BUT AS FOR ME AFFLICTED AND IN PAIN I WILL PRAISE GOD

Proclamation:

“But as for me, afflicted and in pain, may Your salvation, God, protect me.  I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving.”  Psalm 69:29-30 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  David begins this psalm by comparing his situation to a drowning man, up to his neck in water. (Psalm 69:1-2)  He prays to The Lord God to rescue him, to not let him drown or be swallowed up by a pit. (Psalm 69:13-18)  Many Bible scholars believe that this psalm referred to Christ and predicted events documented in The New Testament.  (Psalm 64:4 people hating Him without cause in John 15:25; Psalm 69:9 the zeal for God’s house consuming Him in John 2:17; Psalm 69:21 being given vinegar and gall to drink in Matthew 27:34; Psalm 69:22 let their table be made a snare in Romans 11:9; and Psalm 69:25 about Judas’ house being deserted in Acts 1:16-20)  But even while suffering the psalmist prays and says that he will praise God and give Him thanks.

Application:

Even in the midst of His pain and suffering while He was on the cross, Jesus prayed for us saying, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)  Nothing that we go through is as bad as what He went through and He was still able to pray, and to pray for others.  Nor have we gone through things as bad as King David went through, and even with all of his sins David prayed and praised God and he was a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22)  We need to keep our focus on The Lord God and not on our problems.  Prayer, praise, and thanksgiving are always appropriate, even in the midst of our storms.