In God we trust

DEVOTION

PSALMS

IN GOD WE TRUST

Ps 26:1-3

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

4 Show me your ways, O 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, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

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 for those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13 He will spend his days in prosperity, and his 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 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.

22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

NIV

It would be nice to be able to break this up and deal with each stanza or thought and maybe, depending on how the Lord leads us through this, as it applies to our lives, we might end up doing just that. The idea of lifting up our soul onto the Lord carries a refreshing, secure and liberating feeling. There are times when the daily grind of this life can generate a beaten down feeling. If we are not watchful we can get catch up in almost a hopelessness of this never ending cycle of life. We get up each morning and our routine begins and the day proceeds just as the day before and before that until we lay our head on the pillow at night, just to do it all over again the next day and the next. But when we spend time lifting our soul onto the Lord, everything changes. The day is full of hope, it gives us opportunity to be joyful. But it is not just a few minutes in the early of the day that we lift our soul to God, but it is a continuous lifting throughout the course of each day. We have and will always put our trust in him. As we remained focused on his love for us and his protection we are refreshed, we have peace and joy in our heart, worry and frustration are swept away by his mighty hand. We feel a sense of security unmatched by anything the world can offer. We have an assurance everything will be just fine, he is in control, his watchful eyes are upon us, not to judge us, but to shepherd us, to guide us through life. We are secure, but also we are free. We are free from condemnation for we are in Christ Jesus. Although we live by a certain form of law, we are free from the law. Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses that was given to Israel. He lived it perfectly and fulfilled all aspects of that law. Because we are in Christ, we too then have fulfilled all that law. However Jesus gave us a new covenant, just a simple one rule or law. That is to love the Lord our God with our whole being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We have a tendency to make up all sorts of rules and regulations to live by, but Jesus gave us just one or two depending on how we see it. All the law is wrapped up in that command of Jesus. All the lifestyle laid out by the Epistles is based on those words of Jesus. But some just can’t help themselves and want a set of rules and regulations, self-imposed laws, to live by. But lifting our soul onto the Lord frees us from those made man rules. We merely see the truth of loving God with our whole heart, our mind our soul, our strength will bring us into his fullness and we experience his loving kindness and because we have the Spirit dwelling within us, he expresses that loving kindness to our neighbor through us. If we take our eyes off all our self-imposed rules for Christian living and put all our trust in him living in us, through us and as us, we will never be put to shame. Our hope cannot be in the law, either the Law of Moses or our own law, our hope can only be in the Lord. In God we trust.