Three Promises
Psalm 143:8-10 (NIV)
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God;
may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
This Psalm contains a list of things we may be asking God to do for us. It also contains a list of things the Psalmist promises God in return. The first list enumerates the things we want God to do for us. (Bring me word of your unfailing love, show me the way I should go, rescue me from my enemies, teach me to do your will, and lead me on level ground.) The second list is what we promise God in return for doing these things for us. (I will put my trust in you, I will lift up my soul and I will hide myself in you.)
Our list of promises is not easy to complete. Doing the things on our list requires time in prayer and thoughtful attention; time centering ourselves in God, instead of centering on the things of the world. But, Oh, the things of the world draw us! And we watch and listen to the world all the time!
Is it just me, or is the overwhelming majority of the news of the world bad, sad, or negative lately? Everywhere I turn, there seems to be more negative news. And unfortunately, there are so many sources that our eyes and ears are bombarded with sights and sounds almost 24x7! We seem to fill our time with social media from so many sources, consuming sights and sounds endlessly!
We spend countless hours each week watching “graven images” talking and telling us things from their viewpoints. We feel overwhelmed! And no wonder, it’s too much to take in and our brains are struggling with information overload! We might feel helpless, as we hear the constant barrage of bad, sad news, since there is little we can do about so much of it. But we soak it in any way! We don’t want to be uninformed, do we?
I figured we need some statistics about all this information, so I consulted the Barna Group and found that the average American adult spends over seven hours a day looking at some type of screen! And the statistics say that the average Christian spends roughly 30 minutes a day reading the Bible.
While a significant portion of Christians express a desire to read the Bible more, only a small percentage (11%) of US Adults say they read the Bible daily!
In his Encyclical Letter from 2015, the beloved Pope Francis wrote, “When the media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people from learning how to live wisely, to think deeply, and to love generously.” Wise words.
And unfortunately, my friends, ten years later, for many people that is already happening. We may need to go on a screen diet, an electronic diet, a diet made up of more Bible, more time listening to God’s word - God’s good news and more time in prayer. We may need to give up time spent on the junk food of every available entertainment source and turn to more food for the soul.
We may need to identify some of the enemies and idols, that are thieves of our time and our peace of mind! We may need to leave off the unhealthy “sweets” that we are wolfing down in those hours of screen time! We absolutely need to turn to God’s word, to find the Good News we need so desperately. We absolutely need to find a way to do the three things we promise God in today’s Psalm:
- to lift up our souls
- to hide ourselves in God
- to walk on that level ground
Prayer:
So, let’s use today’s scripture (slightly edited) as a prayer toward that end…Will you pray with me?
Dear Loving God,
8. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I will put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I will lift up my soul.
9. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord,
for I will hide myself in you. (And…)
10. Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
And Lord, show me what I need to give up and what I need to add to my information diet. Rescue me from the idols of “junk food media” and deliver me from bad habits that steal time from You. Reel me in Lord and help me to follow Your Good Spirit on that level ground.
AMEN.
Today’s podcast was written and read by Bernice Howard.
Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.
If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.
First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.
