Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD. Isaiah 31:8
Heavenly Father, let the morning, but also the noon and night bring us word of your unfailing love; for your love is better than life, your faithfulness the heartbeat of our hope, and your word the foundation of all trust. We come—we run to you this day seeking help. We lift our hands to you in adoring love and earnest anticipation. Show us the way forward. How do we navigate our way through bruised and broken trust?
Some of us have just gotten back from “Egypt,” with fresh conviction there’s nothing trustworthy there. Others of us are humbled and hurting from trusting too much in “horses, chariots and horsemen.” Suspicion is now our daily bread; withdrawal our natural inclination; and cynicism our constant companion. This is a confession of sin, not a boast of wisdom.
Surely the evil one relishes these moments and seasons of distrust among your people, Lord. Surely he fertilizes the roots of bitterness; he waters the sprouts of self-righteousness; he prunes the trees of ugliness; and relishes the fruit of divisiveness. We’re not unaware of his schemes, Father. But too often we forget the ways of the gospel.
Father, have mercy on us. Have mercy on me. Help us trust you when we feel like we cannot trust anyone else. Help us trust you in the middle of broken trust. Show us, show me, the ways we ourselves have been trust-breakers rather than bridge builders. By your grace, help us guard our hearts without hardening our hearts. In our pain, help us live as ambassadors of reconciliation, not as saboteurs of redemption.
Father, bring the power of the gospel to bear in bold and dramatic ways. Not just in the morning, noon and night, but mid-morning, mid-afternoon and midnight, bring us word of your unfailing love; for only your transforming love is sufficient for hearts like ours… for a heart like mine. Shut us up, fill us up and free us up by your daily mercies and steadfast affection.
Write BIG stories of reconciliation and redemption in the coming weeks and months. May our repentance become more notorious than our sin; our unity be more beautiful than our disunity is ugly; and rebuilt trust more sturdy than unbroken trust ever was. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ glorious and grace-filled name.
