As for Me: Life Through the Lens of the PsalmsSample

As for Me

“But as for me, I will wait and hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.“

Psalm 71:14 (AMP)

Years ago, I was in Psalms going through my Bible reading plan, and the phrase, as for me, kept catching my attention. Over and over again I noticed the psalmist saying, “As for me ...”,“But as for me ....”

I’ve learned to take note of repetition in my walk with Jesus. In His patient teaching, He will often spotlight things for me repeatedly. So, I mulled it over in my heart. I noticed how the psalmists kept an incredible resolve, almost in holy defiance to the temptation to be drowned by their circumstances, refusing to take their eyes off God and succumb to what the culture was demanding from them.

As the psalmists poured their hearts out to God, we see them wrestle through various hardships with a reinforced commitment as if to say: No matter what is going on around me, this is what I choose.

As for me.

I believe we need this message in our lives today. When we look at the struggles in and around the church, we see that we have not been deeply rooted. Instead, we are often tossed about, and our lives are not filled with the evidence and freedom of the Spirit. When I see the hatred and craziness in our world, I hope our lives will look different. The promise of being in Christ is that our lives should look different. Love, grace, and mercy must be active in our hearts, touching the lives of those we encounter.

Let us look for ways to grow in a more intimate and experiential walk with the Lord. Let us thrive in a deeper understanding of who He is with tenacity, and let us purpose to hold onto Him, no matter what happens around us. Let us commit our hearts to defy our secular culture and experience the fullness of life with Jesus as the affections of our hearts fully engage with His. People around us may be caught up in the hustle and bustle of this world, but let us allow the declaration of “as for me” to take root in our hearts.