Psalm 13:5-6 But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

This wouldn’t be considered one of David’s “major” Psalms, but it still contains major, practical truth. His particular problem at this point isn’t very specific, other than that it involves enemies who want him dead, but as he did many times through his life, David reminds himself that he’s gotten as far as he has by trusting God, and he recommits himself to that lifestyle. He chooses to sing to God, because of how God has dealt with him in the past. We tend to have a remarkable ability to forget, or at least ignore, all the good things God has done for us in the past, when we encounter some new difficulty. How foolish! That’s why prophet after prophet in the Old Testament reminded the people of the miracles God had performed for their ancestors, pointing out that if we are true to Him, He will certainly take care of us. That’s precisely what we need to remember on a personal scale as well. That’s what the hymn Count Your Blessings is all about. The devil tries hard to blank our memory of past blessings so that we won’t trust God for the future. That’s why we need to submit to God and resist the devil. (James 4:7) Simply remembering how good God has been to us is a way of doing that!

This is perhaps appropriate to me at this moment, because I woke up with my lower back in pain when it wasn’t hurting when I went to bed. On the larger scale of things it’s not a big issue, but it’s a distraction. The thing is, God has been incredibly good to me over the years, and I have great assurance that He will guard and guide me all the way until He takes me home. This is a little reminder to have empathy for my wife, who deals with physical pain every day! I’m not sure of what all today will hold, but I know that God’s plans for me are good, (Jeremiah 29:11) and I am to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him whatever is going on around me, or even in me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You enabled me to do yesterday. Not much of it was physical, so this back pain is something of a mystery. Help me recognize what You want me doing each moment of today and follow through in obedient joy, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!