Psalm 30:6,7 “When I felt secure, I said, ‘I will never be shaken.’ O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm;”
[When we are in a positive situation, when we are safe and see your blessings, it is easy to feel firm and stable. Such times are important for solidification and building up in truth–if we take advantage of them, diving into your Word, exalting in personal worship and basking in your love. But here is little opportunity in this secure situation to go by faith, to trust you as we can when all sense of security is gone, when all is in tumult and uncertainty.]
“but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.”
[When my feelings turn negative, when my situation goes downhill, when I am attacked, my health fails, my friends desert me, my financial situation goes bad, or my work does not prosper–then it is easy to be dismayed, to be discouraged, to flag in my strength.
But this is also the time to flee to you, Lord, to affirm my trust in you, to find shelter in your Word and in your presence. “In times of trouble you will keep me safe in your dwelling, you will hide me in the shelter of your tabernacle and set me high on a rock” (Psalm 27:5).]
Psalm 30:8 “To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:”
[This is the proper response, to seek you and your mercy, to recognize my weakness and your strength, to trust you, not myself. I praise you, Lord God, for your goodness and graciousness and for how you answer us in such situations, first delivering us from all our fears, then strengthening us with strength in our souls, then saving us out of all our troubles, whether through deliverance or through giving endurance, or through death (Ps. 34:4-7).
You are the God who is there, you are the God who hears, you are the God who answers. “…the angel of the Lord encamps round about those who fear him and delivers them” (Ps. 34:8).]
Help me to utilize the times of security to deepen my walk with you, Lord Jesus; help me then to rejoice in the times of difficulty, offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving, finding my rest and hope in you, exalting you by living in Truth. And I thank you now for how you will answer this prayer.