Praising God All the Time 09-29-2024
Text: Psalm 59:16-17
It’s so easy for us to be thankful and praise God when things are going well in our life. But what about when things aren’t going so well? When the problems come or tough circumstances become unbearable, how many of us still take the time to praise God and thank Him for all He does for us? David is a good example about the importance of praising and thanking God even when we’re going through difficult times. Our text this morning comes from Psalm 59:16-17 where David wrote: “ (16) But I will sing of Your power; yea, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. (17) Unto You, oh my strength, will I sing; for God is my defense, and the God of my mercy.”
Even though David became the King of Israel, his life before taking the throne was not easy. King Saul saw David as a threat to his throne, so he spent a lot of him energy trying to kill him. Because of this, David had to live his life on the run, hiding in caves, avoiding the King’s death squads, and also fighting enemies of Israel when he encountered them. Yet, through it all, he always looked up continued to praise God. As long as we live this life, there will be hard things that we will all have to live through. Some of us here today may be feeling that you’re at the end of your rope and don’t know which way to turn. But instead of giving up, look up to God and ask for His help. Too often, we stop trusting God at the times we should be trusting him the most.
The thing that gave David the strength to cope with how he had to live was that he always expected that God would be there to help him. He wrote in verse 16 of our text that he will sing of God’s power. David was able to do this because he knew that God’s power was greater than any of his problems and that his God was stronger than all those who were against him. The same is true for each one of us. We can all find assurance in the power of God to deliver us from whatever problems we are facing and never stop praising Him for all that He does for us.
David continually praised the power of God. He did this because he remembered how God protected him in the past. First Samual 17:32-37 tells us how God protected young David while he was watching his father’s sheep. Then further down in verses 45-50 we learn how God’s power enabled him to defeat the mighty warrior Goliath. Like David, we can all look back on times when God has helped us in the past and remember that He is always there to help us when we need it. It’s faith that allows us to expect that God will come through for us each and every time we need Him.
David praised God for His mercy toward him. David expected the protection of God to arrive in just the right time. He believed that God would be his defender and trusted that God would hide him from his enemies. Charles Spurgeon, the English Baptist preacher from the 1800 once wrote: “The greater our present trails, the louder our future song [meaning praise] and the more intense our future gratitude will be.”
The truth is that God shows His mercy to all of us. Titus 3:5 reminds us of the mercy God has shown us on the Cross which allows all sinners to be washed clean of their sin and justified in God’s sight as though we had never sinned. The kind of mercy of God has shown us challenges each of us to a life of service to Him. Paul wrote in Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
We see in verse 17 of our text that David expected God to give him the strength he required and so he praised Him for that. David had confidence in God’s protection and was convinced that God would deliver him from the enemies that hunted him. We also can have confidence that God will use His power, mercy, and strength to see us through all of life’s adversities. We never have to feel as though we’re victims of the circumstances that we must face. Again, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Oh choice song! My soul shall sing it now and in defiance of all the dogs of hell.” No matter what problems we are facing, god will be there for us.
Faith allows us to praise God, even before His help arrives. We come through our trials because God is always with us. With God before us we are always assured of the ultimate victory no matter what we have to face in this life. This is why we should continually praise him and be thankful to Him each and every day of our life. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:57-58: “ (57) But thanks be to God, which give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain with the Lord.”
When we live our lives expecting that God will always be there for us, we will find that when we look back on what we have been through, we can see how many times He was right there protecting us, guiding us, and giving us the strength we needed to get through each and every situation that crossed our path. Because we have a God who loves us so much we can always trust that He will come through for us no matter what we have to face. This is why we must make it a habit to praise Him each and every day of our lives and not just when we need Him to come to our rescue.
Until we meet again, may God bless and keep you, may He shine His light on you, show you grace, and give you peace in all the days ahead.