I WILL Wednesday 3/4/2020

It’s I WILL Wednesday!

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. Psalm 43:4

Today’s I WILL passage is found in a journey from pain to praise. At the onset of this Psalm, the psalmist starts by crying out to God. From a place of despair, he seeks God’s help in desperation. He pleaded for vindication and rescue from the assaults of his enemy. The psalmist cried out to God because he confidently knew that God could deliver him. Verse 4, our focus for today, points out a very important thing the psalmist did, he went to the altar. Now an altar, in this time was a place of sacrifice, a place where something changed, a place where something died. Today it’s not so much a place, but the posture of our hearts. Our hearts should be a place where something changes, where something is altered.

This psalmist reminds us that when we come to the altar something will change. It may be your broken heart, it may be your wounded spirit, it may be your wayward thinking, or even your negative outlook. In the presence of the Lord, change happens!

Look at the psalmist’s altar experience. At the altar, he remembered his God; at the altar, a praise burst forth. At the altar, his pain turned into praise. He began to speak to himself! The psalmist asked himself, “ Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues?” (v. 5MSG). Then he had a reality check, and told himself, “Put your hope in God” (v. 5).

At the altar, we can gain an objective view of ourselves! Am I wallowing in self pity? Have my circumstances clouded my thinking? Is what I’m going through bigger than my God? NO! Then adjust your thinking, adjust your speaking, and place your hope where it belongs, in God.

Are you in need of a change? Does depression, negativity, and self pity need to die in your life? Do you need to journey from pain to praise? If so, remember this psalmist and share in his declaration, “l WILL go to the altar of God.”