“You make known to me the path of life… LORD you have assigned my portion, you have made my lot secure. My body also will rest secure because you will not abandon me to the grave.” Psalms 16:5, 9, 11
David seems quite confident that the LORD has led him on the right path. Though he experienced trials, he was convinced that God would not abandon him. In trouble, God was his refuge.
I struggle, I strain against this blatant confidence. Maybe it’s my theological background- the beliefs I was taught as a child, maybe it’s my past trauma, but most days I am not assured. No “blessed assurance”’ here. Often, I see two paths diverging before me, so very many forks in the road… As I grow in wisdom, I can see the straight path, but then I get into the weeds.
I’ve been on this road for a long time now. There are trials and failures and darkness. The tapestry of my life has anything but straight lines. There are times my fabric was woven beautifully, but the strands got crooked and the path unclear.
I can’t help but look back and wonder, “Did I choose the right path?”
I ask myself, “At some point, did I get off the path and not realize?”
Can I say: “My boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance”? I don’t like the dark colors woven in the fabric of my past and present.
I do believe apart from the LORD I have no good thing. I believe he guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. The LORD confides in those who fear him. God instructs us in the way chosen for us.
God has chosen a path for me… uniquely for me. My path doesn’t look exactly like anyone else’s path. That is why no one other than God can show it to me. We can share similar experiences and walk together for a time, but God has a unique plan for me and for you. He is weaving something that only he knows what it will look like.
WHERE IS THE GOOD PATH?
I trust that God has a plan for me… I don’t always trust that his plan is good. In Psalms 1, we are warned against walking, standing, or sitting in the way of the wicked. The way of sinners will perish, blowing away like dust in the wind. When the wicked die, people will have nothing good to say about them, but the LORD watches over the way of the righteous. They are like trees planted by streams of water.
So I ask the LORD, “Show me your ways, teach me your paths.” I ask the LORD not to remember my past sins. The times I failed… the times I flailed… the times I flopped on my face. The LORD was not absent in those times. Psalms 25:8 says he “instructs sinners in his ways.” Even in my darkest times, when I turned my back on him, the LORD was instructing me.
I’m done asking the LORD to show me what my tapestry will look like in the end. That is for him alone to know, but it is OK for us to ask God to show me what is next on the journey of my life. We want to ask the LORD what colors to take up next. Should I don the bright colors and prepare to sing and dance or is it time to weave a dark strand and mourn? I’m so tired of throwing ashes on my head. I am weary of the dim light on this section of the path.
HOW DO WE FIND THE PATH?
“If we seek for wisdom as for hidden treasure, then we will understand what is right and fair, every good path.” (Proverbs 2:9)
Every good path…
Lord, give me wisdom to understand. I desire to walk on the good path… I know good is not always easy… I know good is not always sunshine and soft spring rains. The tree planted by steams of water still endures storms, but it is healthy and strong and grows tall in your light.
The wicked leave straight paths to walk in dark ways. They delight in doing wrong. Crooked paths lead down to death. They cause others to stumble. The tapestry of the wicked spins darkness all around them. It will unravel in time. The frayed ends will be cut off in this life and the next. The paths of upright will remain in the land. While the unrepentant are destroyed, we will remain planted.
God makes us a promise: He guards the course of the just and protects the way of the faithful.
WEEKLY BIBLE READING MEDITATION
- Psalms 16 – Psalms 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life.”
- Psalms 25 – Psalm 25:4 “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.”
- Psalms 1- Psalms 1:6 “The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”
- Proverbs 2: 1-8 – Proverbs 2:8 “He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.”
- Proverbs 2: 9-22 – Proverbs 2:12-13 “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men… who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways…”
As you were saying about being able to ask what is next, as opposed to what it all looks like in the end… I’m currently in a season of asking God to reveal to me or remind me, so that I am confident, of the specific promises on which I am to stand. I was reminded yesterday that Abraham was able to offer Isaac as sacrifice, because he knew that God had promised offspring coming from Isaac. Even it meant the “impossible” of Gid raising Isaac frim the dead, Abraham knew he would live to fulfill the promise. He didn’t know how, when, or what it would look like, but he was able to be obedient, because he knew the promise on which he stood. I am trying to be less concerned with the path and more focused on the promise.
God does prepare us for the seasons (colors) ahead. This really resonates with me.