Sunday, October 15, 2023

Theme:

When we come to God, we must come as we are, lay ourselves before God, and allow God to deal faithfully with us. We must be honest with God which requires us to be honest with ourselves.  It is a moment of truth about our lives. Our honesty impacts our faithfulness, which will impact how we hear God, which will impact the outcome.

Reflections:

We are not sure the issue, but the Psalmist seems to be in trouble and needs God’s help. This entire Psalm rests on the first verse “Lord, I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God!” The Psalmist affirms his relationship with God. The Psalmist affirms without a doubt he is 100% committed to God, and that leads to complete trust in God. Everything else flows out of this first sentence of affirmation. The Psalmist then moves to lament (Don’t let my enemies succeed) and petition (Don’t give them victory over me). The psalmist is anxious and fearful, and he is asking God for intervention. Then the Psalmist turns to asking for instruction about the situation. (Show me the path where I should go, O Lord; point out the right road for me to walk. Lead me; teach me; for you are the God who gives me salvation.) This is a reality check for the Psalmist. He has asked God to not let his enemies’ triumph and he has affirmed to himself that God will not let that happen…now he is asking for guidance and how to be faithful as God works out his request. Show me the path…point out the right road…teach me. The Psalmist is seeking direction. Then the Psalmist proclaims he will be faithful to Yahweh’s leading.

One aspect of the Psalms is the pure open honesty of the Psalmist. They open themselves up to God seeking help from God. In the Psalms, we witness anger, frustration, people screaming at God. I think it is hard for us to be honest with our friends, ourselves and even with God. We believe if we expose too much, people will judge, and we will appear weak. God knows everything about us. God knows our heart, our mind, our soul. We cannot hide or fool God so why can we not be honest with ourselves and with God?

This Psalm is a good teaching example of how we should approach God. The Psalmist asks because he believes God will help, that he is not alone, that God is a God who loves and cares and is active in the world, not some distant deity. The Psalmist has a relationship with God – “You are my God, I give my life to you” – and this relationship is one built on trust, trust that God will act. The Psalmist asks and believes that God will answer but the answer comes in the Psalmist faithfulness to God’s leading and teaching. The easy way is for God to come down in a blaze of fury and destroy the threatening enemy, but the Psalmist recognizes that is a time for formation and growing. The Psalmist knows the answer will come but only through the Psalmist honestly with himself and God. And this being open and honest will guide the Psalmist faithfulness. I think this is an area we struggle with when it comes to approaching God. We come to God in prayer with many petitions and we want answers now. But answers do not normally come “now”, they come “in time”, and how well we hear the answer will depend upon our honesty and faithfulness.

Questions/Thoughts:

1. Have you ever petitioned Gid for an intervention? Did God answer? How did the answer come?
2. The Psalms in many ways are prayers or petitions to God for help. Do you go to God when you are in need? Why?
3. What does it mean to trust God? Do you find it easy to trust? What does that look like in life?
4. How honest are you with God?
5. The first step in being faithful is being honest with God and more importantly being honest with us. How honest are you with yourself about your struggles and deepest emotions, feelings, challenges, and demons?