* David had just unleashed an arsenal of complaints to God about his enemies.
* They had accused him falsely, so he poured his heart out to the Lord concerning the matter.
* This was his private prayer:
* vs 26-29 - “Help me, Lord my God; save me according to your unfailing love. Let them know that it is your hand, that you, Lord, have done it. While they curse, may you bless; may those who attack me be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice. May my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.”
* Notice David’s reason for God to defend him.
* “Let them know that it is your hand, that you, Lord, have done it.”
* He was essentially saying, "I represent you and everyone knows it. Please save me so everyone will know how ossum you are."
* He was thinking about God’s reputation more than his own.
* David poured his heart out to the Lord privately, then he addresses how he’ll handle it publicly.
* vs 30 - "With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise Him."
* David took his negative comments about his enemies to God privately, but publicly he honored God with his speech.
* David didn't complain about his enemies in front of the crowd.
* He did that alone with him and God.
* After he poured his heart out to the Lord he then would give praise to God publicly.
* We should do the same.
* If we don’t take our negative thoughts and emotions to God first, we put an undue burden on others.
* God can handle the full weight of our burden.
* He uses others to help us, but we have to go to God first!
* Why?
* Because the very act of pouring our hearts out to God lightens the load we carry.
* So when we go to a friend we’re not giving them the full weight of the burden.
* How do we know if we’ve done it wrong?
* If you unleash your full burden to someone before taking it to God you give them the weight of your burden.
* And they don’t have the grace to handle it.
* If it involves another person, they’ll grow bitter toward that person.
* We need to take our issues to God first, and when we do we'll find we have the peace to handle ourselves in a proper manner publicly.