A God We Can Count On
O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help! . . . Take control of what I say, O Lord, and keep my lips sealed. Don’t let me lust for evil things; don’t let me participate in acts of wickedness. Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do evil. Psalm 141:1-4
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In this psalm David not only called on the Lord for protection from the enemies that were hunting him down; he also cried out to God and counted on him to do a deep work within his own heart. He needed God to set a guard over his lips and prevent wrong speech, to preserve his heart, to deliver him from lust and evil desires that would lead to wicked acts, and to so work within David that he would welcome reproof from godly people. He knew he couldn’t depend on his flesh and human effort. They are too weak and too easily led astray. He relied instead on God’s heart-changing power to be at work within him. As David prayed, we also can—and must—freshly call on the Lord to be at work in our hearts, and then we can rest in and count on his faithfulness to transform us from the inside out.
Prayers:
LORD, I praise you that you are a God I can count on to keep me! Left to myself, I am not strong enough to walk in your paths. Deliver me from choosing my own way instead of yours. Strengthen my heart, and thank you for working within me according to your purposes!
Quotes:
If God maintains sun and planets in bright and ordered beauty, he can keep us.
F. B. Meyer (1847–1929)
The One Year Bible Readings for today are: 2 Kings 4:18–5:27; Acts 15:1-35; Psalm 141:1-10 and Proverbs 17:23.
