Comfortable with God
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, on this day of rest and worship, I bow in praise before You, my Lord and my God!
Read Psalm 25:1-22
[1] Of David. In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. [2] I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. [3] No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. [4] Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. [5] Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. [6] Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. [7] Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, LORD, are good. [8] Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. [9] He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. [10] All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. [11] For the sake of your name, LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. [12] Who, then, are those who fear the LORD? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. [13] They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. [14] The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. [15] My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare. [16] Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. [17] Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. [18] Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. [19] See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me! [20] Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. [21] May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, LORD, is in you. [22] Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles! Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What do you learn about the Lord in this psalm?Even though this psalm is full of longing, lament and faith, it’s also a play on words, an acrostic poem where every verse starts with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Carefully constructed, this psalm oscillates between different moods. One of the dominant themes is the writer’s emotional honesty. He acknowledges his earlier sins (7), his afflictions and distress (18), and his enemies (19). This raw intensity is often lost on the reader, filtered through a sophisticated “spiritual” mesh. We may sometimes be uncomfortable expressing our darker emotions to God in prayer, preferring to present a more palatable picture or to speak more generally of our failure and sin. It was not so with David. But in equal measure, David articulates faith in a most vigorous way. When he asks God to show him his ways (4) and to remember him (6,7), he is not merely expressing correct doctrine, but speaking as a man who needs God to act. We need God just as much, and for the same reasons David did.
Apply
Write on a sheet of paper “My Psalm.” Now pour out your longings to your Father. Focus on your feelings most.
Closing prayer
Father God, I’m certainly thankful that I can share my true, honest feelings with You, no matter what they are.
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