“You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their
grain and wine increased.”
While we are not given the specific circumstances under
which David penned this Psalm, we know that it was a time of distress. It was a time when those around him were
opposed to God and opposed to David’s government (and therefore God’s
government). They loved worthlessness
and sought falsehood over truth. Basically,
it is a state of civilization which we can relate to today. We are living in times which we can cry out
to God and ask Him, as David did, to “have
mercy on me, and hear my prayer.” (Psalm 4:1) “All the notice God is pleased to take of our
prayers, and all the returns he is pleased to make to them, must be ascribed,
not to our merit, but purely to his mercy.
“Hear me for thy mercy-sake’’ is our best plea.” (Matthew Henry)
At the beginning of David’s prayer, he recalls that God has
relieved him in his distress before. It
is a good habit to recall how God has comforted us in the past. It reminds us of how He will comfort us in
our current situation. Throughout the
Psalms, we see King David cry out to God in his distress, remind himself and
God of His former mercies, provision and protection, and rest in the peace of
knowing he is set apart for God. The apostle
Paul is consistent with King David’s methods when he instructs us to bring
everything to God. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of
God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians
4:6-7)
Both King David and the apostle Paul describe one of the mysterious
gifts from God to His children. It is
the mystery of the joy and gladness in the heart of a person at peace with God that
can exist regardless of circumstances. The
gladness we can have in our heart is so powerful and so complete, that even in
a time of distress, it is more fulfilling than the all the happiness that a
bountiful harvest can provide to an enemy of God. In others words, the gladness in our heart on
our worst day is more than the gladness in the heart of an unsaved person on
their best day. I often thought this
concept is something only a child of God who has traversed difficult times is
able to comprehend. Yet, if we consider
the rate of drug use and self-medication among those who appear to “have it
all,” the facts prove out this scriptural truth.
But it is on us,
the children of God, that this mysterious joy rests. “Thou hast hereby often put
gladness into my heart; not only supported and refreshed me, but filled me
with joy unspeakable; and therefore this is what I will still pursue, what I
will seek after all the days of my life. When God puts grace in the heart he puts
gladness in the heart; nor is any joy comparable to that which gracious
souls have in the communications of the divine favour, no, not the joy of
harvest, of a plentiful harvest, when the corn and wine increase. This is
gladness in the heart, inward, solid, substantial joy. The saints have no reason to
envy carnal worldlings their mirth and joy, but should pity them rather, for
they may know better and will not. The
mirth of worldly people is but a flash, a shadow.” (Matthew Henry) “There
is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, and
the end of mirth may be grief.”
(Proverbs 14:12-13)
True peace, true joy, is a gift from God to His
children. Do you long for this joy the
world cannot give? Surrender to Jesus
and trust Him for eternal life and peace in your life on this earth. Jesus said “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives
do I give to you. Let not your heart be
troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
(John 14:27)
May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, and may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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