Why do I fear? Why is my heart unsettled? What threatens me? David asked those questions, and he came back to a singular answer. It was not an answer that resolved the issues that created them, but it was an answer that made resolution secondary. It was an answer that refreshed his focus and his purpose, and in so doing, the "issues" took on a totally different dynamic. His answer was found, not in pursuing resolution, but in pursuing God. When I feel alone, discouraged or depressed, inadequate, or even unfulfilled, as I begin to emerge from my self-inflicted cocoon, I look around for a way to fully and completely break free. I may talk with a friend, read another good book, listen more intently, or even resolve to "do life better." These things are not "wrong" and there is within each a semblance of "good," but none of these things in and of themselves are my answer. My answer is in pursuing God.
David said, "The one thing I ask of the Lord – the thing I seek the most – is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections, and meditating in his Temple." For us, this is a word picture that encourages a quietness that separates itself from the complexities and difficulties of life long enough to think more about God, who He is, and what He desires to do in our lives, than about the threatening shadows of life’s demands and disappointments. There, says David, is where He will conceal me when troubles come. He will hide me ... He will place me out of reach ... and I will hold my head high. David’s response to God’s answer is one of thanksgiving and joy, and a continuing dialogue that asks for God to lead him and direct him, to place his feet on the right path, and to fill his heart with knowledge and understanding. And in his asking, David is confident of God’s provision.
David also acknowledged, "My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’" I’m sure that many of you, like me, have heard that soft prompting of God to find a quiet moment in the middle of the muddle. May we respond as David did, "Lord, I am coming."
– Bev
(Related Bible reading: Psalm 27:1-14)
