I
know you heard—and probably used—the expression “misery loves company”. It’s no
fun, I guess, to be miserable by ourselves. 
But what are we to do when our misery is caused by others who are
lashing out at us?  What if our misery is
caused by someone else’s poison?  This is
where David came from a lot in the Psalms and he takes an interesting turn in
these verses.

 

He
states our God is a great God.  He is
better than anything we can imagine. 
Overcome with this thought in the face of misery, the Psalmist writes in
verses 4-6 in Psalm 68:

 

4 Sing to God,
sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before
him—

his
name is the Lord.

5 A father to
the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

6 God sets the
lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing;

but
the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

 

When
things are going badly, we can be encouraged by these words.  We pray and call out to the one “who rides on
the clouds”.   This is the all-sufficient
Creator of the Universe.  Wherever there
is oppression and hurt, the Rider on the Clouds, comes in as our Father and
Defender.

 

In
His deliverance, the Lord changes our mourning into joyous singing.  This transformation is not just some kind of
“feeling”, but it is a true metamorphosis of our emotional state.  Because He is our protector and defender it
is possible to “cast all
your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

 

There’s
something very critical to understand here: the enemies of the Lord’s people
are His enemies too.  It is not really us
they hate or attack but the righteousness of Christ living in our hearts and
governing our actions.

 

These
rebellious people want to stamp out those who live for Christ because our
existence reminds them of their own unhappiness.  I have yet to meet a rebellious person who is
actually happy.  They certainly put on a
great front but when you really talk to them, they are miserable.  Yet, the Lord’s people can be joyful in all
circumstances—even when attacked by these rebellious people.

 

But
again, it is so much more than just a temporary change of emotion.  The Lord offers us real joy. 

“Rejoice in
the Lord always.  I will say it again:
rejoice!”
(Philippians 4:4).   This is why we can “sing
to God” and praise His name.  We can give
honor and worth to Him because He rides on the chariot
of the clouds to come to our rescue.

 

I called

You
answered

And You
came to my rescue

And I
wanna be where You are

 

 

“Came
to My Rescue”

CCLI
Song No. 4705190

©
2005 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Dylan
Thomas | Joel Davies | Marty Sampson

For
use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. 
All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI
License No. 196315