Daily Reading: Joel 3, Psalm 26, 56, 86
Psalm 26:12 “My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregation will I bless the Lord.”
My foot standeth in an even place. A balanced, firm and level place. He has not only set good boundaries to protect me. He has allowed me the security of level ground. I am not afraid when I stand. I am not afraid to walk after the one whose footsteps have cleared and leveled the ground before me. As I stand among the saints…in the congregation…I am standing firmly so that without reservation I can abandon all fear, all worry and all questions to bless the Lord.
Psalm 56:12 & 13 “Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. (13) For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?”
Thou hast delivered my soul from death. I am made acceptable to you because of the Cross of Christ. I am saved from Hell and will spend eternity with you in Heaven…but what about now? Can I count on you to deliver me from daily snares? Will you keep me from falling again and again while I am still here on earth? Protect me from Hell, Yes, but protect me from sin…that I may walk unashamed, free from the shadows of embarrassment and guilt…let me walk before you God, in the light of the living.
Psalm 86:11-13 “Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. (12) I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. (13) For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.”
Unite my heart to fear thy name. Oh, to have a heart with one desire. How simple life could be if we truly meditated on this word and really focused our hearts toward Christ. Our hearts, not collectively, but individually are not united. We have one heart with many wants and passions. I so desire to serve God but I desire to live for myself as well. I desire to see us do well financially so that we can afford nice things to comfort, fill and protect us. I desire to see my family love and care for one another in health, both physically and emotionally. I desire to travel and experience and enjoy the world around me. I desire carnal things as well as Godly things. I desire to have more than what I need, I desire to eat more than what will fill me, I desire to look good, be admired, looked up to and be seen as “having it all together”. I am human, with human desires. My heart is sadly divided. Verse 12 has a simple remedy for my divided heart. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart. For moments at a time I can be united. If I praise Him with all my heart…forget the other desires to lift up the name of Jesus. Putting aside all the lack that makes up my feeble emotions I will stand before God in awe and fear to praise Him. I have one heart united.
Do you suppose that if I were to do this often…it would stick? Is it possible that a heart that praises God more and more often exercises a “unity muscle”? Would it make sense to practice being unified? I think so.