Psalm 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
“Happiness does not make us grateful, gratitude keeps us happy – always”.
Gratitude aids us to advance during adversity. Gratitude reminds us of the green pastures and the still waters when the land is parched and the waters are turbulent around us. Gratitude will keep us calm and serene in the faithfulness of God and not be tossed around by the roaring tempest of the difficulty. Gratitude will carry us through the adverse circumstances, inexplicable hardships or sudden loss into the safe haven of God’s strong shelter. Gratitude holds our core values, behaviours and temperament together during calamity.
David wrote Psalm 34 after he escaped King Achish, the Philistine king of Gath. David was on the run from King Saul who tried to kill him but he ran from the frying pan into the fire! His own people rejected him and tried to assassinate him, hence he went into the enemy’s territory to find refuge. But the words of the Philistine king’s officials terrified him – “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” (1 Samuel 21:11). The same song that once encouraged David after slaying the giant petrified him. The greatest warrior of Israel pretended to be a madman before the Philistines who would tremble at the name of David. So he pretended to be insane in their presence (1 Samuel 21:13). Disaster had come upon David. He escaped from the Philistines by pretending to be insane and found asylum in the Cave of Adullam where he composed this beautiful song of praise which is an alphabetic acrostic (its lines arranged in alphabetical order) in the Hebrew language.
Gratitude turns adversity into felicity:
1. Taste-buds: Gratitude will change our taste-buds from criticizing and complaining to praising. We will taste the Lord’s faithfulness only in adversity. We might have known Him as a Father and a Friend but adversity will help us to taste Him as a Fierce Warrior who saves, protects and preserves His children. Hence David proclaimed from the Cave of Adullam, ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Psalm 34:8a). Our taste-buds change in adversity.
2. Telescope: In adversity, the telescope of God’s Word, will teleport us into a safe haven of the shelter of the Most High God. Hard times will turn into a pathway of progression when we praise and not protest. The spiritual eyes of David were opened and he was able to see the angel of the Lord surrounding him. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them (Psalm 34:7).
3. Treatment: The best treatment and therapy to heal a soul battered and baffled by trials is “thanksgiving”.
Gratitude changes our taste-buds, opens our eyes to divine television and heals our soul with the therapy of thanksgiving.
Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to keep praising you when I face unexpected calamities and turn the adversity into advancement. Amen.
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