A Prayer Of Praise To God Particularly When We Feel Helpless

 Well, that little voice in my head yesterday was drawing my attention to Psalm 34 and when I came alongside this Psalm again this morning I decided I should pay attention and see what encouragement we can all find in some of these uplifting verses.

The Psalm begins, as many of them do, with a call to praise the Lord but what I find interesting and helpful for me today is that we are to do that when we feel helpless, and we are to do so together.  So here we are. 

I will praise the Lord at all times.    I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.  Psalm 34:1-3

We come to You, Loving God, because You are the one who has everything we need today.  We are to praise You at all times and that includes during the mundane and difficult days of this pandemic.  You created everything we see out of chaos and nothingness so I’m pretty sure You can also create some good things out of the challenges and turbulence of this pandemic.  We feel helpless but You are very much on the scene and in control and working on our behalf.  We praise You for that.  You truly are a powerful and great God who is worthy of our worship and praise.  We do want to take heart in who You are and not be put off and burdened down by our circumstances.  Lift us up beyond the challenges today, we pray.  Help us to see life as You see life.

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.  In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. Psalm 34:4-6

Well Lord, I think the key thing here for us is to actually pray to You in our times of fear and desperation.  We are promised here that when we look to You for help we will end up being radiant with joy because we will experience Your care and help.  You listen to us and You save us from all our troubles.  We’re not in charge of how You do that but we humbly admit that whatever way You choose for us is the best way because You are the God who sees all things – past, present, and future, and You know how to work the details of our present circumstance, our abilities and limitations, our joys and sorrows, into a beautiful plan that brings honour to Your name and enriches our lives.

For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him.  Psalm 34:7

Thank You Lord, for angels sent from You to surround and protect us.  We need all the help we can get.  While we may not totally understand all the work Your angels do on our behalf, we welcome their ministry among us because anything you send is good. 

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?  Hebrews 1:14

Taste and see that the Lord is good.   Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!  Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.  Psalm 34:8-10

We take comfort and strength from Your promises that we will find refuge and safety in You and that in all of that we will experience time with You as good.  Help us today to taste and to really experience Your goodness even during this season of challenge.  You also promise that we will have all we need and lack no good thing.  We submit to Your understanding of what that looks like in our lives.  We often think we need things that we either don’t need or worse yet, are not good for us in the long run.  Help us to trust You today, we pray.

Well, we’re only about half way through the Psalm so we’ll pick it up tomorrow and see what settledness of heart God wants to share with us from these wonderful verses.  Have a great day.