Walk with me in a meditation on the word at Psalm 25:1-10:
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
There is one God; I acknowledge you as God, and confess I am not God. Help me to pray and act that way.
O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
I put my trust in the one who has always loved me and always sought to help me. I trust you, O God, and I trust those who choose to trust in you. I have my enemies, and I do not expect that I will always be right, or that I will always win. Please, on the days I will not be victorious, on the days I must be humbled, let it be humility that I learn and not humiliation that I experience. Help me to watch and wait for your movement, O God, so that I may walk alongside you and avoid vain, ignorant, or evil ways. At the end of the day, may shame be the reward of those who have behaved shamefully, for those who knowingly and persistently ignore your will and your way.
Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.
Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light upon my path. Your word reveals your path to me, and yet, you mark the way that I should go in other ways as well. You bless some efforts more than others. You provide the resources for some work and not others. You bring me joy, a spiritual satisfaction, when I do certain things that is notably different than others. You create fruit from certain seeds that I plant, and not others. Let me examine my life to see what you mark, where you bless, what you provide, when you bring joy, and what you multiply. Let me examine this in prayer with you until a path is clearer, if it takes me all day long. If the path remains foggy, help me understand the lack of clarity tells me something, too.
Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD,
and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for your goodness' sake, O LORD!
Your love and mercy are ancient and everlasting; they changed this world before I was born, and they will continue to bring life long after I am dust. You have not forgotten the first time I faithfully spoke your name as a child, and yet I ask you to forget the first time, and every time, I acted like I didn’t know you at all. You must wonder if I will ever grow up. After I have learned my lesson, help me to forget the details. Let me have at least temporary amnesia, so that I might be able to function without attempting to carry the oppressive burden that Jesus has already taken away from me. Remember my faithfulness, remember my love, remember the good things in my life, O Lord, because you are good. Your steadfast love never ceases. May your goodness bear fruit in my life for your glory, O God.
Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
You are really the only one who can believably teach us what is good. Thank you, O God, that you do instruct us, hard-headed, hard-nosed, stiff necked people, in your way. Instead of living in immoderate pride, help us to see ourselves as you see us, God. May we understand humility, not as some sort of feigned self-abasement. Instead, help us to see humility as understand who you are, understand who others are, and understanding who we are. You value us, perhaps for reasons we do not understand. As we become truly humble, may your path for us become more clear.
All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
Whatever path is yours, we will always be able to recognize this about it: it will be the way of steadfast love, it will be the way of faithfulness. Knowing that, let us behave toward you as you have behaved toward us.
Grace, and peace,
Ron
