“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death” (Psalm 68:19-20 NIV).
I’ve been thinking about my tires lately. I’ve had my little grey Hyundai Tucson almost five years now, and it has over sixty thousand miles on it. Sometimes I’m amazed at how many miles I put on my car just driving around Prattville. It’s not like I have very far to go because I rarely go into Montgomery—I don’t like to cross the river unless I have a very good reason for the trip. But my tires have taken me a fair number of miles around Prattville and on occasional trips. The reason for concern over my tires is that I know replacing them is a big expense, and I routinely get ads in the mail suggesting that my tires need some love and attention. They need to be rotated, one tire company informs me; how long has it been since you got your tires aligned, nags another (Uh, never?). I belong to the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” car repair club. But I know that having traveled sixty thousand plus miles might have had some effect on my tires, so I guess I need to go somewhere and get those babies checked. Pretty soon. Maybe next week? Well, sometime. Allen Herrod (my friendly local mechanic), “Do you have a minute?”
What really brought these thoughts to my mind started with my listening to the song “That’s the Thing About Praise” on K-Love this afternoon. I know, it’s a crazy connection, but just stay with me here. What actually started this train of thought was several prayer requests for some dear people in difficult circumstances. My brother mourning the death of his wife of 50 years, my sister- in-law receiving a diagnosis of stage 3 cancer, a church friend spending weeks in the hospital battling cancer while recovering from surgery, several of my GriefShare participants struggling with grief, and many others. It’s easy to say, “I’ll pray for you,” but we cannot solve problems for those we know are in pain.
Then on Wednesday afternoon while reading some articles online about praise—why we should praise God and how it affects us—I found this comment on a website called BibleTalk.tv: “Praise has the power to re-align our spirit with God’s Spirit. (the bumps of life put our spirit out of alignment.” That’s what led me to think about my tires. But I also connected this quotation to times when we don’t feel like praising the Lord because we think praise and worship is done by happy people, people raising their hands, their faces all aglow with the Spirit. You know, those people you see at church who look like energizer bunny worshippers.
But what if you just not feeling it? Frightening negative medical reports, uncooperative bosses or co-workers, unscheduled “emergencies” with the kids (Mom, I need a poster board for my project due tomorrow!), grumpy or unsympathetic spouses, grief that just won’t ease, another night of interrupted sleep—these are the bumps of life that put your spirit out of alignment, jolting you out of your lane into the ditch. How can you praise the Lord when you are going through an obstacle course of life?
Hearing the song “That’s the Thing About Praise” by Benjamin William Hastings got my mental tires spinning. The first stanza nails down a feeling of hopelessness many people feel in difficult circumstances: “When the rain you want is a flood instead / And the roses bloom, but they’re not quite red / When I reach the edge of my bravery / I’ll still be singing at the banks of an unparted sea.” That unparted sea blocks your path to peace and joy, and you cannot see how God expects you to deal with it, let alone feel grateful toward Him.
Surrounded by enemies, the psalmist David gives us an answer: “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens” (Ps. 68:19). God does not intend for us to drag ourselves from one problem to another, but unless we include Him in our battles, our gentlemanly Lord stands aside, waiting for us to realize that we are not meant to cope with life’s bumps and bruises all by ourselves. We should remain in constant contact with His Spirit because He is ready to “daily bear our burdens.”
Of course, God bearing our troubles does not mean we have it easy or bounce happily through life without worries or stress. Hastings puts it this way in his song: “That’s why the only way through it is a hallelujah / Sometimes the only thing to do is just to hand it to Ya / And although my troubles shake me, I know they could never move Ya / Sometimes the only way through it is a hallelujah.” Praising God through music or prayer or reading the Word won’t automatically fix your life, but it can refocus your attention on the One who is in control. The One who cannot be shaken. The One who wants to bear your heartache alongside you.
Sometimes He will walk with us through the fire, sometimes around it, and sometimes He takes us out of it: “Our God is a God who saves” (Ps. 68:20a). Yes, He saves our soul, keeps us from going to hell, but He can also save us from the depths of despair or frustration. We cry, “God, You’ve got to take it because I cannot carry this problem alone!” The Lord waits for us to turn to Him for help, for comfort, much like we pull our children into a tender embrace when they are crying. We know we cannot always fix our child’s problem (but maybe God can!), but we want her to know our love is a refuge in the storm and she is not alone.
Eternal salvation is a gift beyond all measure, certainly, and “. . . from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death” (Ps. 68:20b), but God is not just useful for getting us into heaven. He’s with us for the here-and-now, for the potholes that jerk our lives out of alignment. The psalms are full of passages that assure us that God is in the details of our problems; for example,“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18). Furthermore, God’s Son lived as a human and knows what it is like to struggle in a fallen world. Jesus tells us how to steer our life back onto the road in a very tender way: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). Why is His yoke easy and His burden light? Psalm 68 tells us: “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”
Now that’s something to praise Jesus about! Why are we lugging all those burdens ourselves, like schoolchildren bent double by a stuffed backpack? Give the Lord our praise and hand it over! “But,” you may think, “that’s easy for someone who is not dealing with the kind of problems I have. I don’t feel like it—I don’t feel worshipful just because I say, ‘Praise the Lord.’ ” Hold on, beloved. You can’t wait until you are in a good mood to express your gratitude to God Almighty. The most important time to praise Him is when life is hard and times are desperate. Don’t depend on your feelings as a barometer for how much you love the Lord. Tell Him now and tell Him often, because no matter the circumstances, He is your Savior and He is with you, ready to guide you.
Praising God can get you through the times of bent fenders and flat tires. “It don’t always fix your problems, but it’ll tell ya how small they are / That’s the thing about praise / That’s the thing about praise” Hastings sings. “It won’t always move the mountain, but it’s good for the heart / That’s the thing about praise / That’s the thing about praise.” Praise can get you through even if you don’t feel very hopeful because it aligns your heart with His. That’s the thing about praise.
I’ll be praying for you.
