1 My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!
2 Wake up, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song.
3 I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations.
4 For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth.
6 Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power.
7 God has promised this by his holiness: “I will divide up Shechem with joy. I will measure out the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh, too. Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors, and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings.
9 But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant, and I will wipe my feet on Edom and shout in triumph over Philistia.”
10 Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will bring me victory over Edom?
11 Have you rejected us, O God? Will you no longer march with our armies?
12 Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless.
13 With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.
Have you ever stopped to think that our ability to live joyfully is a function of our confidence in God? I've always been more inclined to link it to my ability to live a wholesome life.
I can see the connection. As christians, we are most comfortable with God when we are confident our standing...our attitudes and actions...has risen to a level (at least for a while) where God would not find a lot to criticize. We then can "rock and roll" with the best of believers. However, most of the time, we timidly struggle through our day hoping God either won't notice how poorly we are doing, or will at least condescend to come to our aid.
What if we have that all wrong? What if we can never achieve that level of holiness? What if that makes no difference because we have a God who will love us and welcome us even when we are prodigal? Could that change your life? I believe it could change mine.
No wonder the Psalmist was so overjoyed. Is your pursuit of a joyful life less than overwhelming? Quit thinking about it. Quit striving for it. Concentrate of the inexhaustible faithfulness of God and joy is the natural consequence.
Live boldly out there today...
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