‘Keep My Soul’

O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.

Psalm 25:20

For the people of God, Christ is our Hope, our Refuge, and our Defender. We resort to Him when ‘all around our soul gives way.’ David was in such a circumstance. He was seeking the guidance of the Lord to navigate his way through thorny paths. He made allusions throughout the psalm to both the needs of his own soul to be taught of God, as well as for God to preserve him from his enemies. In our text for today, David articulates his utter and complete dependence upon God. He has no hope in himself, but wholly rests upon what God can do for him to keep his soul, deliver him, and not let him be ashamed. David’s hope is our hope. We may reason to the extent of our knowledge and ability. We may seek to effect change and make wise decisions. We may seek to avoid all the traps which all our enemies lay for us. At the end of it all, the best we can do may not succeed anywhere nearly so much as we desire. All our hope must be in Christ to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He is the Great Keeper of our soul, our Strong Deliverer, and the One Who will preserve us from being ashamed. Let us, on this day, and every day, resort to the One Who will more than make up for all that we lack. He is our High Tower, our ever Strong Defense.

High King of heaven,
we rejoice that you guard and guide Your people.
We praise You, that You will be our Great Defender,
until the day and hour that we arrive at the Holy City.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘Forgive All My Sins’

Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.

Psalm 25:18

‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.’ We accept that as part of reality. We realize that as long as we are going to traverse this ‘vale of tears,’ we will encounter and endure afflictions. The presence of sin in us exacerbates those burdens of affliction. Our afflictions may not be the result of our sins, or even related to them in any specific way, yet a burdened conscience causes everything to feel worse. In our text for today, David appeals to God on two fronts. He says, ‘Look on my affliction and my pain and forgive all my sins.’ These two things may or may not be necessarily related. David desires that God should intervene in both. He wanted, not only to see God rectify his pain and affliction, as well as to forgive his sin. We are often where David was. We encounter afflictions and can endure them, but we do not want the added burden of a guilty conscience. This brings us to the Person and Work of Christ as it relates to our pain, our affliction, and our guilt. Christ understands us, because He is human. He knows pain and affliction. He has the power to address our pain and affliction because He is God. He also has the power to forgive our sins. Regardless of what we need, so far as the intervention of God is concerned, we fly to Christ. He is the One Who can effect the changes in our state and condition of which we most stand in need today. As we do consistently and with intent, we point you today to Christ. He did David good. He will do you good as well.

Our Loving and All-Seeing God,
we rejoice that you understand all our deficiencies.
We praise You that You are able to address all our circumstances
and to bring us to a good end.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘Consider My Enemies’

Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

Psalm 25:19

Christ is ever the Great Defender of His people. Throughout the Scriptures, we find instance after instance of God’s people encountering those who would do them harm, only to have Christ intervene at the critical moment to deliver them from their tormentors. Israel cried to God in their bondage in Egypt and God delivered them. At the Red Sea, He delivered a crushing blow to the Armies of Pharaoh. Against the Midianites and the Philistines, God moved to scatter them and to preserve his people. David had personal experience of such deliverance. Because he had seen God act on his behalf, David was not shy to make the appeal we find in the words of our text for today. He says, ‘Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.’ As spiritual people, we look to God to contend for us against our enemies. We may employ whatever earthly tools He places in our hands, and use whatever wisdom He grants us to deal with those who intend to do us harm but our confidence is in Him. As our King, Christ both rules and defends us. He restrains and ultimately will defeat all of His and our enemies. As we find ourselves surrounded by enemies, who would be glad to swallow us up, we appeal to Christ, Who is able to see all their evil designs and to deliver us from their clutches. Today, let us appeal to Christ, Who is Our Shield and Our Defender. Let us hope in Him Who is able to oppose all our enemies and to defeat them for His Own honor and glory. He will not fail us, now, or ever.

Our Great Shield and our Defender,
we rejoice that You act on our behalf to deal with all our enemies.
We rejoice that Christ, our Great King,
will be victorious over all of His enemies and all of ours.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘Have Mercy Upon Me’

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

Psalm 25:16-17

We love to stand upon the mountaintop, but often find ourselves in the valley.  We want all to be well with our body, soul and spirit, yet we find that, at times, we are ‘desolate and afflicted.’ There is the temptation to think that we are somehow exceptional; that no one else, has ever endured what we are enduring, or felt the way we feel. Our text for today shows us that we are not alone. David, the choice servant of God, felt very much as we do. Much of David’s life was turmoil and trouble. His father-in-law King Saul hunted him to kill him. He warred often, surrounded by enemies who sought to destroy him. Eventually, members of his own family conspired to depose him, aided by some of his lifelong friends and counselors.  He found himself brought low on many occasions and under a variety of circumstances. When he was ‘desolate and afflicted,’ and when the troubles of his heart were enlarged, where could he turn? He turned to God. In evangelical terms, he turned to Christ. He prayed, ‘Turn Yourself to me and have mercy on me.’ Christ was the answer for his most depressed and desolate condition.  It is even so for us. We will find ourselves in similar straits to David, although not necessarily for the same reasons. Our hope and help is never going to arise from ourselves. All the self-motivation, and arguing ourselves into right thinking will not elevate our spirits one bit. Christ Alone can lift us up. He has never failed anyone who has resorted to Him. Today, let us appeal to this Succoring Savior to have mercy upon us.  Jesus never fails.

Our Glorious, Uplifting God,
we praise You that we may ever turn to You.
We rejoice that You will lift us up, and carry us forward,
all the way to Your Heavenly Kingdom.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘Out of the Net’

Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Psalm 25:15

The path of life is full of perils and pitfalls. Not all of these are of the same stripe and variety. Some of the perils arise out of our own ignorance and lack of wisdom. Other pitfalls exist because we are part of fallen humanity. Still others exist because of the evil intentions and maliciousness of those who hate us for whatever reason they do. In our text for today, David declares, ‘Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.’ David is well aware that there are those who would love nothing more than to see him fail. To that end, they spread artfully contrived and carefully camouflaged ‘nets’ to ensnare him. David recognized that to avoid these entrapments, and to survive them, he would need Divine aid. Therefore, he declares, ‘My eyes are ever toward the Lord.’ In evangelical terms, David is looking to Christ. Christ sees the end from the beginning. He is aware of all the evils we may encounter. If we look to Christ for daily guidance, He will lead us around and away from many of the entrapments into which we would certainly fall without that leading. Even if, through our own ignorance or stupidity, we fall into a ‘net,’ He is able to ‘pluck’ our feet out of it. This draws us continually to Christ. This makes the means of grace ever more valuable. As we read the Word of God, seeking to see Christ there; as we commune with Him and abide in Him, the Holy Spirit guides our steps to ensure our safety. Wherever you are in life today, look to Christ. He will pluck your feet out of the net. He will guide you safely home.

Our Gracious Master and Our God,
We praise You that You see every circumstance
that we may encounter well ahead of time.
We rejoice that by Your Divine Grace,
You will deliver us from the things that would do us the most harm.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning