Psalm 37:5-6
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will make your vindication shine like the light,
and the justice of your cause like the noonday.
We are looking at Psalm 37 and pondering its wisdom as guidelines for 2024. Rafiki, the baboon liboni in “Lion King,” hit Simba over the head and agreed that the “past does hurt but the way I see it, you learn from it or you run from it.” We look back on 2023 and lick our wounds from the hard lessons we learned and ponder what 2024 holds, trying not to repeat our mistakes. First, focus on God and don’t fret about the tough times that are temporary and will pass. Next we emotionally and spiritually open our fists that hold on so tight to our problems and trust them into God’s care. He walks with us and holds us. Tough stuff. We are free to do good and to not keep rethinking our problems, leaning on our own insight or the next friend with a new idea. Then delighting in the Lord is opening our hearts to his presence during lament and joy.
Today King David advises us to commit our lives to the Lord. These are not easy ideas to put into practice. Perhaps we can think of how we felt when we made a commitment at a wedding or a decision we made to care for a failing parents during the ups and downs of dementia. I think commitment is not like joining a political party in election year but it goes deeper. The values we commit to are the values we want to be part of our life whether our candidate wins or loses. It is the decision to stick with God when we are happy and when we are crying. It is a resolve of the will and the soul.
Let’s make an acrostic of the word “trust” and choose things we would like to commit to God this year. T is for…time or……, R is for….., U is for ……, T is also for…… Lord, please help me to keep my hands open as I present these things to you this year. Thank you, Lord, for being trustworthy.
On the Way to Wonder 