STOP Have you ever been lost? Your heart rate increases, panic ensues, you get nervous. It’s in these moments that you just find yourself wanting desperately to know the way. Either the way that you need to go forward, the way back to where you took the wrong turn, or the way you’re supposed to be going. You may even feel similar about life. You want direction. David felt the same in this psalm: “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.” Whenever you are feeling that you don’t know where to turn, take comfort in the path, in the way that he is leading you. Lastly, all of what’s on your mind, your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, the expectations, your agendas, your to-do lists, imagine them as distractions along the path way. Will you stop and dwell on them as you make your way forward or will they take you off of the way that they Lord wants you to go? EXHALE Find peace in Christ. When you are ready, pray this simple prayer a few times while still focusing on your breathing. As you inhale pray, “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul” As you exhale, pray, “in you I trust, O my God”(vs.1-2) LOOK Read these words slowly and carefully. Read it a few times. Notice which words or phrases stick out to you. “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me for you are good, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. For the sake of your name, O lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. [....]Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish[...] May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you” (Psalm 25:4-12, 16-17, 21 NIV) ASK What stood out to you? Highlight/mark it in your bible. As I read through and meditate on Psalm 25, I see repeated the word “Way” several times. His way is challenging, it’s hard to follow. We are going to veer off the path at some point. However, as David says, “Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways.” We all have rebellious ways where we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. David continues to say, “For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.” Is your sin great and heavy upon you? Have you strayed from the path? Do you need to hear and cry out for the Lord to remember his great mercy and love and not your rebellious ways? HEAR What is God saying to you? Listen to hear his still small voice. Quiet your mind and search your heart. Now pray: “Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.” You are waiting to hear from the Holy Spirit, still your heart and mind. Based on the scripture you read today, God’s words to you, is there anything God is asking you to do? Read the scripture again if you need to. God is speaking to you through it. To finish up your quiet time, meditate on where you find your hope? David says hope three times in this psalm. He says that, “No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame (3),” he says that his, “hope is in you all day long (5),” and lastly, he requests that, “integrity and uprightness protect [him] because my hope is in you (21).” Do you find hope in the Lord all day long? Because of your hope in the Lord and what he will do, are you asking protection through your integrity and uprightness? Hoping in the Lord will never put you to shame.
