Psalm 31:21-22 "Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. (22) For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee."
"Blessed be the LORD." Though this is only part of the verse, the
truth contained in these words can stand alone. The Lord is blessed no
matter what is happening in my life at any given moment. God changes not. We
are told that great truth in Malachi chapter 3 of the Old Testament and also in
Hebrews chapter 13 of the New Testament where we read, "Jesus Christ: the
same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." The Unchanging God
remains blessed and is worthy of our praise.
It is true that we seem to be more aware of His goodness when we are seeking
His blessings upon us; yet, the truth remains that our God IS blessed.
David acknowledged the manifestation of God's goodness upon us in verse 19 of
this Psalm. "Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up
for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee
before the sons of men!" (Psalm 31:19) When we humble ourselves to
give honor and glory unto the Lord, we are more aware of His goodness. When we are
exhibiting trust in Him, we are more aware of His goodness. When we testify of
His Presence in our lives to others, we are more aware of His goodness. But no
matter the height of our awareness, the fact remains, "Blessed be the
LORD."
In our text verses, David explains why he gave the testimony of God's
blessedness. There was a time when David was surrounded by an enemy. Some think
it may have been when King Saul was pursuing David to try to kill him.
Whatever was happening, David felt himself to be surrounded and began to
question within himself if God could see what was going on in his life. Have
you ever been there? The situation seemed to be so dire that you weren't even
certain if the Lord was aware of what was happening. David felt that way, but He
realized, "I said this in my haste." He was made to realize
the Lord did indeed see, know, and hear him when he cried out to him.
You see when we are in any given situation where we feel severely threatened,
the mind begins to work overtime. It is at those times, we must come back to
the glorious truth: "Blessed be the LORD." Yes, we must make that
conscious determination to declare the Lord's goodness even in our most dire
situations, for He has not changed. As we begin to praise Him in
difficult times, His goodness shines through the clouds of doubt and fear that
have covered over us.
I'm thinking of the little song that we sing sometimes:
God is so good.
God is so good.
God is so good.
He's so good to me.