Seeking

Breaking down Psalm 25 every two-three stanzas for the next few days. Here's the beginning.


"To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.

Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior.
and my hope is in you all day long."

Psalm 25:1-5



Everyone is seeking something. Whether they realize it or not, they are seeking for a very specific thing. Some call it happiness. Others call it wealth. Some know that "happiness" and "wealth" are two very relative things, and that simply seeking one will only lead to a life of emptiness. I think it would be true to say that trust is an extremely difficult concept for most of us to entertain. Or maybe I should clarify by saying, FULL trust. COMPLETE and TOTAL trust. Yes? Who do you truly fully trust? Don't lie to yourself, be honest. I'm asking who you trust with your life, who you trust with your heart, your fears, your vulnerabilities, your weaknesses, your strengths. Ah, of course I trust them, you say of a specific person, I would trust them with my life. But do you trust them with your heart? Do you trust them with everything you are, down to the very core, or are there things you keep hidden even from your most trusted, most valued friend and confidant? Something tells me nine out of ten times when you really think about it, you aren't trusting that one person as much as you think you are. And we are asked to give up everything we are to the Lord, we are told to give our very soul into His hands. We balk at giving up a little trust to someone we know and love in the physical person. Trusting in the Lord is really an abstract concept. But as we read the very first line, we see that it isn't even a demand for us to trust, it is a very personal plea from the psalmist to God, telling Him that everything he has is the Lord's. There is a plea for rescue "from shame." For me, I not only see the word "shame" but it is also translated into a multiple depth of concepts. Concepts of being oppressed, persecuted, struck down, destroyed. Paul talks about those concepts much later on, but here they take on an almost raw, emotional quality. And in the same breath, as the psalmist pleads for protection, he speaks of the promise, the hope that exists in the Lord. It's a continuous flow...trust in the Lord, lift up your soul, for you know that when you place your trust and hope in the Lord, we cannot be "put to shame."

The second part is beseeching the Lord to show us His ways, to place our hearts upon His desires. I think that the last few lines (4-5) are so beautiful. "You are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Simply gorgeous. There is so much hope in that statement, and the existence of love is so evident.

I am seeking something, but it isn't monetary wealth (although of course that's always nice), it isn't straight happiness (although that will be a result of what I am seeking), and it isn't outsourced love (again, relationships are wonderful and necessary, but not the main point). I am seeking His face. I am seeking someone to trust infinitesimally with everything I am, have been, and will become. I am seeking a deep connection based on trust, a relationship with the amazing God, the Author of love, of creation. I am seeking His path, for I know my own is so abysmally flawed, full of pot-holes and thorns and horrible dangers. I want to see His ways, I want to see the world as He sees it. I want to wholeheartedly seek Him all day long. We are all seeking something. I don't want to be one of the millions who seek it in the wrong places. I want to be able to love without abandon, live life to the fullest, be pushed beyond my narrow scope of vision to something that is easily in the broad future that He holds in His hands. We are all seeking something. So where do we go to find it?