“Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” (Psalm 63:3-5).

Sometimes God delivers and sometimes we need to persevere. Some trials are over in a moment; some last for a long time. When David faced Goliath, God gave him immediate victory. But with Saul, David suffered years of dogged persecution. If it had been Goliath who spent years hunting David down, it might have been difficult for David but no one would expect anything less from such an obvious enemy. Saul, on the other hand, was a father-figure to David, and so the pain of Saul’s betrayal was probably much worse that Goliath could have ever inflicted.

We don’t understand most times why God allows us to go through lengthy trials. Why didn’t God deliver David from Saul more quickly? Why did Christ have to suffer such a torturous death on the cross? Nobody understood at the time, not even His best disciples. We, too, will probably not understand why we must persevere through lengthy difficulties. So what should be our response?

Even when we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, God is still the same God that delivered the victory to David over Goliath. He is still the same God of miracles who raised Christ from the dead. No matter what situation we are in, He is still worthy of praise and honor. David understood this. He truly was a man who loved God. “Because your love is better than life,” David confessed. “My lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live.”

Lord, please give me the kind of faith that Jesus’ had in the garden of Gethsemene. Help me to worship You even during the dark nights of the soul. Give me a heart that seeks after You because I have tasted and have seen that Your love truly is better than life. You proved Your love to me by suffering and dying for me on the cross. I believe in You! I am so grateful for You, Abba Father. In You my soul is satisfied with a richness that I cannot describe.