“Let me hear Your loving devotion in the
morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to
You I lift up my soul.” (Psalms
143: 8)
One
possible personal translation of this might be,
“God,
cause me to hear Your devoted love of Your redeeming (rescuing) me from my
enemies at daybreak, for I have put my total trust in You alone. Teach me know—to
perceive, recognize, acknowledge, and confess—You and Your ways in which I
should live, for I give You my soul—my whole being. I desire to come before you
in total faith, with love, by confession of Your might and sovereignty, so I
offer myself to You as Your servant and child.”
The
psalmist stated his enemies pursued him, wanting to kill him. Because of this,
his inner being fainted in fear. The psalmist grew weary of his enemies’ dogged
pursuit of his life. Then he remembered Yahweh God, whom He knows intimately,
and His works. This recollection and the writer’s circumstances compelled him
to seek God. The writer acknowledged only God could rescue him. None surpasses
Yahweh, thus he raised his hands in petition, offering, and praise.
What
did the psalmist want? To escape the fear of capture and death. To have peace. How
can we be sure of this? Read the rest of this psalm. His requests to God included:
First,
in verse nine, the psalmist wrote, “Deliver me from my enemies.” His request came
from recognizing God is almighty. The psalmist understood that God is the only
being who can rescue him in totality—in heart, mind, body, and spirit. Ultimately,
only God had the power to redeem him from every enemy.
Second,
in verse ten, the psalmist said, “Teach me to do Your good will. May Your good
Spirit lead me on level ground.” The writer wanted more than bodily and
emotional redemption. He wanted to know Yahweh better. He acknowledged the
existence of the Holy Spirit and requested God's constant presence. The Spirit
would teach and guide him to know God and to live his life for God and His
purposes. The psalmist asked God to lead him on level ground, without
difficulties. Avoiding life’s struggles is a human inclination, but don’t we
often learn more by walking with God “through the valley of the shadow of
death?” The crucible of fire in our lives grows us. Those are the times of
testing, of practicing what we have learned, so we reinforce the lessons taught.
The psalmist acknowledged God with his whole being in this verse. He wanted to
learn (head and spirit) from God so he would live (body, mind, heart, and
spirit) for God.
Third,
with verse eleven, the psalmist appealed to God’s reputation. People had heard
about His mighty acts and His children. The writer said, “So that people
continue to see You as almighty and sovereign over Your people and creation,
revive me.” By “revive me,” the psalmist meant more than just for others so
they would remember and/or see God. He asked God to show Himself to him so he
would not fear that his enemies would overcome him. The psalmist asked God to revive
him by the fullness of His favor and love because of God’s righteousness. (God
alone knows the right course of action.) The writer stated and requested, by
God’s rightness, by His omniscience and omnipotence, to bring the psalmist’s
soul (his being) out of distress. The psalmist recognized God’s rescuing of
him in his time of distress, which affected his heart, mind,
body, and spirit. This rescuing of his life, the writer stated, affected his
eternal being, his soul, too. According to the psalmist, God rescues his entire
being, not just a portion. God’s righteousness and redemption affected his
eternity. God is sovereign over time, including before it begins and after its
conclusion. He rescues people from trials and redeems them from eternal
separation. God is the God of time, including before and after time. To this
eventual and eternal future, the writer stated his hope and his faith in Yahweh
God, the self-existent One.
Fourth,
because of this recognition of God’s sovereignty and might and his confidence
in God, the psalmist repeated his plea in verse twelve. “Because of Your loving
devotion to Your people, to me, remove my enemies from chasing and harming me.” He
emphatically repeated this by writing, “Wipe out (exterminate) everyone who
harasses me.”
The
psalmist recognized, remembered, acknowledged, and confessed God as Sovereign
and almighty. By his plea, he proclaimed that God, in His omniscience and
omnipotence, possessed the ability to rescue him mentally, emotionally, bodily,
and in his spirit. This psalmist explained God could redeem him beyond temporal
time—for eternity. This man wanted rescuing from his current enemies and
believed God could and would fully redeem his being eternally by saving his
soul.
In
remembering Yahweh God, the psalmist may have laughed, knowing within his entire
being that his enemies were incapable of ever separating Him from God (Romans
8:31-39). When your enemies harass and afflict you, do you laugh because you
know God with your heart, soul, mind, and body and believe He has redeemed you
for eternity as His own child?
Laugh in the face of your enemy.
How?
Profess faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and your Savior and be saved.
“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as
Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved.” (Romans 10:9)
The
psalmist recognized God’s might and sovereignty and offered himself to God as
His servant and child because of his trust and belief in God. Do you?
