…for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
Psalm 63:7
One biblical strategy for not being overwhelmed by stress and anxiety is to truly worship God. Psalm 63 was written in a stressful time for David as he fled from Saul in the wilderness of Judah. There was an entire army bent upon following Saul’s orders. They wanted to “destroy” David’s life (Psalm 63:9). David had reason to fear but chose to fight fear in faithful worship of God.
David acknowledged that his circumstances INCREASED his thirst for God (Psalm 63:1). So an immediate action when given to fear is to see how the painful circumstances call out for desperate faith. Crave God when you feel like caving in to fear!
That thirsty craving led to expressive worship engaging David spiritually and physically. His eyes looked upon God to behold His power and glory. His lips praised God for His steadfast love. His hands were lifted up in praise (Psalm 63:2-4). Choose to fight fear with your whole person — soul and body!
David directed his soul to remember God… even in nights when it was hard to sleep (Psalm 63:5-8). He remembered God as he turned in his bed. He made those nights time to worship and to meditate upon the God Who satisfied him, sheltered him, and held him up in the stress-filled story. He chose to make sleeplessness worshipful.
The last word for David in response to anxious stress was this: “,,,the king shall rejoice in God.” Worship in the hard times can have its own unique joys… if we will only discipline our souls to see them and choose to embrace the gift of songs in such stresses.
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