Manna for Today: Psalm 57

 

Psalm 57:1-12

Key Verse: 57:1-2

“Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.” NLT

As faithful Christians it is uncommon for us to think the perhaps we need mercy from God. We are people who find our identity in Christ. We strive to be the best Christians we can be. What reason could we possibly have to ask God for mercy? But even the best of us sometimes fall short of the holiness of Christ. We do not always love God with our whole hearts and even more often we do not always show love to those in the world around us. Sometimes we speak sharply to those we love. Sometimes we lose our temper. Sometimes we are uncharitable to our friends and our co-workers in our thoughts and in our actions. As we live in God’s perfecting grace, there is always some way we can better reflect the life and love of Christ in our own. The journey of Christian perfect is just that a journey, which daily brings us closer to Christ. Holiness is a path down which the mature Christian treads. Not a destination at journey’s end. Whenever we see how far we are from where we need to be, where we should be, we cry out to God for mercy. We ask God to fulfill God’s purpose in us, to bring us to a place of Christian perfection each day. As each day we seek to best reflect the holiness of Christ as fully and completely as we are currently able.

 

Things to Think on

 

When you look back at yesterday, last week, in what ways could you have better reflected the heart, love, and attitudes of Christ in all you did?

Ask God for mercy, for forgivesness.

Seek to make right any wrongs. Ask forgiveness of those you may have harmed.

Ask God to walk with you today, so that today your might better reflect Christ’s holiness in ways you did not yesterday.

 

A Prayer for Today

Lord, I am yours. I belong to you. I live in the shelter of your wings. You are my God and I am your child. In all things I seek to live out your character, to speak and to act in ways which show Christ’s love to everyone in my life. I want to be an example of your patience, your grace, your love, your kindness. Align all my attitudes with yours. May ALL those who know me and ALL those who encounter me experience you in me at all times.– Amen