Psalm 56.12-13 12 I must perform my vows to you, O God; I
will render thank offerings to you. 13 For you have delivered my soul from
death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of
life. (ESV)
A complete reading of Psalm 56 is in order here, so if
you haven’t, you should. David, as he is wont to do, pours out his feelings
toward God. It’s okay to tell God what’s on our heart: He already knows and if
there is Anyone who cares, it is Him. And so David tells the Lord of his
troubles and reaffirms his trust in the Lord: in all of this trouble, what can man do to me since I trust in the Lord.
With God, all-knowing and ever-present, honesty is always
the best policy – He knows it all anyway. The question is do we trust Him in
the midst of our troubles? Some want to work it out on their own. Some want
someone else to take up their cause and work it out for them. But the honorable
thing for everyone is to honestly give our complaints to the Lord and allow Him
to work them out. It honors God and it relieves us of distraction of doubt and
the feelings of being alone.
The psalm speaks of David’s troubles and ends on this
note: I must perform my vows to you, O
God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from
death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of
life. In the midst of it all, David knew he had things he had to do: complete his end of the bargain, and offer
thank offerings to the Lord because of the Lord’s presence in the midst of his
trial. David wasn’t going to whine about his plight and disobey the Lord’s
commands to offer thank offerings for the His help.
I think David offered the thank offerings in confidence
of what the Lord would do by looking back at what the Lord had already done.
There’s a lesson here for us: remember
and thank God for what He’s already done in anticipation of what He’s going to
do; what we need Him to do. It’s all about perspective: if we can thank God
for the tangible things He’s already done, we can thank Him in advance of the
intangible things we’ve not yet received. That’s faith.
What is expected of us in faith, is not to fear, fear,
but also to remember God. Verse 3 of this psalm says: When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. There is an admission of
fear but there is an accompanying affirmation of where to go and what to do
when times are fearsome: place my trust in God. Fear cannot stand against
faith. David performed his vows and offered his thanks because he confidently
knew where to turn in difficulty.
Father, You know full well what went through my head all last
weekend and You know my heart was quieted when I finally cast my cares upon You
knowing confidently knowing You care about me. Help me to not get caught up in distractions
but to confidently fulfill my vows to You; to offer my thanks to You for Who
You are, Where You are, and How You are: my God and Savior forever. Faith in
You builds my confidence and my confidence allows me to avoid the deadly distraction
of trying to solve it on my own. Thank You Lord, for Your presence and power –
amen.
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