Be Exalted Oh God

Intro

When Richard Wurmbrand was arrested in Romania for preaching Christ under communist rule, he was taken to an underground prison cell. It was so deep below the earth that no sound from the world above could reach it.

There were no windows. There was no light. There was no sense of time.

The guards wore felt on their shoes so not even footsteps could be heard. Days and nights blurred into one endless darkness.

Richard later said:

“We had forgotten how colors looked. We had forgotten the sound of human voices. But we had not forgotten Christ.”

In that silence, he began to compose hymns in his mind—hymns he had no pen to write and no congregation to sing with. He would stand up in the darkness, place a hand on the wall to keep his balance, and sing — barely above a whisper.

Sometimes he was beaten for it. Sometimes he was threatened for it. But he continued to sing. One day, another prisoner tapped softly through the wall — a secret prisoner Morse they used to communicate.

The prisoner asked:

“Why do you sing? There is nothing here to rejoice in.”

Wurmbrand replied:

“I sing because Christ is still with me. And because joy is not the absence of suffering — it is the presence of God.”

The other prisoner tapped back:

“Then… sing louder. We need to hear it.”

And so, in the black silence of that underground cell — with no sunlight, no freedom, no guarantee of survival — Richard Wurmbrand lifted his voice and sang.

Not because his situation changed. Not because the danger was gone. But because Christ was there in the cave. Like David who was hiding in the cave from Saul. The singing did not stop Saul from chasing Him, it did not suddenly poof make everything better but what it did do is focused His everything on God who will fulfill His prupose in Him.

In the midst of the fray we cry out to God in praise not to get out but to put our focus back on God who will fulfill His purpose in Us.

Psalm 57:1 ESV

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

What is it that in the midst ofrunning from the dangers and evils of the world that can trun us to God. David does seem to question God yet it is to God that He truns and begs for mercy. Even though we do not know and we do not understand it is still to God tha we are to turn

Psalm 57:1 CSB

I will seek refuge in the shadow of your wings until danger passes.

So rather then focusing on the attacks of the wicked we turn to the God asking for His mercy and help it is to the Lord that we turn for refuge.

The imagery of the refuge of the Lord God that we have is argued to be seen in two ways. the hen and the ark.

The Hen - The hen is a bird that takes its chicks under itself to save them from harm. Try taking eggs or chicks from a broody hen, you might eventually loose a finger. We are told that as followers of Jesus we are hidden under the wings of Jesus. This is an idea that is echoed throughout the scriptures. Could also mean the wings of the cherub on the ark of the covenant in the temple. but the idea is to seek protection till the danger has passed.

Isaiah 34:15 CSB

Sand partridges will make their nests there; they will lay and hatch their eggs and will gather their broods under their shadows. Indeed, the birds of prey will gather there, each with its mate.

Matthew 23:37 CSB

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

What does it mean though to take refuge under the almighty God

Can anyone take refuge unger God?

yes anyone can but there are steps to take first. You must go through the process. Those whose sins are atoned for and stand before God clean and forgiven my take refuge under the most high God. This means that you must give your life over to Jesus, ask forgiveness for all that you have done and walk this life completley for Him forsaking your old way of life. The free gift of salvation is a gift for all people. Only then can you say the Lord is my refuge

Those who are protected by the salvation of the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ will dwell forever in God’s presence. They will escape death and the snare of the devil (Hebrews 2:14; 2 Timothy 2:24). They can now enter the secret place—the holy of holies (Hebrews 10:19–22). They can boldly approach God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) anytime, not just once a year, because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and His shed blood, which opened up a new and living way.

Psalm 57:2–3 CSB

I call to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

God will fulfill His purpose in me - It is to God we run, however we get there, it is to God we run because it is God who fulfills His purpose in us. We seek Him and ask for His will to be done.

It is God who saves us, not by anything we can do other then turning to God in faith.

Psalm 57:2–3 CSB

He reaches down from heaven and saves me, challenging the one who tramples me. Selah God sends his faithful love and truth.

so all this paints a picture of trust in the faithfulness of the Lord. That all those who come to the Lord being forgiven by giving their lives to Jesus means they can be protected. But that does not mean that no bad things will comne our way, this is an eternal prtoection. We are promised that we will have many troubles in this world, but because Jesus has overcome the world we run to Him and he gives us peace and joy in the midst of it all.

God does use trials to draw us closer to Himself, he has allowed evil in the world because we have the choice to chose to follow Him, the protection therefore is eternal, though he does save us from some trials now it ultimaltey looks to heaven saying our eternal souls are safe as His children. He does promise freedom from sin, you can overcome temptation through the Lord strength and you can only find peace through Him.

We cry out to God, be exalted oh God because he will fulfill his purpose in us. He will protect and guide us in His will.

One thing we can be cerytain of is God’s action on our behalf

Psalm 57:4 CSB

I am surrounded by lions; I lie down among devouring lions— people whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

You see even though the Lord is his refuge, there are still the sharp teeth and arrows of his enemies, they still atttack and it seems hopeless and we cry out how long oh Lord must I wrestle with this. But when those thoughts come we must get on our knees and give it up to God.

This trust and grace is even in the midst of the sharp teeth and and weapons of the enemies. the suffering will not escape from us, but the enemies will not destroy us completley. We take refuge under the wings of God but the arrows keep coming.

One of my favorite worship songs was written based on thsi consept, our struggle with sin and despair and the world around us and our trust in God.

How long O Lord will You forget me How long O Lord will You look the other way How long O Lord must I wrestle with my thoughts And every day have such sorrow in my heart Look on me and answer, O God my Father Bring light to my darkness before they see me fall But I trust in Your unfailing love Yes my heart will rejoice Still I sing of Your unfailing love You have been good, You will be good to me

The sfaety we have comes from our trust in God, knowing they will not destroy us. God saves, through his faithful love. We are at peace when we rest completley in the Lord. We must always come back to the goodness and faithfulness of God. Sometimes this happens alot, we spend a lot of time in prayer coming to God because we can not do it on our own anymore. but the thing is the more we do this the easier it becomes to find freedom in Jesus.

Be exalted oh God and fulfill your purpose in me we must cry

Psalm 57:5 CSB

God, be exalted above the heavens; let your glory be over the whole earth.

God’s action on our behalf is for His glory alone. God will not share his glory with another.

The traps and pits the set will be to their own downfall. In the end, they will ;fall into their own trap. You see the enemie may come against us and set traps for us, but a life lived against the one true God will end in the downfall of the people that set it.

Psalm 57:6 CSB

They prepared a net for my steps; I was despondent. They dug a pit ahead of me, but they fell into it! Selah

We do not find joy in the downfall of the evil, It is a joy to know evil will not last forever but our duty is to tell them of Jesus so they too can trun their lives to God.

Because of that I will sing praise.

Psalm 57:7 CSB

My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident. I will sing; I will sing praises.

Psalm 57:8 CSB

Wake up, my soul! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up the dawn.

Where does our confidence then come from? from having a relationship with God, trusting in His strength, giving him the glory, running to His will and His plan. Because the end is written and the Lord wins our hearts can be at peace

I will praise Him among the nations. I will live and praise in such a way that evertyone wqill know God (Romans - how can they respond to if they have not heard the gospel).

Israel’s job has always been to share the gospel among the nations, they were to be a witness to God to the nations. Psalm 96:10 “Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. He judges the peoples fairly.”” Always where they to declare the name of the Lord and what he had done to them to the nations.

whether it be in exile, or in good times they where to declare praises of the Lord. It was a struggle for them that we read about in Psalm 137:4

Psalm 137:4 CSB

How can we sing the Lord’s song on foreign soil?

Psalms, Volume 1 Bridging Contexts

Just at the darkest hour, when all seemed lost, the word of praise breaks through even in a foreign land, even “among the nations.” Here the singer breaks forth into praise of Yahweh’s name “before the gods [ʾelohim]”—a probable reference to the gods of the pagan foreigners, those gods who might be thought to have defeated Yahweh and carried his people into captivity. The psalmist is unimpressed by the apparent defeat of Yahweh and orients his prayers to the temple in Jerusalem, to praise Yahweh’s name and his “love” [ḥesed] and “faithfulness” [ʾemet]

We to must sing the praises of God to the nations so they too can know there Lord and saviour.

Psalm 57:9–11 CSB

I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your faithful love is as high as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches the clouds. God, be exalted above the heavens; let your glory be over the whole earth.

Our response be to praise God for what He has done.

Be exalted oh God

There are a few themes in here, like the Lord being our refuge, the trials that e face nut they all point I believe to the fact that trhough it all the Lord is to be exalted above all. May we glorify the Lord. Through all we face we remember that although we are encouraged to call God father, we are His children we must remember that the Lord is exalted about all. This is what Gives us peace, oir it should anyways.

God is not the creation and His creation does not confine Him. God is over and above the creation that He has made but yet that does not mean that He is not active within itThis God knows us and invites us to come to know Him. This God loves and cares for Us and one day we are going to go to be with Him. So for that reason we exlat and glorify God above all, for what does it matter what the world does to us. Cast your worries and cares upon Him. This is why we can cast all of our cares upon Him. This is why we can seek refuge in the Lord. Because He is exalted and glorified above all creation.

God knows and can be known, isnt that amazing? therefore exalt Him above all even as you struggle sometimes.

God fulfill your purpose in me

Knowing that we struggle to know what God’s purpose is for us, how do we figure out which direction to go. We run to God who will fulfill His purpose. He knows, we do not so we run to Him and entrust Him with our plans and our lives.

Prayer

Psalms, Volume 1 Contemporary Significance

Psalm 57

Father, have mercy on us. Like David, we come to You for refuge. We hide under the shadow of Your wings until the danger passes by.

You are our shelter when we feel pursued. You are our strength when our hearts are tired. You are our hope when circumstances feel overwhelming.

Lord, send out Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness. Remind us that You are not distant — You are the God who saves.

Even when we feel surrounded by fear or pressure, make our hearts steadfast. Teach us to praise You while still in the cave, before the deliverance comes.

Lift our eyes above our situation. Let our worship rise louder than our worry. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be over all the earth.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.