jackpickel

Sunday, August 26, 2012

AWAKE MY SOUL:  TRUST

Psalm 27

Many people carry heaviness daily while worrying about serious things.  How will a job, a child, a marriage, etc. turn out?  All legitimate concerns that can bring worry, stress, and anxiety to our lives.

In Psalm 27:1, David assures us that his hope is in God and he fears nothing else in life.  Yet, he places it in the context of difficulties he is dealing with that are very real to him at the time.  David talks about things that worry him; things are anxiety-producing scenarios in his life.

David says that sometimes:  a) evil men advance against him, b) enemies attack him, c) armies besiege him, d) war breaks out around him (vss. 2-3).  Despite all of this he still maintain a strong faith in God and a fearless approach to his difficulties.

David shares with us the strategies he uses to maintain this fearlessness…

1.  He chooses to DWELL in the house of the Lord (vs. 4).  He lives in a constant awareness of God’s presence and sovereign control of him, his enemies, and his situations.

2.  He chooses to GAZE upon the beauty of the Lord (vs. 4).  To gaze, here, means to perceive, contemplate with pleasure, to fix one’s attention upon with admiration.  What we gaze upon produces results in our lives (garbage in – garbage out).  Most of the things we fix our attention on are temporal and changing at best (family, finances, friends, careers, etc.).  The beauty of God is that he is eternal and unchanging.  He has the ability to take what is ugly and make it beautiful again.

3.  He chooses to SEEK God (vss. 4 & 8).  The Hebrew idea of “seek” here means to seek so as to do the will of the person being sought.  David’s intention in seeking God is to discover and do God’s will for his life.

He then gives two affirmations:

a)  The Lord will receive me (vs. 10).

b)  I will seen the goodness of God in the land of the living (vs. 13)

When we face the deadness of our souls, the deterioration of our health, the collapse of our finances, the breakup of our families, the uncertainty of our jobs, the loss of our appearance, the hundreds of unexpected disappointments we face daily – we can still TRUST GOD.

God invites us to exchange our worry for his wisdom; our problems for his peace; and our doubt for his direction.

Trust God – it awakens the soul.