Tuesday May 11, 2021

Today’s Reading: Psalm 17

My steps are on Your paths; my feet have not slipped. 

Psalm 17:5

Reflection: Those who walk the path God has set before them are the ones kept from dashing their foot against a stone along the way, from falling victim to destruction. As long as their steps are on His path, they can avoid the ways of the violent and be kept from the temptation of sin. The only way that a believer in Christ would ever find themselves somewhere other than God’s path, somewhere vulnerable to danger, is if they themselves stepped off of it. On the path of God, the Christian is covered in LORD’s own Righteousness. He or she is safe and is saved. The LORD’s Presence is known on His path of Righteousness.

So then, the psalmist’s ability to go before the LORD in prayer, the assurance that his prayer has been heard by God is not a right that he has earned, but rather, a display of God’s grace that He has given by revealing His Way. How could we know the Way of God unless His Way were shown to us? This is why even our ability to respond to God’s Way is a credit to God’s Glory. If there were no Light, we would not be able to see the Way of God. If there were not a Righteous One to give true righteousness, we would be lost and vulnerable to the temptation of sin. The steps we take in God’s ways are all because of Him.

Prayer: O LORD, thank You for clothing me in Your Righteousness. Thank You for revealing to me You Way by Your Holy Word. I am kept from stumbling by Your Grace. Even when I do stumble, Your Truth comforts me and guides me in the Way that I should go. Thank You for Your Mercy to give so generously, and Your patience to lead me on a journey with You into life everlasting. Please keep me on Your path, LORD. Let me not turn to the left or to the right, but remain steadfast in Your statues. Help me to follow Your closely. Thank You Father. I pray all of these things in Jesus’ Wonderful Name, AMEN.

Bible-in-a-Year Reading Plan (credit: Biblestudytools.com): Luke 13:18-35; Genesis 24; Psalm 17