Preserve Me, O God: A Reasoned Prayer

Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. (Psalm 16:1)

This prayer of David echoes throughout the Psalms. He asks, and gives reason why he should receive.

“I am trusting you, Lord. Therefore...” One must ask, “Does the preposition 'for' bear the weight I give it?” That is, can we really say David means “I trust you, therefore you must honor the terms of my trust.”

It would be wrong to say it is a straightforward cause and effect, wouldn't it? I think the answer relies on terms – terms of trust. What has God promised and what does He expect? God the Father almighty has promised protection and care but if we do not trust we will conduct our lives in ways that complicate that. On the other hand, trusting Him means we attune our lives to Him: we lean in to his protection and care with expectation.

Is this presumption? Maybe...but I say no. God has a character, a way of being. We can never shape that to our whims, but insofar as we are aware what He is like and attune our expectations – our trust – to that, we can expect Him to respond accordingly.

I believe that God will preserve me because I am trusting Him to be true to who He is. That is trust, however feeble, and I affirm it today by the great grace of God.