Yet You are Holy

Read: Psalm 22

"Yet You are holy..." Psalm 22:3

Examine:

I am unsure of what was going on in David's life at the time this Psalm was penned, but it is abundantly clear it was not good. There is never a sin or rebellion mentioned so it is fairly safe to assume David was being unjustly persecuted as a righteous man. He opens this Psalm by speaking to the fact that he felt abandoned and left alone. He felt like he was forsaken by God. He felt like God was silent. He felt like the enemies and circumstances he faced were very real and tangible while God was distant and silent.

As I read through this Psalm I am taken aback by the raw honesty of the Psalmist. He did not put on a false front. He did not pretend like it did not hurt. He spoke honestly about his pain and feelings, but he never allowed his circumstances to dethrone God as Lord of his life.

Apply:

During difficult seasons of life it is important to monitor the emotions that I feel. Anger is rarely healthy when it is used as defense mechanism during a trial. Anger can be healthy in protecting God's mission, defending my family, or taking up for the defenseless, but anger used in self defense often only leads to trouble. Steering clear of this form of anger is critical.

If a trial is intense enough or lasts long enough my flesh also often struggles with panic. There are no good uses of panic. Panic is defined as a sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior. Losing control of my senses during a difficult season can only lead to horrible decisions.

The challenging application of this passage for my life today is that though I may feel abandoned and left alone, though I may feel like my enemies triumph over me and though I may feel like my life has fallen apart; I must choose to say, "Yet You are holy." In the midst of great a great struggle those four words communicate an amazing level of faith and submission.

Pray:

Father,

Responding to trials and tribulations with anger or panic has cost me a lot in my life. In trying to defend myself or protect my image, property, relationships, or position I have made a many choices that I have lived to regret. There is so much in my life that would have turned out differently if I had only better responded to situations with holy anguish instead of unrighteous anger or panic.

Yet You are holy. Those four words just keep reverberating in my spirit. Nothing will ever change Your holiness. Nothing will ever overtake it. Nothing can ever surpass it. I ask that You teach me to own my feelings and emotions but to maintain a proper perspective of You during the times of my life when all of hell seems to stand against me. I pray that "Yet You are holy" would be a declaration that would rally my spirit and strengthen my resolve to stay in the fight another day.