Praising God From Down In The Pit
“Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all of my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits –
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Psalm 103:1-5
There was a guy in my college choir who exemplified this passage. He had an amazing gift of music and charisma that you just couldn’t miss. Shoot, you couldn’t help but join in! While he was with us, his father became very ill but each time you asked him about it his answer was the same. “He’s doing well and I’m praisin’ God.” Even after his father passed on he would say, “I’m just praisin’ God.” I could see the pain in his face but that was far overshadowed by the praise he was determined to give his Creator.
The Psalms are full of passages that begin with the agony that the author is feeling and end with the resolve to praise God through it all! Psalm 13 is one of my favorite examples of this. David feels like God has forgotten him but at the end he says that he will trust God and sing to him because he’s been so good to David.
I think I’ve read Psalm 103 a thousand times and I don’t know if I ever actually “read” it until today. Praising God comes easily for me, being somewhat of an easy-going optimist, so I never really thought about why I should praise him.
Then it came up in my study time today and it was put to the test. I don’t know if it was all in my head (probably, being 6 months pregnant) but I know that God wanted me to see it and “feel” it today. He wanted me to praise him for all the wonderful “benefits” he has given me, even in the face of suffering.
I was sitting there trying to read and study when my eyes started to itch beyond control. Then my skin kicked in, hives all over. And finally, my nose started running. Gotta love allergies but I hadn’t experienced this intensity for a long while and in the one area I needed to use to study… my face! I couldn’t see to read!!
I was embarrassed to ask for healing (not like this was anything life-threatening) but forced myself to pray for it once again, even if it was only for these few moments I had to study in quiet. And praising God didn’t even come to mind! I had to stop and dose up on allergy stuff.
When I returned, the author of my study was talking about healing. How many times I’ve prayed for healing I’ll never know… I think if I ever found out I’d have to apologize to God for whining so much. James 5:15 came up. “The prayer of faith will save the sick.” I was directed to a definition for the word save… “to save a suffering one from perishing.” Okay, so God may not heal me. He may not even save me from the suffering but he will save me from dying of it. In other words, “Buck it up, you Whiner!” I may be miserable but I am blessed and I WILL praise him through my pain. He gives me so many reasons to praise him that it seems like silly drivel not to continue praising him when one little negative thing comes my way.
Think about it… according to Psalm 103, he gives us forgiveness, healing, redemption (I love that one… “he redeems your life from the pit.” I can just see the albino in Princess Bride saying, “You’re in the Pit of Despair. Don’t even think… about trying to escape.”), love, compassion, satisfaction, and renewal. Why should my whining take center stage in the face of these.
Thanks to my college friend for the life lesson and to the Lord for the reminding me that I always have greater things to praise him for than even the darkest pain or the deepest pit. Praise GOD!
all of my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits –
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Psalm 103:1-5
There was a guy in my college choir who exemplified this passage. He had an amazing gift of music and charisma that you just couldn’t miss. Shoot, you couldn’t help but join in! While he was with us, his father became very ill but each time you asked him about it his answer was the same. “He’s doing well and I’m praisin’ God.” Even after his father passed on he would say, “I’m just praisin’ God.” I could see the pain in his face but that was far overshadowed by the praise he was determined to give his Creator.
The Psalms are full of passages that begin with the agony that the author is feeling and end with the resolve to praise God through it all! Psalm 13 is one of my favorite examples of this. David feels like God has forgotten him but at the end he says that he will trust God and sing to him because he’s been so good to David.
I think I’ve read Psalm 103 a thousand times and I don’t know if I ever actually “read” it until today. Praising God comes easily for me, being somewhat of an easy-going optimist, so I never really thought about why I should praise him.
Then it came up in my study time today and it was put to the test. I don’t know if it was all in my head (probably, being 6 months pregnant) but I know that God wanted me to see it and “feel” it today. He wanted me to praise him for all the wonderful “benefits” he has given me, even in the face of suffering.
I was sitting there trying to read and study when my eyes started to itch beyond control. Then my skin kicked in, hives all over. And finally, my nose started running. Gotta love allergies but I hadn’t experienced this intensity for a long while and in the one area I needed to use to study… my face! I couldn’t see to read!!
I was embarrassed to ask for healing (not like this was anything life-threatening) but forced myself to pray for it once again, even if it was only for these few moments I had to study in quiet. And praising God didn’t even come to mind! I had to stop and dose up on allergy stuff.
When I returned, the author of my study was talking about healing. How many times I’ve prayed for healing I’ll never know… I think if I ever found out I’d have to apologize to God for whining so much. James 5:15 came up. “The prayer of faith will save the sick.” I was directed to a definition for the word save… “to save a suffering one from perishing.” Okay, so God may not heal me. He may not even save me from the suffering but he will save me from dying of it. In other words, “Buck it up, you Whiner!” I may be miserable but I am blessed and I WILL praise him through my pain. He gives me so many reasons to praise him that it seems like silly drivel not to continue praising him when one little negative thing comes my way.
Think about it… according to Psalm 103, he gives us forgiveness, healing, redemption (I love that one… “he redeems your life from the pit.” I can just see the albino in Princess Bride saying, “You’re in the Pit of Despair. Don’t even think… about trying to escape.”), love, compassion, satisfaction, and renewal. Why should my whining take center stage in the face of these.
Thanks to my college friend for the life lesson and to the Lord for the reminding me that I always have greater things to praise him for than even the darkest pain or the deepest pit. Praise GOD!
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