Sometimes I wonder if David, Israel’s king during its “Golden Age” who wrote a majority of what we now have in the book of Psalms, wasn’t a crazy person — like, literally insane.

My proof? Psalm 57. Today as I was reading that Psalm, the drastic contrast between several of its verses really stood out to me, like with verses four and five.

Really, David? One minute you’re talking about being in the midst of lions with crazy sharp teeth just about to maul you, and the next you’re talking about praising God.

Sure. That’s definitely the behavior of a sane person.

I asked Jesus if this was realistic. I wasn’t really buying it, you see. I wasn’t buying this alternating between telling God how seriously bad things were and praising Him. It just didn’t seem authentic. How could it be if David really was in as bad of a situation as he was claiming to be?

I sensed Jesus reminding me that praise in the midst of really bad things — wrongs committed by you, against you, or just living in the context of a broken world — does not taint praise. It does not make confessing and declaring who God is, His unchanging character and who He is for and towards His creation, less authentic.

Praise is not something you only do when all is well and you’re at the top of your game along with everyone around you. No. Praise is apparently also meant for terrible, painful, depressing times when you are reacting out of wounds and fears. It’s meant for times when you legitimately do have enemies after you and those you love. Praise is appropriate in these times too, because God’s promises for us are fulfilled in part now and are not just reserved for after we die.

Praise is not fake when you’re not completely healed of some brokenness that you’ve become aware of for the first time today or some wrong that keeps cropping up (this being the 112th time to be exact) and you thought it was already dealt with.

Why? It’s because the authenticity of praise is not determined by your circumstances, by you, or by those around you. The authenticity of praise is determined by the goodness, love, and covenant faithfulness of its object, namely, God.

Praise is super authentic, powerful, and life-giving. Praise is supposed to happen in the midst of lions.