In You I Trust

Psalms 25:1-2 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

This passage seems like a quintessential prayer appealing directly to our human nature. It asks God to let us reign supreme in our dealings with our enemies and to allow us our dignity. Thankfully, the first part balances this perspective out.

What’s interesting in this passage is how the passage first starts by surrendering the soul to the Lord. It is just as we all should do. When we place our soul in the hands of the Lord, we place him in the driver seat of our life, now and forever. This should also remind us of how short-lived our life here on earth really it. It compares to a drop in the bucket of time. And our long-term focus should not be on where we are. Rather, our focus needs to be on where we are ultimately going. With that thought in mind we need remember to look carefully at what we desire in our lives. We should seek to find balance with what God would have us do.

The final part of the passage asking to not be put to shame would seem to fly in the face of how the life of Jesus Christ played out. The passage should also serve as a reminder that pride is strong and when shamed we are often tempted to lose our trust in God. This temptation certainly happened in the life of Christ. He was humbled in coming down from heaven. He lived among us and suffered the humiliation of the cross so that we would be reconciled to our Father in Heaven. Yet, in the end his short-lived humiliation was just that - It was short lived. He was raised from the dead. He walked among us once again, and then he ascended into heaven in glory. We, who tend to embrace a short-term out look need to pause and look at the long term. Our immediate situation has a purpose. Determining through prayer what the purpose is should be a focus for all of us. For if we truly lift up our souls and trust in the Lord, we have all the assurance we really need. There will be a purpose in our lives. We will learn what we must learn when we need to learn it. We will be able to share those valuable lessons with others. It is tough in the midst of a crisis, to accept it is for our own good. Really it really boils down to one thing. We either trust God, or we don't. There's no middle ground we can carve out that says we trust God on a limited basis. We either do so completely, or not. My prayer for all of us is to hang on to Psalm 25 :1. "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God."

PRAYER: Almighty God, we lift up our souls to You. We place our trust in You, and You alone. Your own Son died on the cross for our sins that we would be once again reconciled to You. This important lesson needs to ring clear in our lives. Just as Jesus placed his trust in You, help us through the Holy Spirit to have that same faith. This we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit. One God, now and forever. Amen.