“For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.”
—Psalm 27:5–6
The Lord recently spoke to me audibly. I was in my prayer room listening to beautiful worship music, kind of half asleep and half awake. And just as I was fully coming awake, I literally heard the Lord speak in my soul, and this is what He said: “Rejoice continually, and you will overcome every obstacle.”
Rejoice continually. This wasn’t something I had been thinking about or focusing on intentionally. Rather, it was a word the Lord Himself, who lives inside me, communicated to me through His Spirit.
This message that God spoke to me is what David was articulating in today’s passage. God wants us to take hold of that warrior spirit that chooses to praise Him. We don’t get to appoint what challenges we face in life, but we can determine how we respond to them. God wants us to choose to rejoice so we can overcome.
The prophet Habakkuk prayed, “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:17–18).
Habakkuk understood that when we rejoice, our focus moves from our problems and pain to the goodness and greatness of our God. And as we think about His power and majesty, we are reminded that nothing is too hard for Him. As the psalmist proclaimed, “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. The Lord supports the afflicted” (Ps. 147:5–6). So, beloved, elect to rejoice continually even when your life is hard, because that is how you will overcome every obstacle.
Father, thank You for Your Word. Help me to choose to rejoice, no matter what I face in life. I believe in doing so I will overcome.
Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider, Rivers of Revelation (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2020), Used by permission.
