MAKING GOOD ON OUR PROMISES

In his distress, the person who wrote the following Psalm is making many promises to God.  Most of the promises he made are good, but he is human like any one of us, and subject to failure.  Even so, he appears to see himself as having the will and strength to do whatever he says. He appears to be seeking to please God and to control others so that God will show him favour and come to him.

I will sing about love and justice.  Lord, I will sing to you. I will be careful to live a pure life. I will live in my house with complete honesty. When will you come to me? I will not even look at anything shameful. I hate all wrongdoing. I want no part of it! I will not be involved in anything dishonest. I will have nothing to do with evil. I will stop anyone who secretly says bad things about a neighbor. I will not allow people to be proud and think they are better than others. I will look throughout the land for those who can be trusted. Only such people can live with me. Only those who live pure lives can be my servants. (Psalm 101:1-6 ERV)

How many of us, both in addiction and in recovery, have prayed to God like that?  We have been in trouble and prayed to God for help.  We have made promises to live good lives in return for God’s favour. The problem is, unless we have the Power greater than ourselves living in us, God knows we would never be able to fulfill our promises.  When a crisis dies down, we often forget about God and just carry on in our self-serving existence. 

God tells us to call on Him in our time of trouble. The Scriptures say that His eyes roam throughout the whole earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.  God knows when our hearts are fully committed to Him and, when they are, we have His favour, and He will hear and answer our prayers.

Prayer:  Loving God, Forgive me for the promises I have made and not kept.  My desire is to be fully committed to You and to practice Your principles in all my affairs. Please help me! Amen