Let Us Sing of the Lord’s Strength
[Psalm 59]
Today, I spent some time meditating on the story of Job. As I reflected again on the familiar account of Job, I began to wonder what Job’s feelings were when Satan and his forces attacked him under God’s sovereignty. Job lost all his possessions, his children died, and although Satan had no power over Job’s life, Job endured extreme physical pain. While I cannot fully imagine what Job went through, I could somehow relate to the situation when I thought about Job's friends. Though they tried to comfort him, they ended up being, as Job described them, "sorry comforters" (Job 16:2). Looking at this from my own perspective, I realize that, though I may try to comfort those suffering around me with good intentions, how many times have I perhaps been a "comforter who causes more distress"?
I also reflected on what Job himself must have been feeling. His friends, who had no understanding of what he was going through, not only failed to comfort him but made his suffering worse. In the midst of such torment, Job could not fully comprehend everything that was happening under God’s sovereignty. He was suffering greatly and was also in a state of ignorance about the situation. I wondered, if I had been one of Job’s friends, what could I have done for him? What could I do for a brother or sister who is suffering, feeling as if they are in mortal danger due to the dark forces of Satan? In those moments, the only thing I can do is look to God, seek His mercy, and ask Him to save and deliver. Especially when human weakness is exposed so completely in the face of such suffering, I confess that I must depend on the power (might) of God.
In this context, I remembered that earlier this year, our church encouraged us to pray for four areas of power based on the book of Acts: the power of prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Word, and the power of love. As I prayed for these four powers, I thought of them as one unified concept: "The Power of the Holy Spirit." So, what is the power of the Holy Spirit? We can think of it in three ways:
First, the principle of the power of the Holy Spirit is the power of the Word of God.
Second, the pattern of the power of the Holy Spirit is the power of the love of Jesus.
Finally, the power of the Holy Spirit is the power of prayer.
In Psalm 59:16-17, the psalmist David declares, "But I will sing of Your power… O my Strength, I will sing praises to You." David resolves to sing of the Lord’s power. Why did David make this resolution to sing of the Lord's strength? Today, under the title "Let Us Sing of the Lord's Strength," I want to reflect on four aspects of this. Therefore, as we experience the Lord’s power in our lives, I hope that, like David, no matter how difficult and painful our circumstances may be, we will sing (praise) the Lord's power.
First, the Lord's power is a protecting power.
Please look at Psalm 59:9, the second half of verse 16, and verse 17:
"God is my fortress; I will wait for Him because of His power" (v. 9),
"... the Lord is my fortress and my refuge in the day of my distress" (v. 16b),
"O my Strength, I will sing praises to You; for God is my fortress, the God of my mercy" (v. 17).
Lately, I've been increasingly feeling, even just a little, the truth that we humans are very weak beings. Without God’s grace, we cannot live even one day or one moment—truly fragile vessels. In particular, without God's protection, we are easily corrupted, fall quickly, stumble, become discouraged, and inevitably, we would depart from God (His Word) and betray Him. For instance, if God doesn’t guard our hearts, we would easily be defeated by the forces of Satan in spiritual battles, and due to disbelief in our hearts, it would be far too easy to sin by disobedience.
Especially when we are in difficult or fearful situations, if God does not guard our thoughts, emotions, and will, we are bound to be overwhelmed by those circumstances, and we will struggle in fear, for we are truly weak and fragile vessels.
What was the situation that David faced in Psalm 59? He was being pursued by King Saul’s men. Saul’s men were David’s enemies, evil-doers, and bloodthirsty people (vv. 1-2). They came after David (v. 4) and wandered around the city like dogs, howling (vv. 6, 14). David described his enemies twice as dogs howling and wandering around the city. Imagine this: hungry, bloodthirsty dogs howling as they run around us, and eventually they find and pursue us. What would we do? Would we not flee? Would we not run to preserve our lives and avoid those hungry dogs? David, just like us, ran and sought refuge in God, his fortress.
Dr. Park Yun-Seon said: "Looking to the Lord is the only way to life. If we look around us, we will be dragged away by the temptations and threats of this world, and our minds will be confused. If we look inside ourselves, we will only be discouraged. But when we look to the Lord, we are joyful and happy. The reason is that He is like a 'fortress,' our refuge, and He gives salvation to those who look to Him." I truly believe this is a very valid view. If we look around us, our minds can become confused. And if we look at ourselves, we may experience discouragement and even spiritual stagnation. However, those who pray with the assurance of salvation and seek the saving God will long for the protection of the Lord, who is their fortress, and will flee to Him. Therefore, we will experience the power of God’s protection. At that time, we will be able to praise God with hymn 432: "When you're discouraged and in distress, the Lord will keep you; when you face danger, the Lord will keep you" (verse 2); "The Lord will keep you, anytime, anywhere, the Lord will keep you, He will always protect you" (chorus).
Second, the strength of the Lord is the strength of love.
Look at Psalm 59:10 of the Bible:
“My God will go before me with His mercy, and I will see the punishment of my enemies.” (v. 10)
We live by the power of God’s love. Especially when we are in difficult and challenging situations, we are those who endure, persevere, and ultimately overcome through God’s mercy (love). When I meditate on God’s love, I think of the prophet Jonah. Because of his disobedience to God’s command, he ended up inside a fish, sinking deep into the sea. Yet, even in the depths of the sea, he looked again toward the temple of God. Similarly, I believe that we, as believers, experience the love (mercy) of God deeply in the midst of our own profound pain and suffering.
A believer who can feel God’s great love even in deep suffering… There is a song I occasionally sang, a Gospel hymn from the U.S. called "I Will Go to the Lord" (Power of Love). The first verse of this song says:
"I will go to the Lord, and He will make me new,
pour out Your grace upon me.
All the weakness I found within,
will be cast away by Your love."
When reflecting on the lyrics of this hymn, I realized that it is when we are aware of our weakness that we experience the greatness of God’s love. I confess that when I am weak, I am strong.
In today’s passage, Psalm 59:10, David was confident that God would receive him with His mercy. The word “receive” here means “to come at the appointed time” (as explained by Dr. Park Yun-Seon). In other words, David, as he sought refuge in God, his fortress and protector, was certain that, in God’s timing, the Lord would come to him and help him.
With this confidence, David endured through all adversities and hardships, as if he were walking through the valley of the shadow of death. I believe this is what we call the perseverance of the saints. However, even the perseverance of the saints is made possible by God’s mercy. The reason for this is that, instead of us enduring all the trials and hardships, it is God who patiently comes to us, and His pain in waiting for us is far greater and more desperate than ours in enduring.
The one who knows God’s love, with that strength of love, perseveres and waits for the Lord’s help amidst pain and adversity.
An interesting point is the contrast between verses 15 and 16 of today’s passage. In these two verses, we see that David’s enemies wander in search of food, and if they are not satisfied, they stay awake all night (v. 15). In contrast, David decides to sing of the Lord’s strength and to praise His mercy in the morning (v. 16).
From this, I believe we can learn two lessons:
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The first lesson is that the wicked wander in search of earthly food, but in the end, they are not satisfied. However, the righteous are content with the strength of the Lord.
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The second lesson is that the wicked, unable to find satisfaction, stay awake all night, but the righteous, even in the midst of persecution and the fear of death, sleep peacefully and, in the morning, praise the Lord’s mercy.
Why is this? Because, thanks to the Lord’s mercy, they can sleep and greet a new day with Him.
When we experience the power of God's love, we will be able to sing the remaining two verses and the chorus of the American gospel hymn "I Will Go to the Lord":
"Open my eyes, that I may see You,
and come to know Your love.
Renew me so that Your will is done in my life each day,
I will be renewed by Your love." (Verse 2)
"Hold me with Your love,
guide me close to You.
Like an eagle soaring high,
I will rise and walk with You,
in Your love." (Chorus)
Thirdly, the power of the Lord is the power of justice.
Let’s look at Psalm 59:11 in the Bible: “Do not kill them, lest my people forget; scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.”
David asked God not to kill his enemies quickly, but to let them suffer for their sins, so that people would remember that sinners will inevitably be punished by divine justice (as explained by Park Yun-Seon). However, it seems that the wicked have forgotten that they will receive divine punishment. Why is this? I found the answer in Psalm 50:21: “You did these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was one like you…”
The wicked, after committing their sins, see that God is silent, and since nothing happens to them, they continue to sin without fear. In other words, the wicked do not understand that God is a righteous God. They mistakenly think that God acts unjustly like they do. But God is a righteous God. He has the power to scatter and humble our enemies. David prayed to this righteous God, saying, “Arise, O God, judge the earth; let not the wicked escape” (v. 5).
Indeed, our righteous God made David witness the “punishment of his enemies” (v. 10). And David prayed, “Consume them in Your wrath, consume them till they are no more, that men may know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth” (v. 13).
Finally, fourthly, the power of the Lord is the power of salvation.
Let’s look at Psalm 59:1-2: “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God… deliver me from those who work iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men.”
When meditating on the Psalms, I sense that the psalmist, David, prayed with a deep assurance of God’s salvation. In other words, although David had not yet experienced God’s salvation, in the face of life-threatening situations, whether from Saul, Absalom, or anyone else, he trusted that God would deliver him from his enemies and prayed for God’s saving grace.
Therefore, as we see in the passage today, David resolved to sing of the Lord’s (salvific) power. How is it possible to resolve to sing to the Lord in such a crisis? How could Paul and Silas also praise God in prison, knowing that they would be executed the next day? (Acts 16).
This is different from the argument of Pastor Hong Seong-Geon from the Jesus Evangelistic Team, who said that praise is to glorify God for what He has done for us. However, looking at Paul, Silas, and David in this passage, even though they had not yet experienced God’s salvation, they still praised God and resolved to continue praising Him. How can we explain this? We can try to explain it in two ways:
(1) First, Paul, Silas, and David, in their prayers, experienced by faith that the work of God’s salvation had already begun, so they praised God.
(2) Or, as worshipers, they knew and believed in God’s sovereignty (for example, the God of salvation), which allowed them to praise God even though they had not yet been saved. I believe that the second explanation is more appropriate in the context of today’s passage.
If David had focused on his own injustice, he would not have praised God for the power of His salvation with faith. David saw that his enemies had gathered to take his life, lying in wait to strike, but this was not due to his own transgressions or sins (verse 3). In fact, David was without fault, yet his enemies came rushing toward him, ready to attack (verse 4). Even in such an unjust situation, David longed for and prayed for God’s grace of salvation. He sought God’s help, asking Him to watch over him and give him His discernment. Therefore, instead of focusing on our (unjust) situation, we must focus on God. And we must believe that our God is the God who saves us from that (unjust) situation. We must ask with confidence in the salvation of our God. When we do this, we will be able to praise with the hymn 474 chorus, by the power of the Lord’s salvation:
"It is by the grace of Jesus’ salvation,
how joyful and glad I am,
I will enjoy that grace forever,
and rest in peace."
As I go on living in this world, I increasingly feel that this world is truly a place full of concerns, hardships, sins, and the burden of death. That is why I often sing hymn 474. As I praise, I meditate on the grace of the Lord's salvation. And I also pray in my heart for His protection. How could we live with peace in this world without the protection of the Lord? Even in deep despair and pain, we should enjoy the blessing of experiencing God's deep love. We must endure in this sinful world while believing in the power of God’s justice. In the midst of that, we should thank Him and praise the Lord’s grace of salvation. With God’s protection, love, justice, and salvation, we should praise Him until our final breath.
With the desire to be set before God as a worshiper by the strength He gives, to glorify God with praise,
Pastor James
(While listening to the hymn "The Lord's Forest" on Thursday morning)