What’s Your Focus?

Psalm 143
A Psalm of David.
1Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
2Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.
6I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge.
10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
11For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
12And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.

I have a relative who currently sits in jail. She has lived fast and hard and made some seriously bad decisions. I rarely hear from her – except when she’s in trouble. Then she calls or pings me on Facebook. And what she is always looking for is money; usually for bail. My heart goes out to her, but rarely my pocketbook. I could offer her a temporary fix for her problems by sending her cash, but we all know that wouldn’t actually help. And I’m always scared that any financial help I send will be spent on drugs. At one point she claimed to have “found God” and would I send her some cash, so she could help the poor. She thought she knew my soft spot. I didn’t do it. She was angry with me and called me unchristian.

How often do we treat God like the woman treats me? No contact or relationship unless calamity strikes. I see it all the time and it’s difficult for me to refrain from pointing out the hypocrisy of it all. But then I remember that I can be the same way, tripping through life like I’m in charge. When disaster strikes, suddenly I’m looking for God to provide some help. (Actually, I try very hard not to be that person, but sometimes . . . )

David is saying the opposite here. He’s reminding God that he not someone who looks to God only when he’s in trouble. He asks to be judged not on the basis of his record but on the basis of his relationship with God. He is not interested in the Lord only to be bailed out in a crisis, but he thirsts for a relationship with God that will regulate his whole life. And if you read David’s whole story, you find that he does see himself fairly accurately, as this prayer would indicate. He was, as God called him, a man after God’s own heart.

My meditation on this psalm swirled around one verse this morning: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! Let Your good Spirit lead me. There’s the answer at all times – allowing the Holy Spirit to lead our work, our leisure, our relationships, and our worship. When the Spirit leads, I am not as prone to calling on God only when I’m in trouble. I don’t have to make those prison phone calls. Instead the direct line is always open and God and I can just talk – about everything – just like David.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more