How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!

⁵ The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
⁶ For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord,
⁷ A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,
And awesome above all those who are around Him?
⁸ O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
⁹ You rule the swelling of the sea;
When its waves rise, You still them.
¹⁰ You Yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain;
You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

¹¹ The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The world and all it contains, You have founded them.
¹² The north and the south, You have created them;
Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.
¹³ You have a strong arm;
Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted.
¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
¹⁵ How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.
¹⁶ In Your name they rejoice all the day,
And by Your righteousness they are exalted.
¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength,
And by Your favor our horn is exalted.
¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord,
And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

The Psalms are prayers, poems and songs which were written about circumstances in the lives of the Israelites or the psalmist and were often used in worship in the temple. Here the psalmist begins the poem affirming God's goodness and faithfulness. He says that he more than believes God is faithful, he will sing and declare God's faithfulness to all generations. As the psalm progresses there will be needs and concerns raised to God. The psalmist begins though by declaring and affirming God's faithfulness. We too, when we are facing difficulties should begin by affirming that we know God is faithful. God does not need our affirmation. It is for our own sake, to build our faith and establish our communication with God on a foundation of faith and thankfulness that we affirm and declare that God is faithful. We should be thankful both for what God has done and what He has said He will do.

The psalmist then cites a promise of God regarding the circumstance.  “I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant,  I will establish your seed forever
And build up your throne to all generations.”     The psalmist begins to make his request based on God's covenant, all that He  promised to do for David.  It is good for us also to make our requests based on God's promises both the promises He has spoken over us individually and the promises He has made through His covenants, promises we claim based on our heritage in Christ. Much like with our affirmation of God's faithfulness, we don't recite God's promises to Him as if He needs to be reminded. When we pray using God's word, His promises to us in scripture it serve to fulfill two of the vital aspects scripture teaches about answered prayer.

1 John 5:14-15    This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.  

If we pray God's word, we can have confidence that we pray according to His will. John says: this confidence we have... we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.    This leads to the second dynamic of praying God's word, His promises. Jesus teaches us in Mark 11:24    Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.        Praying God's word gives us the faith to believe that God will answer and grant our request. A prayer that we do not believe will be answered is really not a prayer at all. If we cry out to God with problems or circumstances that we don't expect God to change we are really just complaining and we are saying that we don't believe God is able to do what we need. Numbers 23:19 tells us what God says about that.

“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? 

In verses 5-14 the psalmist lists some of the attributes of God and recognizes His sovereign authority in and over heaven and earth. Once again it's not that God needs our acknowledgement or affirmation of His authority. He is God and He has authority over all things whether we choose to believe it or not. Verse 14 in particular is critical to our understanding of God's will and our acceptance of His way.

 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.

The world philosophy tries to put loving kindness and righteousness and justice at odds with each other, saying that a loving God would not judge people.  Both justice and love though are vital parts of God's truth. God's truth is absolute. He is a righteous and holy God. Because man was unable to live up to God's holy, righteous standards, His character of absolute justice required that there would be a penalty for sin. The consequences of sin are not an indication that God is not loving. Rather, it is proof that He is loving and just.  God is loving, in spite of the penalty for sin.   For the wages of sin is death,...(Romans 6:23a)  God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.(John 3:16)    ...but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.(Romans 6:23b)    God's righteousness, His justice and His loving kindness are all part of His character which is manifested in the world and our lives in His absolute truth.  

I pray that the truth, the confidence and the blessing of this psalm will rest upon each of you in your circumstances today and throughout the week ahead.

How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.
 In Your name they rejoice all the day,
And by Your righteousness they are exalted.
 For You are the glory of their strength,
And by Your favor our horn is exalted.
 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Amen