Lead Me In Your Righteousness

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

5 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Psalms 5 has ever been a favorite of mine, partially from the pure beauty of the KJV phrasing.. it flows wonderfully. I know I am using the ESV (English Standard Version) because that is the version I have.. but KJV is just pretty.. 

The thing that touches me about Psalms 5, all of it, is the passion and love David directs to God. He is rejoicing in the ability to speak with God. It isn't a duty, it isn't a chore or a requirement.. it's a joy! He gets to talk to God! 

Why don't we all feel that way? Why do we allow Satan to convince us that talking to God is a chore? Why aren't we all on our knees weeping for joy at the fact that God, not only allows us to speak with Him, but he ANSWERS?? WOW!! God answers us.. 

Now David, flawed man that he was, was smart enough to realize that not only does God listen, not only does he answer, but he cares enough to stand for us. To direct us, to guide us, to mold us.. if we will only let go.. 

That is hard for control freak me.. back when I was much more flexible (and way more fun) it was easier for me to let go.. to let God be in charge.. to rejoice in His care.. somewhere along the line I demanded control.. let me tell you, this was not my smartest move... 

Try to impress a world that can not be impressed is a wasted effort. You destroy yourself.. You won't be impressing God.. (FYI.. I just think God is up there singing Shania Twain's "That don't Impress Me Much") But if you give in to God's guidance, you become who you were meant to be, who God wants you to be and you are centered and complete.. Not even caring if someone is impressed with who you are.. 
Maybe today's post was more about rambling than what this verse is telling us.. and maybe not.. these are the words that came to me as I once again read this absolutely beautiful Psalm

Shauni

Giving God the Power and taking it away from Man

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Ever feel like you are a useless loser? That no matter how hard you try your life is a joke? Ever feel like the opinions of others have defined you? Molded you? Created you? yeah me too.. and that is SO wrong. We, as Christians know who created us, who wants to mold us, whose very being should define us. And yet so often we allow the world to interfere. 

I know I do.. it's hard not to. We are humans, we were born into families and societies and we want those families and societies to love us. To respect us, so we conform to their images. Not a horrid aspect if you come from a loving Christian family, but even there you have to deal with disappointed parents, family members. People who just "know" what is best for you. Even when you know what path you should be taking. When you feel God's call from the deepest part of your soul.. yet often we still listen to the chatter around us. Why? Well we want to be loved. We want to be accepted.. 

Standing for God can be hard, it shouldn't be. It should be a joyous statement. A powerful freedom.. but pressure, peer, family, societal.. sucks.. and yes often I succumb. 

The worst thing is when I finally stand up for my beliefs and I wonder.. am I doing this for me or for God? Am I writing this very blog because I want acknowledgement or because I need to serve God? Do I want validation so desperately that I will even use my faith, as a launching pad? Doubt.. what a demon doubt can be. How does one escape it? 

Honestly there is only one way, a way I am ever so neglectful of, and that way is to constantly be in communication with God. Spend time with your God.. spend time with the scriptures.. Even when you doubt, even when you question.. the positive reinforcements can only help. Instead of putting constant filth into your brain put some God Power in there. My grandma used to have a saying, well she had several, but one that comes to mind now is "Your mind is like a computer, Garbage in, Garbage out" what did that mean? Well if we only feed our minds negative information only negative information will come out. If that is true then it stands to reason, if we put positive messages in, God's message in, then God's message will come out. 

The most important thing to remember is that serving man gets you nowhere.. Oh sure we should serve.. but serve God.. We can serve God by serving our country, as soldiers  politicians, mail carriers (trying to think of all the gov't jobs) but when we do these things to serve God, not man there is so much more to it.. When we do it to serve man.. well man benefits sure but where is your heart? Man can not save you God can.. and will

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:5

King James Version (KJV)