Victor E Frankl, a man who went through some of the worst set of circumstances any man could go through said in his book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning:’ “Everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” This is so true. Circumstances will come and go, some positive, some negative; the question here is ‘how will you respond?’ The world we live in is far from being perfect, in fact the system of this world tends mostly towards negative because of its fallen state and its god is the devil. It follows then that even as believers, there will not only be seasons of triumph but trials also, celebrations as well as challenges. Our memory verse tells what our consistent attitude should be in spite of the circumstance – GIVE THANKS. Jesus said ‘…in this world, you will have tribulations…’ but He did not stop there, He gave us the attitude to put forward ‘… be of good cheer…’

In our text, we see David, a model when it comes to worship; he faced all kinds of situations, good and bad but his attitude remained constant – thanksgiving and dependence on the faithfulness of God. Why? We see the reason in Psalm 57:7 “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” To fix is to set, position, place, put…. which means it’s an action on our part; there is a deliberateness here saying ‘circumstances won’t change my decision, I will give thanks to God.’ In verse 8, we see the action that followed his made up mind “Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.” This sounds like the words of a man in the midst of celebration, perhaps in a fiesta or festival of fat things, but please read the introduction to the Psalm and see the prevailing situation in the writer’s life at that time which lasted for about thirteen years: Psalm 57(For the music leader. To the tune “Don’t Destroy.” A special psalm by David when he was in the cave while running from Saul. CEV). The tune he wrote it to (Don’t Destroy) tells the attitude of a man who is sure to come out an overcomer. Just like David, whatever situation you find yourself – sweets or sweats, great or grave, you can choose to be glad or gloomy, grateful or grumpy, delightful or disgruntled. The disposition that pleases God (1 Thes 5:18) and benefits us (Isaiah 26:3) is that of thanksgiving; a heart that is fixed on God’s ability, faithfulness, love and willingness to deliver, sustain and uplift at all times whatever the circumstance.