Week 22: Psalm 57
Psalm 57
“My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!” Psalm 57:7
Isn't this a beautiful declaration? If we didn't know any better, this line sounds like it came from the lips of someone walking through a flower-strewn meadow, a life full of abundance and without a care in the world. But we do know better, don't we? David penned these words as he hid in a cave after fleeing Saul for his life. In the first few verses he lays out a vivid, sobering description of the kinds of dangers he was facing. His was not a carefree life, but one heavy with sorrow and distress. How is it possible for someone to proclaim that their heart is steadfast in the midst of fiery beasts, evil tongues as sharp as spears, and snares and pits laid for him at every turn?
Because his eyes were fixed on the One who rules over all these things.
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!” (v. 5)
David didn't diminish the difficulty he was facing—rather, he acknowledged that his faithful, all-knowing Creator and Ruler was greater than every tremble-filled aspect of his trial.
I don't know about you, but I can tend to swing to one of two extremes when I'm experiencing hardship of some kind: either brushing it aside as “not that big of a deal” in the desire to seem spiritually strong, or I can find myself wallowing in despair and self-pity (sometimes being flung from one extreme to the other a hundred times a day). But neither of these finds stable footing, because neither are living in light of reality. What makes God's power over our circumstances so significant is the fact that they truly are hard. And when our gaze is lifted to Him rather than whatever pain or sorrow we might be facing, we see our trial through the light of His goodness and love.
I don't know what today holds for you; but God does. He is the same God that watched over David thousands of years ago that today holds you in His infinitely faithful hands. Today I invite you to rest with me in His love until He brings us safely home.
-Heather
