Scripture

Psalm 5:7-8 NLT

Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe. Lead me in the right path, O LORD, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.

Consider

The psalmist gives us a beautiful image of God’s approachability, made possible by God’s unfailing love for us. Who else can offer us love that is reliable, unconditional, infinitely patient, and wholly intended for our good? With such love as this, God welcomes our knock on the door and invites us into his holy presence. Our God wants to be known. Through his Word, through our prayers and meditations, God shows us his heart and his nature.

If we sit still and listen, God teaches us what we need to know about ourselves and gives us wisdom for dealing rightly with whatever life presents to us.

With our minds thus set right and our hearts fortified, we can navigate even hostile circumstances with integrity that protects us from following wrong paths and getting ourselves into worse trouble.

The psalmist’s key to successful navigation is to seek God first, to approach God with a thankful and listening heart before we make our choices. Too often we forget to consult with God, or we stubbornly stick to our habitual ways, relying on the world’s wisdom to guide us. Left to ourselves, we are likely to respond in kind to the evil that is done to us, giving back insult for insult, hurting back as we have been hurt. This tactic only makes us vulnerable to sin and victims of our oppressive circumstances rather than conquerors.

If you would act wisely, seek God before you jump in with a best-guess solution to a thorny problem. Make time to sit in God’s holy presence and just listen. With humility and deepest awe, receive the love and wisdom God has for you.

Pray

Heavenly Father, thank you for your love that never fails. Lead me in the right path when I am facing adversity and don’t know where to turn. Help me to trust that your ways are always best for me.

Reflect

Proverbs 14:12; James 1:5

Ponder

When is the best time of day for me to seek God’s company?