Mensa Otabil - I Will Pay My Vows
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Psalm 22, verse 26: The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever.
David starts the psalm on a note of worry and concern: «My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?» Many times, we start life that way: «Lord, I don’t feel Your presence; You’re nowhere near me.» But as we progress in the psalm, we see faith, exuberance, and trust in the Lord emerging from his declaration and prayer. It is very evident that in his time of despair, David made a vow to the Lord: «Lord, if You help me, Lord, if You come to my aid, I will do so and so for You.»
It is something we all do many times; a lot of people do it, and then they forget to honor their vows to the Lord. But David said, «I have made vows to You, and because I have made vows to You, I will pay them.» The consequence of paying my vow is that the poor and the needy will also be satisfied. So David is saying, «Lord, part of the vow I have made is to take care of the poor and the needy.» Although David is in trouble, he also sees that other people are in trouble and that he is going to commit to help those who are in need. That is the vow he missed to God: «I will help the poor and the needy. I will ensure that they are satisfied. I will ensure that their lives are complete.»
You know, many times when we are in trouble, we only see our trouble; we only see what we go through, we see our pain, we see the miracle we need: «How I need money!» But we forget that there are people who are worse off than us and that there are people who also need help. In his time of need, David said, «Lord, I undertake to take care of people who are needy, the poor,» and " I make it my concern,» and «that’s my vow to You.»
So the lesson we learn from here is: don’t let your own need occupy you so much that you don’t see there are other people who are needy, that in many instances, you are far better off than somebody else. Because of you, somebody must eat. Because of you, somebody must be satisfied. Because of you, somebody must have joy.
So maybe you are sad, but can you make somebody happy? Maybe you are down, but can you lift somebody up? Maybe you are going through difficulty, but can you help somebody in their difficulty? Can you commit to other people as you seek God to help you? That should be our attitude, and that is what David is telling us in this psalm: Because I pay my vows to the Lord, the poor and the needy shall eat and be satisfied. May the Lord, even in your difficulty, make you a blessing to somebody who is looking for a blessing from the Lord. Then David says, «Because of that, also those who seek the Lord shall praise Him.»
You know, as we seek the Lord, we praise Him. As we seek the Lord, we honor Him. As we seek the Lord, we don’t just ask, ask, ask, cry, cry, cry, cry, you know, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray; we praise Him. Be hopeful, be thankful. Thank God for what He is doing; thank God for what He has done. Our prayers are prayed with thanksgiving, with a sense of hope. Because sometimes, you know, people pray when they are in need as if God has locked the doors of heaven and they have to keep banging, banging, banging, banging, banging, and there is no joy in their house, there is no praise well enough from them, there is no hope in the Lord.
But as we seek the Lord, as we trust Him, as we call on Him, we do it with thanksgiving in our hearts because we know who He is, we know His nature, we know He is merciful, we know He is good. And while we are doing that, we are also doing good to other people and helping other people, and it is in that space that God comes through for us and fills our mouths with plenty and with laughter. May your life be a testimony for somebody.
Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I will honor my vows to You. You are the one who abundantly satisfies me. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.