Praising from the Pit (Psalm 69:30-36)

The Gospel song starts out
saying:

 “talk is
easy when you’re up on the mountain and you’ve got peace of min like you’ve
never known.  But then things change and
you’re down in the valley.  Don’t lose
faith child; you’re never alone.”

 “God on the Mountain”

Tracy Dartt

© 1976 Gaviota Music (Admin.
by ClearBox Rights, LLC)

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

CCLI License # 196315

Talk is cheap when
everything is going well.  When our faith
is not being tested, it’s easy to sing God’s praises.  But what about when life turns for the
worse?  Psalm 69 has been a Psalm of
Pain.  David has poured out his heart
expressing betrayal, rejection, loneliness, and deep pain.  You would expect him to turn and blame God
for everything happening to him—God allowed it, didn’t He?  Instead, we read this in verses 30-36 of Psalm
69.

³⁰
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. ³¹
This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and
hooves. ³² The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your
hearts live! ³³ The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his
captive people. ³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all
that move in them, ³⁵ for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities
of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it; ³⁶ the
children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will
dwell there.

Psalm 69:30–36

A fascinating section
concludes this Psalm primarily focused on David’s misery and rejection.  There’s a great lesson here for us to learn:
He’s God whether we feel like it or not. 
Even in the midst of turbulent times, we can join in the song of
creation praising Him.  Indeed, “the
poor will see and be glad” because
it is in the depths of despair we “seek God”.  Shockingly,
we don’t tend to praise God during the seasons of affluence.  We have a tendency to rely on ourselves and
enjoy the so-called “fruit of our labor.” 
Then tragedy strikes.

A child is very ill.  A large tax bill arrives.  A medical emergency happens.  Our worlds are turned upside down and it’s in
those moments we run to Him.  It’s in
those moments, when pain drives us to our knees, we call our to the Lord.

David makes two comments in
this section that are critical for us to notice.  In verse 32, the deliverance of the Lord is
qualified by seeking God.  Then in verse
36, our deliverance is once again tied to “those who love His name.”  Why is this
so significant?

See, dear friend, it’s too
easy to treat God like a grandpa who’s obligated to love us no matter what we
do.  However, we have a sin problem often
interfering with our relationship with our Father in Heaven.  We love to find encouragement from Jeremiah
29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’
declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future.’”

We should rightly draw
inspiration from the Lord’s faithfulness in completing His plan for us.  But there’s also an important qualification
to this plan we often miss.  Jeremiah 29:12-13:
“¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me,
and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you
seek me with all your heart.”

Just like David writes in
Psalm 69:32 and 36, Jeremiah 29:12-13 echoes: we must seek the Lord with all
our hearts.  Then He will be found.  Then deliverance will be found.  When the sin standing between us and Him is
removed by our confession of guilt, the hope of His plan truly finds
completion.  Until then, we’re wishing.

David knew this.  This is why worship was so critical to
David.  Even in the midst of pain, he
knew his relationship to the Lord was paramount to surviving the ordeal.  Pain, unfortunately, will find us but are we
spending the time with the Lord now
that prepares us for those times when we face the shadows?

Take the time to praise Him
in the times of respite.  Be ready to
praise Him in the storm.   Your greatest
blessing may come from feeling His heart and His love even when the pathway is
rough and steep.

Verse 1

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace comfort for family

Protection while we sleep

We pray for healing for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand

To ease our suffering

And all the while You hear each spoken need

Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

Chorus 1

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

And what if trials of this life

Are Your mercies in disguise

Verse 2

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt Your goodness

We doubt Your love

As if ev’ry promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desp’rate plea

And long that we’d have faith to believe

Bridge

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win

We know that pain reminds this heart

That this is not this is not our home

It’s not our home

Chorus 2

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is a revealing of a greater thirst

This world can’t satisfy

And what if trials of this life

The rain the storms the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise

“Blessings”

Laura Story

© 2011 New Spring (Admin.
by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)

Laura Stories (Admin. by
Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)

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

CCLI License # 196315