Read Psalm 69:29-33. 29But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! 30I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. 32When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. 33For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
As is often the case in the psalms, David’s laments now turn to praise. The king is simultaneously in pain yet praising. Afflicted yet affirming – the Lord hears the needy.
Such praise is the response of a faith that pleases the Lord. Thanksgiving is what magnifies God. Not ox and bull. Not sacrifice. Anyone can slaughter an animal apart from heart change. But pure praise, true thankfulness, these can only flow from the faithful heart. The heart that is trusting the salvation of God. A salvation that has come to us in Christ.
And so we know that what David pleads for – Set me on high – has been eternally accomplished in our union with Christ.
Ephesians 2:6. [But God] raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Even in our pain we live from this enthroned position in Jesus. Even in our affliction on Earth we can experience our exaltation in heaven. That is what to live is Christ means, constant movement from pain to praise. Why? Because God’s salvation has set us on high with him.
You: Does your lament ever turn to praise? Or do you just find more things to lament?
You in Christ: You are seated in heavenly places with Christ. How does this truth change how you see yourself today (and every day)?
Christ in you: Pray a prayer of gratitude today and add in some heartfelt praise.
Pray: Father, you say that I am seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Let that be the position I live from, pray from, and praise from today and every day. Amen.
To Live is Christ 