Praise to God
Is His praise on our lips each day ?
Author: Woodrow Kroll
Source: Early in the Morning
Scripture Reference: Psalm 57:1-11
Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
The Psalms are the poetry of Palestine. They record the pains and pleasures, the distresses and delights of David and others. Over many psalms is a superscription, that is, an inscription which names the author of the psalm or gives the occasion for its writing or the instrument upon which the tune is to be played. Although these superscriptions are not inspired of God, as the individual psalms are, nonetheless they appear to be highly accurate and provide a good source of information for us regarding the psalms. The superscription for Psalm 57 says, "To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave."
King Saul had been openly seeking to take the life of David. Where could David turn for help? There was no question in his mind that the only place to turn for help was God. Thus he begins his psalm with the prayer, "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusteth in Thee. Yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpassed." The psalmist knew that God would not permit the king to seek his life forever and that one day these calamities would be over. Although he would roam the hills of southern Palestine, nonetheless he would make his refuge the shadow of God's wings.
The first half of this psalm records David's cry to God for deliverance and salvation. He notes that there is someone "that would swallow me up" (Psalm 57:3) and that he lives "among lions. . . whose teeth are spears and arrows" (verse 4). David is fully aware that Saul has prepared a net for his steps and will relentlessly pursue him until the end.
Perhaps you too are being relentlessly pursued, not by the king but by financial distress or physical infirmities. What should your reaction be to these things? David's reaction, in the midst of his distress and cry for help, was the positive statement of verse 5, "Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Thy glory be above all the earth." How could he say such a thing, given his circumstances? How could he remain calm in the midst of his storm? David provides the answer in verse 7, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
To sing praises unto God while we are being relentlessly pursued by sickness, disease and distress requires a heart that is fixed on God and a tongue prepared to praise Him in the midst of that pursuit. Thus the psalmist issues a threefold call to awake himself to the praise of God. He says, "Awake up, my glory." This is a call for his greatest intellect to give praise to the Lord. The tongue can never express our praise to God until our minds form that praise. Before we can praise God in the midst of our troubles, we must have the mind to do so. David calls for his glory, his intellect, to stir itself in praise of God.
Next he cries, "Awake, psaltery and harp." His fingers will fly in joy over the strings of the psaltery and harp because his mind has become fixed on God. He is determined to praise God regardless of how his enemies pursue him. Let all the music with which we are familiar be attuned to the praise of our God.
Finally he enjoins, "I myself will awake early" (Psalm 57:8). No sleepy verses or weary notes will be heard from us early in the morning. We will rouse ourselves to the highest calling of man, to praise the Lord God among the people. We will faithfully, daily, arouse our intellect and will to the praise of God. We will also employ our fingers and our tongues in praising Him for His great deliverance. We will awake early to set ourselves to that task, the noble task of praising God.
MORNING HYMN
'Tis the grandest theme thro' the ages rung;
'Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue
'Tis the grandest theme that the world e'er sung
"Our God is able to deliver thee."
