#DailyDevotion Who Or What Do You Desire & Trust?
Psalm 25 I long for You, O LORD. 2I trust You, O my God; don’t let me down; don’t let my enemies triumph over me.
The psalmist lifts up his soul to the LORD. Our translator interprets this as longing for the LORD. What does this mean? It means one draws to the LORD and draws away from earthly things. It dedicates oneself solely to the service of the LORD and wants nothing more than having the LORD as one’s God. In the LORD we will find all things good and will receive from Him what our hearts truly desire. We often replace the LORD with earthly goods thinking they will fulfill our hearts desire. That is to turn them into gods. We need to lift our hearts though to the LORD and trust Him for every good thing.
So the next verse draws us to this understanding. It is parallel in meaning to the first. God, in you I trust. All earthly helps will fail me. They will fail you. They seem to satisfy for a while, but because they are not God, the LORD, they will leave you empty. In the day of trouble, they will not help you. So we put our trust in God to not let us down when our enemies—sin, death, the devil and his minions, start to attack our heart, mind and soul. Indeed, these enemies of ours try to get us to put our trust in these things rather than the One who created them.
3No one who looks to You for help will be disappointed, but those who for no reason are unfaithful will be disappointed.
If we look to God, the LORD, through Jesus Christ our LORD we will not be disappointed. Jesus Himself lifted up His soul to the Father and the Father raised Him from the dead on the third day and sat Him at His right hand. We have this promise from the Spirit that we will not be disappointed if we look to Him for help. I have found that when it seems as if the LORD has disappointed me, more often than not, I was unfaithful. I had turned to myself or something else in creation to get done what I wanted to get done. The power, the help, for my situation was there. I did not make use of it. Would that I cried out to the LORD and waited on Him I would have experienced the help of the LORD. Now, I have to quash all the voices telling me, “Do something!” Do something? Ok, I will turn to the LORD and seek His help.
4O LORD, help me know Your ways and teach me Your paths.
The LORD needs to give us His Holy Spirit so we may know His ways and His paths. We may have the word of God in front of us. By our own reason or strength we cannot understand, know or live in His ways. We need to ask the LORD to help us to know, to comprehend His will revealed in His word. We need His Spirit so we have the power to do it. The Spirit of God leads us through the word to understand the LORD is instructing us. If what you think God is telling you is in opposition to what He has taught elsewhere, if we think He is telling us to do something which is selfish and self-serving, it isn’t from Him. As a popular meme on the internet says, “If you think God is telling you to be happy by getting someone else’s spouse or be with someone other than your spouse, that isn’t God. That is your own selfish nature.”
Merciful God, heavenly Father, grant us Your Holy Spirit in the day we need help, that we may look to You for every good. Give us Your good Spirit so we may discern You will for our lives in Your Word and the power to do it. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.