Psalm 25:1-3 March 12, 2009

Ps 25:1-3 "To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 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." NIV

When the pressure is on where does your soul turn? Where you turn in those moments of pressure that impact your life shapes your personal identity as well as your emotional makeup. Crisis has a tendency to leave an imprint on your inner being and how you walk through that crisis shapes you greatly. In that moment of decision if your heart rises in relationship to the Lord and your soul is comforted by his presence as you worship then a life of trust in God is strengthened. If instead we turn to earthly answers without consulting God then our hearts are strengthened in their independence from Him.
Finding answers without dependence creates two vital flaws in our hearts. First of all we may solve the problem but we do it without establishing the living connection with God that was intended to deepen our walk with him through a shared experience of the crisis. We do not receive the joy and peace that comes through reaching into his heart in worship in our time of need and discovering Christ our peace, Christ our wisdom. Secondly when we neglect a dependence upon God in crisis we may find a solution but often times that solution has negative consequences that we could have been spared through receiving a higher wisdom that only comes from God.
James 3:17 describes the wisdom of God as “first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” Have you ever made a decision that came back to cause all kinds of problems? Have you ever made a choice and then endured great emotional stress as you hoped that it wouldn’t end up in disaster? When our wisdom flows out of God’s Spirit it brings with it his peace. Even as David is declaring his trust in the Lord he is strengthening that trust by testifying to the fruit of a dependence upon God.
David truly understood that those who look to God for their answers will never be put to shame. Trusting in God doesn’t necessarily deliver us from the negative consequences of our previous poor decisions but when we embrace the wisdom of God as displayed in James, “pure… peace loving… considerate… submissive... merciful… fruitful… impartial… sincere,” the quality of this kind of response protects us from shame even in the midst of negative consequence. The powerful truth of this principle is that even when the circumstances that we must walk through may be difficult, when we choose a Godly response of humility that flows out of God’s wisdom, the positive character of our wisdom will protect our integrity and emotional well being even as we walk through the difficult circumstance. Many times hard circumstances result in damaged emotions and the benefit of leaning on God is that a Godly response protects the soul from wounding even when we must still walk through the challenging times.