Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.

Episode 92. Give God Your Problem Through Praise (a DIY Psalm for bringing your humility to His solution)

Hello human.

What % of your time would you say you hold on to your problems, every day? When you try to problem solve through anxiety, worry, overthinking. Or perhaps a more rigorous approach by strategizing how you can accomplish, defeat, claim victory over something in your life?

What % of your time? 10% or 75%, 30% or double that, at 60%?

What do you hold on to based on your own understanding of it. And maybe that you claim a deep understanding and so you already know what to do.

This scenario is something God frees us from. Seems appropriate to think about during freedom week of 2024. Independence Day in our country. I hadn’t thought about freedom in the context of praise until this BUOY. That the fixation we have on problems is a self-made prison built on a short-sighted spiritual perspective.

When I think of praise I think of David. How did the little shepherd boy turned King turn a problem into praise?

How Does David Turn a Problem into Praise?

Is David our guy or what? He is so honest with God. Open-hearted, and as God said, “a man after His own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14) David is barraged with ongoing physical, emotional and spiritual challenges. Battles, swords, killing, sexual temptations, God-missions. By all standards, he is a paradox. A small man in physical stature living a very big spiritual life.

And David knows that he will never have an earthly grasp on his almighty God. But He always knows where to start. With praise. Psalm 145 gives us a DIY approach to bringing our humility to God’s solution.

In Psalm 145, David claims who our Lord is and what He does in 7 statements.

In Psalm 145, David uses 15 verbs to praise the nature of our Lord.

In Psalm 145, David claims what God does when we bring our problems to Him.

Let’s just “praise along” with David, shall we?

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

 

1 I will exalt you, my God the King;

    I will praise your name for ever and ever.

2 Every day I will praise you

    and extol your name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

    his greatness no one can fathom.

4 One generation commends your works to another;

    they tell of your mighty acts.

5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—

    and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—

    and I will proclaim your great deeds.

7 They celebrate your abundant goodness

    and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,

    slow to anger and rich in love.

9 The Lord is good to all;

    he has compassion on all he has made.

10 All your works praise you, Lord;

    your faithful people extol you.

11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom

    and speak of your might,

12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts

    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

    and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises

    and faithful in all he does.

14 The Lord upholds all who fall

    and lifts up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to you,

    and you give them their food at the proper time.

16 You open your hand

    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways

    and faithful in all he does.

18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,

    to all who call on him in truth.

19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;

    he hears their cry and saves them.

20 The Lord watches over all who love him,

    but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.

    Let every creature praise his holy name

    for ever and ever.

Talk about how to praise. David gives us this gift of who God is, and how we praise him in a beautiful song. A psalm that prepares our hearts for reverence of His glory and humility in how we approach Him.

What David Says About Who God Is

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

    his greatness no one can fathom.

The Lord is good to all;

    he has compassion on all he has made.

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises

    and faithful in all he does.

The Lord is righteous in all his ways

    and faithful in all he does.

He is compassionate, trustworthy, faithful and righteous.

What David Says About How to Approach God in Humility

David gives us the way to approach Him in humility. Here’s the DIY part of this BUOY. Fifteen tools in the form of verbs.

Exalt, praise, extol, commends, tell, speak, meditate, proclaim, celebrate, sing, know, look, fear, cry, call. (let me know what I missed…)

What God Will Do With Our Problems

And David gives us what God will do with our problems when we bring them through our praise.

The Lord upholds all who fall

    and lifts up all who are bowed down.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,

    to all who call on him in truth.  (that takes humility, human)

20 The Lord watches over all who love him,

    but all the wicked he will destroy.

He upholds us when we fall.

He is near when we call.

He watches over when we love.

This is a pretty amazing definition of His presence in my life.

My Mouth Will Speak In Praise

When we worship God, we grow in our ability to worship His ways, His nature. And inevitably, this becomes an ongoing praise song for how He moves in my life. How He moves in your life, human.

Our lives become God’s way. And what is the scope and depth of His way?

Ephesians 3:20

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 

His way is above all when we praise His unchanging character.

What you know human, about Psalm 145 in your life (that we just shared together), take that and tell someone else of His amazing presence. And when you are focusing on the problems, not the praise, read Psalm 145.

David’s final verse is an affirmation that beckons God every time.

“My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.”