eBy Mike Chaffin
Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, my King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is destruction;
Their throat is an open tomb; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.
12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
When I saw this license plate driving down the street, I was immediately impressed. The wisdom condensed in these seven letters is impactful. 2EZ2DV8 took me just a couple seconds to decipher – Too Easy To Deviate. How true.
Our lives can become a mess when we deviate from the path. The Bible is replete with advice on keeping our eyes focused on Jesus. When we don’t, we stray and fall from the path into despair or sin. Over seventy-five verses talk about the benefits of staying, and dangers of straying, from the path. A few of the best known are;
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them and not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16
“Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Deuteronomy 5:32
David, a man after God’s own heart, chosen by God to lead Israel fell off the path on many occasions. He knew well the dangers he faced when this happened and the consequences that occurred because of his sins. However, God did not forsake him. David knew our God is merciful and will forgive us when we repent and turn from those sins, set our feet back on the path and focus on serving Jesus.
This psalm of David is a Prayer for Guidance. David starts off the prayer asking for God to hear him. He meditates, or thinks, about God and His ways, and asks at the beginning of the day for God to lead him and make his paths straight. Then he seems to remind God that He doesn’t like wickedness or those who dole it out. However, David is really reminding himself not to be like those people. David calls out for guidance. It is a great model prayer for all of us to follow. Prayer is powerful and will help us not to deviate, it’s too easy of stumble otherwise.
