Great Plains Daily Devotional for 10/6/2022

Psalm 26 

Vindicate me, O Lord,
    for I have walked in my integrity,
    and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
    test my heart and mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
    and I walk in faithfulness to you.

I do not sit with the worthless,
    nor do I consort with hypocrites;
I hate the company of evildoers,
    and will not sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence,
    and go around your altar, O Lord,
singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
    and telling all your wondrous deeds.

O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,
    and the place where your glory abides.
Do not sweep me away with sinners,
    nor my life with the bloodthirsty,
those in whose hands are evil devices,
    and whose right hands are full of bribes.

But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
    redeem me, and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground;
    in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.

“Vindicate me, Lord, for I have led a blameless life …”
               
I am thankful that God does not require each of us to have led a blameless life. I know there have been times when I have acted in a spirit of anger, envy or even spite instead of a spirit of goodwill and love. There have been times when I tried to rely on solely on myself instead of on God’s faithfulness. I have lied (or not shared the complete truth) or been hypocritical. I have definitely been less than perfect in living my life and my faith, yet I consider myself to have been a committed and faithful Christian for most of my life.
               
I am thankful that God, through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, provides guidance and encouragement as I go on to perfection in love. I give thanks for the days when perfection in love seems more attainable – when God seems closer and living my faith is easier. I also give thanks for God’s continued presence, grace and love particularly on the days when perfection in love seems less attainable, the days I’m tired and grumpy and disillusioned by the world.
               
Perhaps some identify more strongly with this psalmist and consider themselves to be mostly (or entirely) blameless.  Perhaps other identify more with the deceitful, the hypocrites, the evildoers and the wicked named in the psalm.  The overall good news for me is that God’s love is for each of us – those closer to perfection in love and those further away.
 

Prayer for Reflection

Lamentations 1:1-6
Lamentations 3:19-26
Psalm 137
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Psalm 37:1-9
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Luke 17:5-10