Mind Meld of A Different Kind

PSALM 17
A prayer of David.
Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea;

listen to my cry.

Give ear to my prayer—

it does not rise from deceitful lips.

May my vindication come from you;

may your eyes see what is right.

Though you probe my heart and examine me at night,

though you test me, you will find nothing;

I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.

As for the deeds of men—

by the word of your lips

I have kept myself

from the ways of the violent.

My steps have held to your paths;

my feet have not slipped.

I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;

give ear to me and hear my prayer.

Show the wonder of your great love,

you who save by your right hand

those who take refuge in you from their foes.

Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings…

And I—in righteousness I will see your face;

when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

Bent over to listen
If you have ever spent much time around young children you have spent some time on your knees. In order to fully enter their world you have to get down to their level. Standing and talking to a small child makes them crane their neck as far back as possible and look straight up into the air. You, on the other hand, are looking down on them from on high. Communicating with a small child is best done down on their level where you can both look eye to eye.

What a wonderful picture of our God. We, his children, often try to crane our necks up at God, shouting out instructions like a sassy child. God, patiently bends down, gets down on His knees and talks to us on our level. God bends down to hear our prayers. He listens closely.

The incarnation is certainly the most obvious way God bent down to enter our reality, but through the Holy Spirit, God enters our reality on a daily basis, communing with our spirit. We serve an amazing and loving God who has come down to our level. And like small children, He sweeps us up in his arms of protection and love every time we run to Him.

Abba, Father, you are such a loving and wonderful God. Thank you for coming down to our level and picking us up in your arms of love. Your voice of reassurance is a great comfort to me today. - Dan Jones

What I want
Looks like arrogance, but it’s what I want. David claims that if God probed him he’d only find righteousness! He’s resolved not to sin, and by golly, he’s kept to God’s path and his feet haven’t slipped as much as an inch. Is David arrogant? Ignorant? Or…

Perhaps it’s a little of all three. But it’s the “or” that I want and pursue in my life. I think David has examined his life and honestly says to God, using my far less poetic prose, “There isn’t any willful sin in my life.” He isn’t putting on a deceptive show for God. He speaks the truth, “I’ve resolved not to sin against you.”

Every moment, every day, that’s exactly what I want. Both things. I honestly commit to follow all of God’s will for my life. And I refuse to knowingly leave out, add to, or contradict anything God wants from me. I want every hint of rebellion gone. I want only one bent to exist in the depth of my being; a bent in God’s direction.

God of my heart’s desire, keep me as the apple of you eye and hide me in the shadow of your wings so that your love will purify me and your care will keep me from all known sin. - Mike Leamon