righteous and compassionate. We must confess with the psalmist our personal inadequacy.
Have your circumstances become too hard for you to handle on your own? GODD! The Lord does not want you to handle it, He wants to...admist that you don't have the strength within you and cry out to Him.
Many times we allow the ropes of death to overcome us! at least in our thought life and emotionally we struggle with worry. Worry is building a bridge over a river we may never come to. Worry is attempting resolve a problem that we have absolutely NO control over resolving! We become so concerned about NOT dying that FEAR dominates our thinking and behavior. YET, He has confirmed over and over in the Word that "He holds the keys to death!" Death for a believer is not an accident, but an appointment. Psa. 139:16, 39:4-6, 92:12. Matt. 10-29-31, John 11:1-16. The believer may hasten his day of death, but he cannot go beyond his appointed time. That is in the Lord's hands. 48:14, Job 14:5, Luke 2:26.
In v. 6 the word simple is mentioned. Simple does not refer to ignorant or superstitious people but to childlike believers with sincerity and integrity, people who dare to believe that God means what He says.
A born again can walk through the terrors of uncertainly, seek the Lord and His life working through Him, walk through in victory and make the unfortunate mistake of being prideful of the victory as done by himself. GRATEFULNESS is the Cure for Pride! Only as we turn to the Lord in gratitude as this psalmist turns to Him and only as we recognize the role others have played in our lives and express and demonstrate gratitude to those persons will our pride be broken.
The Lord has a rest for His people as we "take His yoke upon us". Have you entered into that rest? Hebrews 4: 8, 9 tell you why so many do not enter His rest.
Let us seek along with the psalmist as means of expressing our gratitude to the Lord "for great things He has done!" The psalmist made a resolution to call upon the Lord as long as he lived. To WALK BEFORE THE LORD means to live a life characterized by close, face-to-face fellowhship with Him. In the Christian life, we have no guarantee of a problem free existence any more than the psalmist experienced. God does not exempt us from trouble. In the midest of his trouble, he kept his faith in God. He took his focus off his problems and fixed it on the Lord. With eyes of faith he looked at the solution not the problem.
The psalmist expressed his gratitude to the Lord in four ways. 1. He brought a thank offering to the Lord at the sanctuary. v.17 2. 2. the priest would pour out a portion of wine on the altar as a symbol of the worshiper's life poured out to serve the Lord. This was indeed a "cup of salvation" for the psalmist whose life could have been destroyed by the enemy. 3. the priest kept back part of the offering for a feast held after the sacrifice and there the worshiper shared his food and his joy with his family and friends. At that feast, the psalmist called on the Lord and publicly thanked Him for His mercies. 4. following the ceremony and feast, the psalmist began to keep the promises he had made to the Lord during his time of great suffering and danger.
Involved in that process - there is public testimony, private thanksgiving - openness before the Lord, an introspective look at promises made and expression of a grateful heart! Believers today belong to God's new covenant family in Christ but this does not guarantee protection from pain and trials. However, it does mean that God is in control and will work all things for our good and His glory...even our death. Romans 8:28, John 21:17-19, II Peter 1:12-15. Praise the Lord, He will not only call us to a righteous life, but will live it through us. He will strengthen, encourage and empower us to end well and be faithful to Him. II Tim. 4:6-8
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