But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. Psalm 13:5

The word “but” is a pivotal word in Scripture, a three letter word used to draw a clear distinction between two very differing truths or perspectives. It often is the connecting word between what we as men think and feel and that which is true in God. It is the word that ties together my current experience with the unchanging purposes of God. It is a very powerful and important word in Scripture.
David was loved by God, not because he had his act together all the time (he didn’t), but because his heart was always “toward” God; he was teachable, humble, honest , and quick to repent and obey. The Psalms record his honesty and humility very vividly. Repeatedly he is found to be honestly questioning and crying out to God in times of trouble and confusion. Psalm 13 records one of those times.
He begins by crying out, “How long O Lord?” He questioned, how long would it be that God would hide his face from him; how long that he would wrestle with his own thoughts. How long would his enemy triumph over him? He actually despairs of his life toward the end of the Psalm when he writes, “My enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’ and my foes will rejoice when I fall.”
Then, he utters that three letter word…but. And with that short word his mind and heart suddenly again are focused on God, not himself. It didn’t change what he was feeling, what he was experiencing, or what his immediate future appeared to be, but it changed the way he saw everything. Beneath it all was the unfailing love of God. David had come to intimately know that love. He had learned through his life that God was faithful, that the Lord would not abandon him, forsaking him to the hand of the enemy. He remembered the many times God had shown Himself faithful, the countless opportunities the enemy had when David could have been destroyed, either in body or spirit, and how the Lord had been faithfully with him. He lived in the security of the covenantal love of God.
With the awakened awareness of God’s faithful love came the heart’s experience of joy. He rejoiced, not as some temporary emotional high, but he rejoiced deeply in his spirit in the conscious reality of the salvation of the Lord. The confidence, security, and thankfulness that accompanied his renewed heart’s attitude resulted in a deep rejoicing in the provision of God’s love.
Saints of God, today allow your hearts to be awakened to the faithfulness of your God. Know that He has promised never to leave or abandon you. No, He said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” And then rejoice again, rejoice in your salvation. Rejoice in the eternal covenant that has been secured by His own life, and rejoice in the provision of the grace of God. Rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that you were chosen, called, sanctified, and glorified through your faith in Jesus Christ. Amen!
R. Martinez