LISTEN
READ
Psalm 25:1-10
CONTEMPLATE
Welcome to Lent meditation and worship with Westside church. During this Lenten season, meet us here each day as we read scripture, worship and rest in the presence of God together. Know that as you listen today, you are doing so with others whether in the same space as you or not, and we pray that the Holy Spirit permeates the places we each find ourselves in right now.
Let us start today by clearing our minds and opening our hearts and minds to what the Lord wants to speak to us through His word today. Take a deep breath in and out. And another in and out.
Psalm 25:1-10
1O Lord, I give my life to you.
2 I trust in you, my God!
Do not let me be disgraced,
or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.
3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,
but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.
4 Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
5 Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
6 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love,
which you have shown from long ages past.
7 Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth.
Remember me in the light of your unfailing love,
for you are merciful, O Lord.
8 The Lord is good and does what is right;
he shows the proper path to those who go astray.
9 He leads the humble in doing right,
teaching them his way.
10 The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness
all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.
This is a cry for compassion in the midst of crisis. David is calling out for help and fears the Lord won’t come through. But he is now ready to give up his own ways in exchange for the way of God. David pleas for a way forward, asking for God to “show” and “lead” him in the right way. So much of this Psalm echoes Psalm 51 in which David is grieving his own sin and asking for forgiveness. Here again he recognizes and remembers his own sin and is asking for the mercy of God. That God would remember his unfailing love and compassion, so that David could again be set right and follow in the path that follows the way God leads.
For us, the path has already been set right. Jesus set it right and is now our path to the Father. We don’t need to plead for the grace of God, it is freely given and we need to accept it. Donald L William says, “The foundation for discipleship is God’s grace.” When we accept that grace we are welcomed into relationship with Him. When we finally humble ourselves enough to admit we’ve got it wrong, Jesus is there waiting to show us how to get it right. Sometimes it takes a crisis like David and sometimes it can just be the day in and day out of an unfulfilled life. Life with Jesus is best way, not the easiest way. Are you willing to lay down your own ways to follow the way of Jesus?
PRAY
God of mercy,
your word was the sure defense of Jesus in his time of testing.
Minister to us in the wilderness of our temptation,
that we who have been set free from sin by Christ
may serve you well into life everlasting. Amen
WRITE and DISCUSS