Today’s Bible Reading:
Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-15; Proverbs 4:1-6
“I love You, O Lord, my strength.”
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:1-3)
Today’s Psalm was written by David after God delivered him from all of his enemies, including King Saul. The Psalms are where I have always turned when my heart is troubled. David seems to capture in much better words than I ever could the struggle to live in troubled times while trusting in the Lord. Several of the Psalms were written while he was on the run from King Saul. David had been anointed to replace Saul as the king of Israel, but he would not raise his hand against Saul, he waited and waited for God to remove Saul. Even when David was given the perfect opportunities to kill Saul he refused to do it. He was a most unusual man in this regard.
I am still trying to learn the lessons of letting God be in control. There are things that I would love to fix, and fix right now. That is not always the way of God. And so, like David, I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised. I take refuge in His presence and rely on Him for the strength to face each day. To trust Him to rescue me from whatever evil assails me. And yet, I keep trying to take back “control”-even as I acknowledge my own weakness to do anything about certain circumstances. I am pretty sure that at times I have not followed David’s wisdom in letting God deal with things instead of taking things into my own hands and forcing an action whose time had not yet come. In so doing even greater heartache has often occurred. It is so easy to say, “let go and let God,” it is quite another thing to live it. His ways are not our ways-anyone who has encountered Jesus knows that. Jesus Himself has told us, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, NLT) It is a daily process. It is a daily choice I must make to give up my way, my self, and follow Jesus.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:1-3)
Today’s Psalm was written by David after God delivered him from all of his enemies, including King Saul. The Psalms are where I have always turned when my heart is troubled. David seems to capture in much better words than I ever could the struggle to live in troubled times while trusting in the Lord. Several of the Psalms were written while he was on the run from King Saul. David had been anointed to replace Saul as the king of Israel, but he would not raise his hand against Saul, he waited and waited for God to remove Saul. Even when David was given the perfect opportunities to kill Saul he refused to do it. He was a most unusual man in this regard.
I am still trying to learn the lessons of letting God be in control. There are things that I would love to fix, and fix right now. That is not always the way of God. And so, like David, I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised. I take refuge in His presence and rely on Him for the strength to face each day. To trust Him to rescue me from whatever evil assails me. And yet, I keep trying to take back “control”-even as I acknowledge my own weakness to do anything about certain circumstances. I am pretty sure that at times I have not followed David’s wisdom in letting God deal with things instead of taking things into my own hands and forcing an action whose time had not yet come. In so doing even greater heartache has often occurred. It is so easy to say, “let go and let God,” it is quite another thing to live it. His ways are not our ways-anyone who has encountered Jesus knows that. Jesus Himself has told us, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, NLT) It is a daily process. It is a daily choice I must make to give up my way, my self, and follow Jesus.
May grace, peace, and mercy abound,
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