Briefing: Positioning is important in many areas of our lives. As we move forward in life we make choices and decide what paths to take. These choices and decisions will put us in positions. We can be in a good position to promote, to get in the good graces of our future spouse, and we can manage the position of our spiritual growth.

Dispatch (Assignment): Read Psalm 131.

On the Street: One summer night, at the beginning of the evening shift, my Sergeant gave my partner and me a felony warrant to execute. We drove by a rundown drug house and got a quick look around. My partner dropped me off on the next street over and I made my way to the back of the house. I positioned myself next to the door to catch the felon as he ran out of the house. My partner knocked on the front door announcing “Police, we have a warrant”. He didn’t get to finish the sentence before the back door flew open and the wanted person ran out of the house. I played the third grade trick, sticking my foot out in his path and he tripped. He fell to the ground and I jumped on him, placing the cuffs on him. Our positioning was perfect.

David was the author of this psalm. He was a man that was very familiar with positioning. In Acts 13:22, the Bible tells us God Himself said of David, “David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.” David positioned himself directly on God’s path which was God’s will for David’s life.

The question we should be asking is what was David’s secret to knowing God’s path? David knew God, he spent time in prayer and believed God with his whole heart. David wanted to please God. Knowing God is one of the keys to understanding His desires for our life. The way we get to know God is to have a constant prayer life and study God. We study and get to know Him better by reading His Word. The Bible tells us who God is, what makes Him happy and what makes Him angry. David knew God as evidenced by this and many other psalms.

In verse 1 David writes, “My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.” David knew a proud heart and haughty eyes were not pleasing to God. Years later, David’s son Solomon would write the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 6:16-17 Solomon wrote, “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” And again in Proverbs 21:4, “Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the unplowed field of the wicked, produce sin.”

How did David know this long before Solomon wrote it? David knew God. I know my wife and what makes her happy. I also know what makes her mad and I try to stay away, positioning away, from pushing those buttons. We are blessed to live in a time where we can read the words of God in the Bible. We can know without a doubt what makes God happy and what doesn’t. We are able to position ourselves on God’s path.

Most of our positioning takes place in the mind. Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

In verse 2 he says, “But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.” Being in the right position with God gives us peace and contentment. Matthew 5:6 tells us, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” The word “filled” can be substituted with “satisfied” and is used in some translations.

Verse 3 says, “Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.” This verse is not just addressing Israel but God’s people. We are followers of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” To be God’s children, to be “Israel”, we have to be positioned with God. We have to be followers of Jesus. This is the only position to eternal life.

Investigational Resources: Psalm 20.

Officer Safety Principle: Are you positioning yourself with God or have you found yourself on the wrong path?

from Psalms Through the Eyes of a Cop, Volume 2
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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