Scripture
Vs 4 Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust,
VS 5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
Vs 6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
VS 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.
VS 9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.
VS 10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
Vs 11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!
Vs 12 For evils have encompassed me beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
they are more than the hairs of my head;
my heart fails me.
VS 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me!
Observation
David alternates between describing himself and describing God.
His descriptions of God are consistent … consistently good:
“your wondrous deeds”
“you give me an open ear”
“you will not restrain mercy”
“your faithfulness and your salvation”
“your steadfast love will ever preserve me”
David’s descriptions of himself are mixed … good and bad:
“Blessed”
“I delight”
“law within my heart”
“deliverance within my heart”
Yet …
“evils encompass me beyond number”
“my iniquity have overtaken me”
“my heart fails me”
Application
Life is a mixed bag … God is not!
In a sinful, “fallen” world, I can’t expect “consistently good”.
This is true of both my external circumstances and my internal heart condition.
What can I do when I feel “encompassed” and “overtaken” by
“the world’s evil” or “my iniquity”?
If I try to “do something” myself … I will “fail”.
“my heart will fail”.
There is only one thing I can do … Cry out to God!
“Deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me!”
David makes an important clarification in his actions …
And in what God actually desires or wants from me.
God wants me to cry out for Him,
NOT perform religious activities for Him!
“You have NOT delighted” … in sacrifices.
“You have NOT required” … sin offerings.
This is so significant.
Sacrifices and offerings are what pagan gods require! … Not God!
What does God delight in? … What “pleases” Him? … To “deliver” me!
And what shall I then “delight” in? … “to do your will”!
Why? … Because “your law is within my heart”!
Then, through all the “ups and downs” in this world,
I can consider myself “blessed”, because “the Lord” is “my trust” … not the world.
Prayer
Thank You, God, for Your Word
Help me to see you in the midst of tumultuous times
Help me to “delight” to ”do your will”
And Help me Holy Spirit know when to proclaim it
In Jesus name
Amen