Psalm 16:8
I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Dear Heavenly Father,
According to this Psalm, those who trust in you, we always place you before us. But do we? I have to admit that when I follow my sinful desires, it seems I forget about you being before me until the guilt hits me for what I have done. Then I tend to stew in my regret and sins that eat at me as they did for David, the writer of this Psalm. When we are tempted and fall into our evil desires does not mean you abandon us. Quite the contrary, just like when David sinned against you with Bathsheba and then had Uriah killed. You did not leave him. Instead, you sent Nathan to show him his sin. You were still in front of David. As David recognized his sin, he came to you, asked for forgiveness, and you forgave him. Coming to faith means we realize our sin and stop rejecting your love, recognizing that you have established yourself before us. We know the sins of our heart that no one else sees, and there are those we don’t know ourselves, and you have forgiven them all. As believers, this is the hope we have; when we sin against you and others, you are there in front of us, pointing us to the cross and the forgiveness Jesus won for us. We don’t have to beat ourselves up over our mistakes but admit our wrongs and give it over to your Son. He has forgiven us; no more guilt. We are free from the bondage of all our sins. Thank you, Lord, and yes, you are always in front of us. Sanctify us so that we desire to love you in return. Amen.
Roger Emmons
Pastor
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
When we come to faith, God is already in front of us; through his love, he remains there, we have nothing to fear.