Depending on the Divine

I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised. — Psalm 18:1-3

How dependent are you on the Lord? Do you turn to Him for wisdom? Do you seek His guidance? Do you trust Him with every aspect of your life and sur- render all aspects of it to His care? What about when difficult, hard-to-manage situations arise? Then do you depend more on your own abilities and less on His complete knowledge of the circumstances and His total ability to handle anything you face?

An implicit invitation to choose dependent trust in the Lord, Psalm 18 describes the Lord as our Strength, our Rock, our Fortress, and our Deliverer. Why do we ever hesitate to put our trust in Him who alone is worthy of our praise!

This passage is filled with phrases that encourage us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. So let’s wisely fill our minds with the truth about who God is. The images in this psalm can help us hang on to those truths: God is, for instance, our Shield and our Stronghold.

God is our everything.

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Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, Praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord From this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down The Lord’s name is to be praised. — Psalm 113:1-3

What If… ?

All that God commands or calls us to do is for our own good. Case in point, “praise the Lord” is sprinkled throughout the psalms (Psalm 7:17; Psalm 22:6; Psalm 33:2; Psalm 102:18; Psalm 104:35; and so on).

What good might result from our praising God regularly and sincerely? For starters, praising Him will keep our eyes on Him. When we’re focused on God, we will find everything we need.

Now, what if praising the Lord were a built-in part of our everyday life? If we praised God as naturally as we breathe, what effect might that praise have on our attitude about life, on our perspective on the events in our private world and in the world at large, and on the strength of the hope with which we live?

Let’s work on teaching ourselves to praise God not only when things are going well but also when things are going badly. Let’s discover the blessings God undoubtedly has for us when we choose to praise Him in all of life’s circumstances.

Excerpted with permission from God’s Blessings Just for You by Jack Countryman, copyright Jack Countryman.

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Your Turn

There’s only One Person we can completely depend upon. God alone. And, He alone is worth our praise! No matter what is going on today, whether bad or good, happy or sad, let’s bring our praise to Him because He is our God. We love You Lord and we worship You alone! ~ Devotionals Daily