When was the last time you felt flooded by your situation? Overwhelmed about anything today? David, the writer of Psalm 69, was in that sort of place.
He starts with a 911 call: “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God” (Psalm 69:1-3). He feels hated, unjustly accused, attacked with lies. He is exhausted by what seems like unending mental and emotional distress.
With the situation as desperate as it is, it comes as a surprise to us to hear David then say, “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
I think part of worshipping the Lord, bowing down, and kneeling before Him is developing a long-range understanding of our circumstances. That is difficult. Our immediate, pressing, urgent conditions can rush in on us like an overwhelming wave.
Unfortunately, the force of that water can also slam us in the direction of uncertainty, negativity, and unbelief. However, we see that the Psalm writers' practice was to wait through difficult seasons. If we can find our way toward God in worship when the water has come right up to our chin, then we are beginning to do what David practiced. We are finding a way to trust and wait on the Lord.
Pray the words of Psalm 69:3 today:
"But as for me, my prayer is to Thee, O Lord, at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of Thy loving kindness, answer me with Thy saving truth." Amen.
Go deeper — is there one particular truth you can take hold of and worship God for today? Do it in spite of you feelings.