Passage Read: Psalm 27-30
Meditation Verses: 27:9-12
Thought
David has just proclaimed his confidence in the Lord's deliverance, yet here he is pleading to the Lord not to abandon him. His own parents have forsaken him, but he remains hopeful that the Lord will remain with him. And in the midst of his trouble, he asks the Lord to continue to teach him His ways and make his way forward clear and easy, because his enemies are watching, ready to pounce on him for any cause. He is already surrounded by false witnesses who are spreading less about him. He has enemies who are ready to attack. He needs to be even more careful how he lives, so that all who hear of him can recognize that he is innocent and honored by the Lord.
Application
Though God has delivered me in the past from trouble, yet it is not surprising that I would find myself crying out again to the Lord for deliverance from attack. Though He has invited me into deeper fellowship and I long to grow closer to Him, yet there are times when the hostility arrayed against me will make it feel like even the Lord has forgotten me or given me up--or is about to. Surely He won't, especially because I recognize how much more careful I need to be to walk in His ways when under threat, rather than give up and fight like the world. I need the Lord to keep things simple around me so I know how to walk rightly and not bring shame on the Lord or prove the lies of those who speak evil of me. I need to cry out to God because I know how weak I am in my flesh, just as Jesus warned His disciples to pray in the garden before His arrest, that they would not fall into temptation. As much as I want to be released from the threats, even more I need to make sure I do what is right in God's eyes to prove the lies of those who seek my destruction, that those who lie about me may be ashamed of their slander.