God Is Bigger Than Your Problems

“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth.” (Psalm 57:5)

God is worthy to be exalted and He does not have to do something to earn exaltation. David wants the whole earth to share in this worship.

In a note in the MacArthur Study Bible, we read, “Someone who is a godly person wants God’s glory to be exhibited more than he wants his personal problems to be solved.” (pg. 793)

That is David is saying here; he is more concerned for God’s glory than his problems (vs. 4). David wants God’s glory to be made manifest not just in the cave he was hiding or in the hills of Judea or in Jerusalem or in Israel or Judah or even on the planet Earth; he wants God’s glory to be known everywhere – throughout the entire universe!

When David says “above the heavens” he means as high as any man can conceive. He sees no limits to God’s glory.

Charles Spurgeon noted this – “Higher than the heavens is the Most High, and so high ought our praises to rise. Above even the power of cherubim and seraphim to express it, the glory of God is revealed and is to be acknowledged by us.” (The Treasury of David, pg. 477)

You want a great example of someone in the Bible who saw God as greater than His own problems? How about Jesus Christ? The early stages of personal turmoil and trouble began following His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Jesus begins to share his personal thoughts in John 12 with his disciples – “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again’” (John 12:27-28). Jesus saw the glory of God as far greater than his own problems.

Later, in the Upper Room, He would pray, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You” (John 17:1). He was about to endure the worst suffering of all of history – psychologically, emotionally, spiritually and physically. And yet, He was consumed with God’s glory and not His own problems.

Who are we to lose sight of glorifying God when trouble comes into our own lives?

David’s problems were many, but God is greater and David acknowledges that. David forgets his own problems and cheerfully submits to glorifying God.

When you put your problems between you and God, He will seem small. But if you see your problems through the lens of a Sovereign God, your problems won’t seem as big and your God will seem more than sufficient to help you handle them (I Corinthians 10:13).