How I love God Pt 20: My heart, O God, is steadfast
Psalm 57:5, 7-11 5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 7My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. 8Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 9I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 10For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 11Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Philippians 4:6-7 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
There are seasons when life seems determined to shake us. One day everything feels secure, and the next day circumstances change. A relationship becomes strained. Finances become uncertain. A health concern appears. A door closes that we thought God would open. Someone disappoints us. Or perhaps nothing dramatic happens at all; we simply wake up one morning feeling spiritually tired, emotionally discouraged, and uncertain about what comes next.
I’ve been going through one of these seasons lately and it has been unpleasant, and that’s why I’ve been looking at Psalm 57. David was not writing these words from a comfortable chair with everything going his way. The heading of Psalm 57 connects the psalm with the time when David fled from Saul and hid in a cave. The historical setting gives special meaning to David's confidence: his steadfastness was expressed in the midst of genuine danger rather than in the absence of trouble. David was under pressure, surrounded by danger, and uncertain about what the future held. Yet somehow, in the middle of his circumstances, he could say, “My heart is steadfast.”
I asked myself, “Am I steadfast?” I would like to think so, but sometimes circumstances just get me down. Believer, I’m sure you can relate: How can a person's heart remain steadfast when life is unstable? The answer is not that David had no problems. His heart was steadfast because his confidence was ultimately in God rather than in his circumstances. A steadfast heart does not mean a person never feels afraid. It does not mean we never cry, struggle, or ask questions. It means that underneath those emotions is a settled confidence that God remains God.
Be exalted O God
Verse 5 and verse 11 are the same words; they sort of wrap this passage. There is something significant about this repetition. David's circumstances may have changed very little, but his perspective had changed. He could have made his enemies the center of his attention. He could have focused entirely on Saul, the cave, the danger, and the uncertainty. Instead, David deliberately put God at the center.
When our problems become bigger in our minds than God is, fear begins to take control. We start asking, What if this happens? What if that goes wrong? What am I going to do? How am I going to get through this? This is something I do far too frequently: I imagine the worst possible outcome and dwell on it far too much. But worship changes the question. Instead of asking only, “How big is my problem?”, we should begin asking, “How great is my God?”
David's answer was clear: God is worthy to be exalted “above the heavens.” The word exalted points to lifting God high—to recognizing His supreme authority, majesty, and worth. David was not asking God to become greater. God is already infinitely great. David was declaring that God deserves to be recognized as great.
This is also the heart of Paul's instruction in Philippians 4:6–7. Rather than allowing anxiety to dominate us, we are encouraged to bring everything to God in prayer with thanksgiving. The result is that God's peace guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
My heart is steadfast
A steadfast heart is a settled heart. It is not easily pushed around by every circumstance, emotion, or piece of bad news. But notice something important: David does not say, “My circumstances are steadfast.” They weren't. He does not say, “My enemies are steadfast.” They certainly weren't. He says, “My heart is steadfast.” The stability was inside him because his confidence was anchored in God.
This principle appears throughout Scripture. Isaiah 26:3 says:
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
And Proverbs 3:5–6 gives us another familiar reminder:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
That can be difficult because we naturally want explanations. We want to understand why something happened, when it will end, and what God is going to do next. But faith does not require us to know everything. Faith requires us to trust the One who does. David did not know everything about his future. He knew God, and that was enough. A steadfast heart is not a heart that says, “I can handle everything.” It is a heart that says, “God will hold me through anything.” Leaning on my own understanding is something I’m really good at; it’s trusting God where I need work.
Awake, my soul
“I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.”
This is one of the most beautiful moments in the psalm, and my eye is drawn there every time I turn to Psalm 57. David talks to his own soul. “Awake, my soul!” Why? Because sometimes our souls become spiritually sleepy. We know the truth, but we don't feel it. We know God is good, but discouragement has clouded our perspective. We know God is faithful, but fear has become louder than faith.
David essentially tells himself, “Wake up! Remember who God is. Start praising Him.” This is not superficial positive thinking. It is spiritual self-reminder. David is choosing worship before his circumstances are resolved. We often think, When things get better, I'll praise God. But David says, in effect, “I will praise God while I am still waiting.”
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God.” (Psalm 42:5)
The writer of Psalm 42 does not deny his discouragement. He speaks to it. Sometimes we spend so much time listening to our fears that we forget to speak truth to ourselves. We may need to tell our own soul: God is faithful. God is with me. God has not abandoned me. God is still worthy of praise. My circumstances do not determine God's character. I will trust Him today.
David says, “I will awaken the dawn.” In other words, he is ready to begin the day with worship. Imagine waking up tomorrow morning and, before checking your phone, reading a Psalm and thanking God. Before rehearsing your problems, rehearse God's faithfulness. Before listening to the voices of fear, listen to the Word of God.
That simple habit can reshape the atmosphere of your heart.
Great is your love O LORD
“For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” (Psalm 57:10)
This is where the psalm becomes deeply personal, and this is where my heart reaches out to God. David is not trusting God because God is merely powerful. He is trusting God because God is loving and faithful. The Hebrew concept behind God's steadfast love is often expressed by the word hesed—a rich term describing God's loyal, covenantal love. It communicates the idea of God's faithful commitment to His people.
Our circumstances are temporary, God's love is permanent. David’s enemies could threaten him, but they could not cancel God's faithfulness. The cave could surround David; It could not surround God. This is why David, and we, praise.
God's love reaches “to the heavens.” His faithfulness reaches “to the skies.” In other words, God's love is bigger than David's circumstances. The New Testament gives us an even fuller picture of that love through Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8 tells us:
“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The cross is the ultimate evidence that God's love is not merely an idea. God demonstrated His love. And for the believer, that means our confidence ultimately rests not in our ability to hold onto God but in God's faithfulness to hold onto us. Jesus said:
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” (John 10:27–28)
And that is security.
What about me?
I really like this psalm because David isn’t pretending everything around him is OK. He is being real. And although his circumstances were difficult, he placed them underneath the greater reality of God's character. There is something to learn here, but it is hard to lift our eyes off our circumstances and place them on God.
Believer, we’ve never met, but I can’t imagine that your circumstances are much different than anyone else’s. I’m sure of one thing though: You don’t have anyone deliberately and purposely trying to kill you. But your struggles are ‘Goliaths’ to you. This psalm is saying that when you don’t have all the answers choose to trust God. Speak God's truth to yourself and deliberately choose worship. Remember that God's faithful love is greater than your greatest fear. The world around us may be unstable, our circumstances may change, our emotions may rise and fall, but God remains the same.
Since I drive Uber, I have the very great blessing of being able to adjust my schedule as I need to. You probably can’t do this as easily, but maybe you can find time to sit with God and work out the troubles you are facing. It will help a lot.