“Because of your goodness Lord”
In this Sunday’s Psalm we receive an awesome invitation from God: to ask Him to show us his way more in our lives, His will! What a beautiful reminder to us from God that our heavenly Father truly cares about the smallest details of our lives (Lk 12:7). Let’s lay out the scripture and then seek to have it laid upon our hearts going forward.
“Make known to me your ways, Lord; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. For you I wait all the long day, because of your goodness, Lord.” (Ps 25:4-5)
The Psalms have been well described as a school of prayer. In them we find divine instruction for growing in our relationship with God. In this portion of Psalm 25, God is teaching us to have hearts that are oriented or turned toward Him, our loving Father who wants to show His intimate care for us. I recently heard someone describe the Gospel as the Father wooing the world. Amen! So it goes…for God so loved the world (& YOU) that he gave His only begotten Son. (Jn 3:16)
God teaches us in this prayer to ask Him to show us the way, His path in the various situations we encounter in our lives. What good father would deprive his children of good guidance? God the Father is perfect, and in this prayer He’s inviting you and me to begin to lean into His loving guidance more, asking for His truth, His teaching. When God shows us His way, His truth, His goodness and how to apply what He shows us to a particular situation, we walk in the light that Jesus promised His disciples. (Jn 8:12)
When we were baptized, we were wired for revelation, wired to be able to receive God’s insight into situations, especially when we ask, seek and knock. (Mt 7:7). With the Holy Spirit’s gifts of wisdom, understanding, knowledge and counsel, we are given supernatural insight into how to handle day to day, moment to moment situations. The Spirit’s gifts of courage, righteousness and fear of the Lord help us to carry out what God reveals to us in a noble and holy way (the cardinal virtue of prudence is doing the right the thing in the right way.)
Verse 5 delights my heart: God teaches us in this prayer to learn to wait “all day long” on His goodness. It’s language that speaks really about a posture that says: I’m not making a move without being aware of how my Heavenly Father moves! Sometimes doing the right thing is as easy as breathing, right? But sometimes, oh sometimes, we know it goes so much deeper than that. How do we deal with tough family situations? What about difficult work arrangements? Maybe that one relationship that is just so very hard to be Christian in? God invites us this week to start practicing the posture of “I don’t act in any way that my Father doesn’t act.” So how should we act from situation to situation? In verses 4 & 5 of Psalm 25, God lovingly reminds us, “just ask me”.
Love you all! –Fr. Patrick