Psalm 25:1-10 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 25:1-10 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
Verse 2O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
Verse 3Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Verse 4Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
Verse 5Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
Verse 6Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
Verse 7Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O Lord!
Verse 8Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
Verse 9He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
Verse 10All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
Devotion
“For you I wait all day long.” Who waits for anything all day long? Each day I drive 3.5 miles to the church. The commute is a series of pauses, a series of waits that are most often accompanied by impatience and annoyance, pedestrians and trains, stop signs and stoplights.
An international student evangelist once observed, “People in the States never wait for anything, they’re always on their way somewhere. When do you get the time to share the story of Jesus, to hear others’ stories of faith?” He looked forward to the end to a particular bus strike; finally he’d have a place where people waited, at the bus stop, and an opportunity to share a word of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness!
What if this day, as we wait for stop signs and stoplights, for the bus, for children, or at the clinic, we took the time to listen and experience God’s presence?
Prayer
God of steadfast love, God of faithfulness, give us patience, give us the hunger to wait, with eager expectation of your presence in the world and in our lives. Amen.