Heart Meditations

Scripture – Act 2:25-28  For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;  (26)  therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope.  (27)  For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.  (28)  You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

Observation – These two things jumped out at me as I read. vs 25 “I saw the Lord always before, for he is at my right hand that I may not shaken.”  vs 27 “For you will not abandon my soul to Hades

Application – David said that He always saw the Lord before him or in front of him.  I often wonder how I can keep God always in front of me.  We all want to have more of the presence of God in our lives.  We often ask what special prayer to I need to pray or book do I need to read in order to have more of God.  We may follow the advice of the popular speakers and teachers or worship leaders of our time. These people wax and wane in popularity but still the question remains how can I experience the presence of God consistently?

The answer I have seen in this verse is that actually it is not my responsibility to conjure or manufacture the presence of God but rather it is my job to be aware of His presence.  David does not say that Lord is at his right hand as a result of David ‘always seeing’ but rather David was able to ‘always see’ the Lord because He was at his right hand.  In other words God positioned Himself in David’s life first and as a result David was able to see Him.  God is always the actor, author and initiator in our spiritual lives.  Long before we may be aware of His presence He is in position.

It also struck me that David describes God as positioning Himself at David’s right hand.  This is the position that one would take up in order to defend another person.  Most warriors would hold their weapon in their right hand and stand at an angle to their enemy with their right hand side closest to the enemy.  Therefore if God has positioned Himself before (lit. in front of) and at the right hand side of David it means two things will be impossible.

1. It will be impossible for any blow of the enemy to hit David without going through the Lord first.  It is of great comfort to know that the things which try us and cause us pain have first struck God and have been weakened by the time they get to us.  It is touching that God will not leave us to face the enemy alone and more than this that He comes not just to watch us fight but to defend us.  God does not have our back but is at our front.

2. With God at  in front of him and to the right it will be impossible for David to strike the enemy himself unless he either first stabs God in the back or  goes around God to attack the enemy.  If find myself doing one of those two things more often then I care to admit.  I think my main problem the misguided notion that God has called me to fight for Him, to defend the ‘truth’.  So rather than staying behind God, being stuck in a position where at times I am unable to see the full extent of the battle going on, I move from the safety of being behind and comes to the front and start meddling in what God is trying to do.  I take over from God and end up getting hit by some blows of the enemy that I was never supposed to face.  I become quickly discouraged and wounded.  Isn’t it ironic that it is when we push ahead of God trying to do His work that we lose sight  of Him because He is no longer ‘before’ us.

How do I keep the Lord always before me?  By doing exactly that, always keeping the Lord before me.  Remembering the truth that I am second, that I have not been called to fight the battle but cheer Jesus on as He fights.  I don’t know why I am more arrogant with Jesus than I am with my Doctor or even the teenage employee of McDonalds.  Why is it that I never find myself tempted to assist the Surgeon during the surgery.  How come I never say things like ‘its my body’ or ‘I know best what I need’.  Rather I am willing to let myself to put to sleep and have a perfect strange cut me open (as an aside, how twisted is that?!  Cutting open sleeping folk?!) and never give even a word of complaint.  Even when I go to McDonalds, and I can see that the person who is making the food doesn’t look like they have much experience of cooking at home, I never insist in coming of the counter and fixing my own burger!  Even at McDonalds I know by position but somehow with Jesus I struggle with this.

This is why I the beginning of verse 27 so encouraging because as I realise the depth of my depravity I am tempted to believe that eventually Jesus is going to just say, “fine you want to fight, go ahead your gonna die but its your choice” and abandon my soul to Hades or literally the grave.  My greatest fear is Jesus giving up on me because I keep getting in the way of what He is trying to do for me.  But this verse tells me that He will not abandon my soul to Hades or the grave.  No matter how many times I mess up, if I am willing to repent, to resume my place behind and to the left of Him, He will continue to fight for me.

In my spiritual walk it seems that I go through times where I feel a little self confident, perhaps I have had a string of personal victories or I have seen God at work in a powerful way and this confidence leads me to be less aware of where the Lord is in relation to me.  It is often at these times that before I know it I find myself flat on my face caught by an unexpected attack of the enemy.  Humbled and hurting I seek the refuge that I find in God, and, as He is my witness, I have always found Him to be that present help in trouble.  In my weakness He strength is made perfect. What I yearn for is the ability to know my place not only when I feel week but especially when I feel strong.

Prayer – Lord you have spoken to my heart and my situation.  I need to remember I am second.  Keep me firmly behind You, keep me from pushing myself forward.  Keep me from giving You advice on the best way to fight the enemy.  Help to to focus on always seeing you, more than I focus on not being shaken.  Help me to stay to the left so You can always be on the right.

I love you, thanks for never abandoning me.

Amen