Make me to know thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long.
–Psalm 24:4,5
Make me to know thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long.
–Psalm 24:4,5
Kendall, I was also struck by this morning’s lectionary. It was tempting to merely focus on Ps. 25 and Ps. 9 and their promises of comfort to the afflicted — especially in light of Hurricane Gustav and my friends in its path.
But even more relevant to my mind was the reading from Job 12:
[i]“With God are wisdom and might;
he has counsel and understanding.
If he tears down, none can rebuild;
if he shuts a man in, none can open.
If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
With him are strength and sound wisdom;[/i]
Can we trust in God’s wisdom even in the face of a storm such as Gustav? More importantly can we trust the promise of Psalm 25, a few verses below the verse you quoted:
Ps. 25:8-10
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
May the Lord grant us grace to trust in His steadfast love and His goodness and faithfulness, even in the midst of pain, storms, persecution or affliction.
My full musings on these passages are over at L&B;in a [url=http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/as-hurricane-gustav-nears-landfall-these-are-timely-words-from-todays-lectionary/]short devotional I wrote.[/url]