I think a huge reason for my spiritual ups and downs is the fact that I tend to look at my subjective feelings more often than I look at God’s proven faithfulness and goodness. As I spent time reading the Bible earlier in Psalm 13, my heart rejoiced with David’s words:
I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me (v. 6).
David didn’t say that he wanted to sing because he had a great quiet time that morning. He didn’t say he would sing because things were going perfectly (actually, they were going quite poorly if you read the whole chapter). David did not look to his feelings when searching for motivation to sing praise to God.
No, David went right to the core. His motivation was the rock-solid foundation that God has dealt bountifully with him. That is, God has been overly gracious to him. When I am in the dumps — for any number of reasons (mostly stupid ones) — I need to remember that God has dealt, and is dealing, bountifully with me. He is being more gracious and kind to me than I could have ever hoped to deserve. And that is more than enough reason to sing in joy to him.
James Pruch 