Devotion 

Dependence On God

Frances Taylor 

The psalmist seems to be in trouble. He is questioning if God is there for him. He asks God to send his "light and his truth" to lead him out of his situation and back to the temple in Jerusalem where he will praise God on the harp for his deliverance. One of the reasons I like the psalms is because they are so honest. "God, I'm in trouble and if you save me, I will praise you." Sounds like something I might say – and probably has said. God, if you do this for me, I will do this for you. I bet you have done the same thing. Unfortunately, I have not always kept that promise for more than a few weeks. We humans do have a bad habit of bargaining with God! Sometimes it's for ourselves, sometimes it's for someone else, but we do bargain. I don't necessarily think that this is a bad thing. It tells me that we trust that God is there to help us, that he wants to lead us back to his presence, and that we are willing to thank him. It tells me that we realize we are dependent on God. Even though we might only keep our promise for a short time, God is willing to overlook it, and be with us the next time we need his help.

Prayer 

Loving and forgiving God we are so grateful that you are there when we need you and are willing to overlook our failings. We ask you to give us the grace to be more faithful to you in the days to come. Amen.