Psalm 25:1-10 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 25:1-10 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
Verse 2O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
Verse 3Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Verse 4Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
Verse 5Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
Verse 6Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
Verse 7Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O Lord!
Verse 8Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
Verse 9He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
Verse 10All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
Devotion
“Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.”
Henny taught me what the Psalmist was waiting and yearning for. She grew up in orphanages in her early years and in a foster home as a teenager. Her mother was in a mental hospital most of her adult life and her father was abusive, and then disappeared from her life.
Young Henny was very bright and had amazing artistic abilities, but was labeled by her peers both at school and later at work as a loser. One day, at the company where she was a bookkeeper, a bank executive recognized her ability, loyalty and honestly and became her advocate. He introduced her to his pastor and together they instilled a feeling of self worth that continued into her retirement years.
As one of her later pastors, I preached one Sunday that God has created us to soar like Jonathan Livingston Seagull. When I left that parish, she gave me a beautifully framed picture of a seagull. She didn’t have to say a word. I knew she meant, “Hub, I am a hen, but I confidently wait for the day when I will fly like a seagull.” I think that she is already taking her test flights. “For you,” writes the Psalmist, “I wait all the day long.”
Prayer
O Lord, come quickly, that I may fly like Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Amen.