majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalms 141:8,
"My eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge—do
not give me over to death."
In this psalm of David, he expresses a certain urgency in his request,
"O Lord, I call to you; come quickly to me." Verse 1. He asks the Lord
to keep him from sin and his request suggests in my mind he may have
been struggling with a certain temptation at the time he penned these
words. He says, "Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take
part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of
their delicacies." Verse 4. He also asks that the Lord keep him from
the snares, the traps that evildoers have set for him. Verse 9. One
wonders if David was drawn to return whatever evil favor his enemies
intended to treat him to, in the same way, and yet felt it might not
be right before God.
In spite of the conjecture, something comes through very clearly in
this psalm. David looked to the Lord to help him in the midst of
temptation and/or trial. It is to the Lord that David seeks help, his
immediate help. I am reminded of Paul's words to the church in
Corinth, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you
can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so
that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Like David, who knew to look to the Lord, who assured the Lord that
his focus was on him, "My eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord...",
verse 8, Paul also encouraged all to fix their attention on the Lord
in struggle against sin. In keeping ourselves from sin Paul says,
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on
things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set
your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and
your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your
life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to
death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature... "
Colossians 3:1-5.
Rather than looking to the law in dealing with the temptation to sin,
we are asked to look to the Lord. He can bring relief from the
temptation to sin. As God's children and as those who have a desire to
please him, to grow into spiritual maturity, we have to look no
further than to the Lord himself, to fix our eyes on him. He will
bring us the ability to overcome the temptation to sin. After all, he
has freed us from our enslavement to sin and set us free to live a
life worthy of him!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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