Psalm 28, 61&62
Prayer! The Road Home
One of the things that can cause us to fall into harmful behavior is insecurity. David certainly had opportunity to feel insecure in his wilderness experiences running from King Saul and later, Absalom.
Psalm 28 is a Psalm of David that is titled in my Bible as, “Rejoicing in Answered Prayer”.
There are several things worth noting that David did in this prayer.
When David prayed he expected God to answer. Verse 2 tells us he lifted up his hands toward the sanctuary of God. Lifting up his hand he was expecting to receive a blessing from God. When we pray it is important to expect God to answer according to His will. God loves us. The love of God is a benevolent love that gives to the object of God’s love what they need not what they want. Remember in John 3:16 that God loved the world so much that He gave. This is the love that God has for us so when we expect God to answer and bless we must also expect that God is going to bless us with what we need and trust that He knows best.
Another thing was that David did not want to be like everyone else. In reality this is a form of idolatry. Our culture is just the opposite. We think we will not be accepted if we are not like everyone else and go to great lengths to look like them and pick up on the new words, mannerisms, and the latest fads. But have we really looked at where our culture is heading and do we really want to arrive at that same destination? There are always a few that seem to succeed but they are few and far between.
David said that he trusted in the Lord and the Lord helped him. Here he found several things. First, he found that God heard him. So many people today need and demand attention. This stems from an insecurity and need to be accepted. It is a sign of weakness. David new God had heard him and found strength from the Lord which is the second thing.
Third, David found that God was a saving refuge for those who trust in Him. If we put our trust in the ever changing culture we will find that about the time we think we fit in and are accepted the culture will change and turn on us and put us down for not fitting in.
David found that acceptance from God was much more rewarding and as he praises God he spreads the good news of what God has done.
May the Lord bless your prayers today.
Pastor Dave