Sometimes the best thing to do is pray (Ps 17). And notice the weaving of petition and an illustration of what the experience of the answer would be like. He is examined by the LORD (v3) and he has not compromised (v4). This is in response to his prayer for vindication (v2). He wants the LORD to hear him (v6) and being shown love would be the answer (v7). It is OK to suggest what an answer would be to your prayer, but be open to the LORD doing even more than we ask or imagine.
I like jubilant worship! I am not someone who wants to restrain myself when it comes to offering praise. Psalm 47 is a noisy psalm. There are hand-claps and shouts (v1), shouts and trumpets (v5), and of course singing (vv6-7). All this noise in worship because He reigns over the nations (v8). He is in charge. The leaders of the world are no match for Him. When people know Him, they realize how small and insignificant we are. How big are you?
Most people wait until a crisis before they pray. They are praying as a last resort, rather than as the best option. Even the psalmist (Ps 77) seems to be praying out of desperation. I get the feeling, though, that this was not his last resort. I get this from several places like verse 10. He has spent years as the recipient of God’s favor, His right hand. The LORD has shown up and performed miracles. They delivered Israel from the oppression of Egypt, even though His presence did not leave physical marks (v19).
One of the patterns of humanity includes failure and the resulting desperation. This pattern is lined out in Psalm 107: lethargy, judgment, desperation/repentance, and then God’s intervention. As you read, find this outline again and again. Look at the start of the cycle, the slip into disobedience. What are some of the things that they did that showed they were slipping away? Then look at the what repentance looks like? Then look at what the LORD does in restoring His people. Looking at the past can teach us about the character of us and of the LORD.
Psalm 137 gives us an inside look into the souls of those who were under God’s judgment. They were in a foreign land because of their sin. I am sure they sang these songs in Hebrew while their captors spoke Babylonian. Right under their captives’ noses they sang of their return to the Promised Land. Notice that they sing of the destruction of their captor’s civilization (vv7-9). Even the killing of their children. Wow, that is guts. How much guts do you have? How much confidence do you have in the LORD’s justice?
The Arnold Journey 