"I will sing the LORD's praise, for he has been good to me."
Psalm 13:6 (NIV)
Praise feels dishonest when the heart is heavy. Singing feels like lying. So we hold back until the pain lifts and the words come easily. Psalm 13 ends differently. The psalmist praises before any change is recorded.
"I will sing" is a decision, not a mood. In verse 5 he says, "I trust." In verse 6 he says, "I will sing." Both are choices of the will. He does not wait for a feeling to carry him.
He sings because of what the LORD has already done. The reason is in the verse: the LORD has been good to him. His praise rests on that goodness, not on a new answer. He does not wait for his situation to change before he sings.
Remembering is how praise begins when feeling has run out. Charles Spurgeon, a well-known pastor in London in the 1800s, pictured David as a shipwrecked sailor clinging to a mast. The sailor is not calm. He is holding on to the one thing that has not moved. For you, what has not moved may be a prayer answered years ago. It may be a person who showed up. It may be a day you got through when you did not think you would.
One honest line is enough. It does not have to be a song. "The LORD has been good to me" is a line. Say it while the pain is still here. You are not pretending the hurt is gone. The psalm that asks "How long?" four times is the same psalm that ends in praise. Lament and praise were never meant to cancel each other.
Godseekers, you can praise the God who has been good to you while it still hurts. You are not making praise out of nothing. You are answering Him for what He has already shown you. The One you sing to has a record, and it did not begin today. Offer Him one honest line and let Him be who He has already been.
Prayer
Almighty God, the pain is still here. I confess that I thought praise had to wait until I felt better. Thank You for the ways You have already been good to me. Give me one honest line to offer You today. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Personal Reflection
- What do you fear praise would say about your pain if you offered it before the pain lifted?
- Where have you decided that God's goodness has to look like a changed situation before it counts?
Step of Faith
Write down one specific way God has been good to you. Then thank Him for it out loud, even if the pain has not changed.
