“Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me…LET THE MORNING BRING ME WORD OF YOUR UNFAILING LOVE, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Rescue me from my enemies, LORD, for I hide myself in you.” (Psalms 143:7-9)
Sometimes it seems hard to trust God. Every morning when I wake up, I want to spend time with God; reading, praying…crying. Just to seek His presence means everything to me. I need to hear His loving kindness, everyday…. I can hear Him speak thru His Word…allowing His peace to consume me. In Him, I do trust. I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE, NO OTHER REMEDY FOR MY MOURNING, EXCEPT TO TRUST HIM.
In this verse, David is crying out to God. Notice how David, a man after God’s own heart, cries out “Show me the way I should go”. You’d think that David already knew how to walk; God had blessed him immensely, but he was in the middle of a big trial at this point. He said: “I have put my trust in you“. Notice that David is reaching up to God, not happy to just wallow in his troubles, but seeking out the face of God Himself to bring about peace. David says: “to you I entrust my life” and then, once again he asks God to teach him God’s will. He ends by saying “I hide myself in you”.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
There are a lot of God’s ways that I am seeking to understand, but He says: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
I just know that we need to “submit to him”, and He will direct our paths. How do we submit to Him? “Do not be wise in your own eyes” Do you remember in the days of Noah and Lot where the Bible says that men were doing what was right in their own eyes? I believe the same thing is happening with many Christians these days…too often we are doing what is right IN OUR OWN EYES and may not be concerned about what God has to say about that. “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.” (Proverbs 3:7). Today, we see “Christians” not departing from evil, but justifying it even to the point of bringing it into their own lives. “Dear friend, don’t be like those who do evil. Be like those who do good. ANYONE WHO DOES WHAT IS GOOD BELONGS TO GOD. ANYONE WHO DOES WHAT IS EVIL HASN’T REALLY SEEN OR KNOWN GOD.” (3 John 1:11)
Let this be our goal today to:
“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” (Phil. 2:12)
…Bill Stockham