In Psalm 26:3, David writes of God, “Your steadfast love is before my eyes.” All sorts of things will come “before our eyes” this week—commercials, billboards, popup ads, notifications… We’ll choose to place some things before our eyes—smartphones, television screens, books, to-do lists… Those things that come and stay “before our eyes” matter because they have a way of seeping into our hearts and ultimately shaping the way we live.
So take a moment to think about the power of David’s words in Psalm 26. “Your steadfast love is before my eyes.” That wasn’t an accident, and it most certainly wasn’t a waste of time or effort. Read the rest of Psalm 26 and you quickly find that deliberately, intentionally placing God’s steadfast love before his eyes helped David:
- Trust in the LORD without wavering (26:1)
- Ensure his heart and mind were right in God’s sight (26:2)
- Walk faithfully with God (26:3)
- Avoid the wrong crowd (26:4-5)
- Worship with a clean conscience (26:6)
- Express thanks and tell others of God’s wondrous deeds (26:7)
- Meditate on God’s glory and offer prayers for his protection and help (26:8-10)
- Walk in integrity, confident in God’s grace (26:11-12)
All sorts of things will come before your eyes this week, but nothing more worthwhile or valuable than God’s “steadfast love.” What a great way of thinking about our opportunity to worship today. The songs we sing together, the prayers we offer, the memorial of our Savior’s sacrifice, our time in God’s word—these are all powerful ways of placing God’s steadfast love before our eyes, inspiring us to say with David, “In the great assembly I will bless the LORD” (Psa 26:12).
But don’t walk away from that assembly of Christians and grow nearsighted to the steadfast love of the LORD. Open your Bible this week and place his steadfast love right there, before your eyes. Pray fervently this week. Take a walk and really look for signs of his steadfast love above, below, and around you in Creation. Go outside after dark and marvel at the lights he has placed in the heavens. Serve as a channel of God’s steadfast love, comfort, and encouragement to someone else.
Those things that are consistently “before our eyes” seep into our hearts and ultimately shape the way we live. If you’re looking to summarize life the way it was meant to be in just a few words, it would be hard to find a better description than David’s determination in Psalm 26:3:
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.