The white coat syndrome

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Eliab is tall and handsome, but don’t judge by things like that. God doesn’t look at what people see. People judge by what is on the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. Eliab is not the right man.” (I Samuel 16:7)

When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself. (Wayne Dyer)

We can make some pretty false claims about others simply because we only see the 'message' they deliver on the outside. We can lift a man higher than he should be just because he 'plays the part' we expect based upon the 'role' he plays in life. Case in point - I observed almost every male nurse who wore a white coat over his work scrubs into a patient's room was asked if he was the doctor. The 'impression' of the white coat made the patient think the 'role' the male nurse was actually that of their physician. We can never judge someone by their appearance - there is always something much deeper that we must see - their spirit.

The heart of man is made known to those who are willing to look deeper than the 'first impression' of the outer presentation. A well-spoken orator may be the loneliest of individuals, hiding it well behind his speech. A well-dressed businesswoman may be struggling with a hidden addiction behind that well-coiffed exterior. A well-developed body doesn't always make for a sound mind, does it? The outside is easy to see, while the 'interior' of a man's heart is much harder to 'register' on our 'judgment radar'. We must get to know them a bit before we really understand what is hidden deep within their heart.

God's view of man is always the heart first - the outer impression matters very little to him. His view of our life's accomplishments goes beyond the degrees, promotions, awards, or duties performed. It goes to the things hidden within our heart. Do we view God's heart first - or do we look only at the outward things we can see and interpret with our mind's eye about who he is and what he does? Get to know his heart and you might find your own heart changing for the better. The inner workings of his heart are not always evident by the actions we see around us, but we can trust that his deep love and unyielding holiness will never be content to allow sin to dwell within our hearts. Just sayin!

Another look at 'do unto others'

No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself. (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

“But I say to you people who are listening to me, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Ask God to bless the people who ask for bad things to happen to you. Pray for the people who are mean to you. If someone hits you on the side of your face, let them hit the other side too. If someone takes your coat, don’t stop them from taking your shirt too. Give to everyone who asks you for something. When someone takes something that is yours, don’t ask for it back. Do for others what you want them to do for you. (Luke 6:27-31)

Are we really listening to Jesus? Most of us would admit we listen on occasion, more when things aren't going as we expected, but not as closely at other times. Why is that? We get distracted by life's occurrences and listening when we are distracted is kind of hard. God might say obedience begins with listening, so if we aren't listening all that closely to his instructions for us, are we likely to be obedient when the chips are down? We fail to respond with obedience and then we get upset with ourselves for our 'lack of listening'. Isn't that just like us - knowing what to do, not doing it, then knocking ourselves down a peg because we didn't? 

The heart wants what the heart wants. The only way 'toward' obedience is by having our heart changed. In case you didn't know it, "Nothing can hide its evil as well as the human mind. It can be very sick, and no one really understands it." (Jeremiah 17:9) All heart change begins by asking God to renew (regenerate) our minds. Instead of 'knocking' ourselves for our failures, we should be asking God to change the thing that gets us into all those sticky places of compromise in the first place - the mind. We might just begin to see others and their actions just a bit differently when God begins to change the framework of our thinking. We might just begin to see the framework of OUR actions a bit differently, as well.

We don't begin to 'do' for others or ourselves until we begin to 'think' the way God thinks. The only way to think that way is to submit our minds to his teaching - getting the Word of God into us so it can begin to divide the good from the bad, the unclear from the very obvious, the things not to be trusted from those we can build upon for a strong foundation. Just sayin!

In it, but not captive to it

When asked what some of my favorite passages are in the Bible, I generally reference the people or writers I connect with for some reason. For me, the Pauline epistles and the Book of Proverbs are probably some of my most 'frequented' reading. I have found much that I connect with when studying the life of David and have learned much about how to connect with the heart of God through simple, honest sharing of my heart as he did. I have to say that the Pauline epistles speak to me about how we should live, treat others, and the hope we have in Christ Jesus. Regardless of where you find your greatest connection in the Word, the most important thing is that the Word is taken in regularly, meditated upon with much thought, and allowed to change you from the inside out. That is what God intended by giving us such a magnificent book - the Bible.

This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia. May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. (Galatians 1:1-5)

Paul never flaunted his ministry position as the 'pastor' to the Gentile church, but on occasion, we find him telling us how he came to be in that position and that he was called to encourage believers to live as they were called to live, fulfilling their 'position' in Christ Jesus. All we do is for the 'building up' of other believers - encouraging them to come into faith in Christ and then helping them to learn to walk out this faith on a daily basis. Paul's writings always point us to the finished work of the cross and all that was accomplished by Christ's life, death, and resurrection. The purpose of the cross was always redemption - to deliver us from all the evil in this world. The words of his letters still resonate with the present situation we face today, evil abounding all around us. As Paul opens this letter to the Galatians, he wants them to know Christ's death brought about the power to transform us even though evil still exists all around us.

It is the transformational power of the cross - of us saying "YES" to Jesus and then choosing to live a life of obedience to the principles contained within the Word of God - this is what overcomes evil around us. It also overcomes the evil within us. We no longer find ourselves giving into temptations that we once might have pursued with a passion - all because the finished work of the cross made it possible for us to realize an inner transformation. By faith, we are made anew in Christ Jesus. We might not ever feel like the 'pull' toward sin is fully gone, but the longer we pursue the truth God gives us and allow it to transform us, the less appeal those things will have. We will indeed find ourselves rescued from this evil world in which we live. We may not be 'gone' from it yet, but we aren't held captive by it any longer! Just sayin!

Not again, but afresh

 I came across a thought we might want to consider this morning: "Only the mediocre are at their best." (Jean Giraudoux) Well, that certainly puts it right out there, doesn't it? There are days I feel pretty good about what I accomplish, while others just pass without me really doing all that much. How do you I think I feel about those days when I don't accomplish much? Usually I am a little bit discouraged by my 'lack' of 'doing', but I am learning to 'do' less and 'listen' more - not because I don't want to 'do' something, but because I have learned it is easier to do it once than repeat the same failures time and time again! 

Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well! Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?— and treat your servants with kindness for a change. Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we’ll skip and dance all the day long. Make up for the bad times with some good times; we’ve seen enough evil to last a lifetime. Let your servants see what you’re best at— the ways you rule and bless your children. And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do! (Psalm 90:12-17)

Life isn't about 'doing' as much as it is about doing 'well' the things we are called to do. When we ask God to teach us to live well - living with wisdom and making right choices - we are about to be rewarded with a whole lot more than the 'mediocre' we can produce on our own. What is God 'best at' in your life? Go ahead and answer that one right now. If I were to answer this, I'd have to begin by saying he is 'best at' setting things right in my life that I have managed to get wrong. There are a whole lot of things in life I set out to do that God will never 'confirm' as the 'right' thing for me to be doing - those are the things he somehow 'sets right' in all his grace, love, and wisdom. I don't know how he does it, but each time I settle for the 'mediocre' in my life, he comes along and changes my perspective to desire more.

Why is that? God wants us to always be 'at our best' - he knows settling for 'mediocre' is not going to ever get us to that point. How many times have you been 'surprised' by God's love? I cannot possibly count the times his grace has rushed over my life, filling me afresh with a sense of his deep and passionate love for this one gal out of so many others he has created on this earth. When I am not 'at my best', he is right there to encourage me to get up, start afresh (not just start again). There is a difference between starting 'again' and starting 'afresh'. If we always do what we have always done (starting again), we will always get what we have always gotten (meaning we need to start yet once again).

God changes our 'again' into 'afresh' because he knows the only way to be free from the mediocre choices we make is to be filled with his grace. It is his grace that teaches us - that shows us there is something other than what we have always done that will lead us into something we have never known before. The 'barely adequate' choices we make are somehow transformed into the 'more than exceptional' ones he desires for us. The poor choices are no longer appealing to us. I don't always understand how God changes my 'again' into an 'afresh' start, but I do know he is always faithful to do just that. Maybe what many of us need is not just another 'again' moment, but rather a truly 'afresh' moment. Just sayin!

Time for a replacement

Romans 12:1-2 - it is time to train our minds (Craig Groeschel) - the greatest power to overcome the lies within our minds is the truth.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

The more we think a thought, the easier it is to think it again. The more we think a thought, the more we make it the dominate thought pattern, it will freely emerge without us having to think upon it with very much effort. We develop a casual relationship with that thought and it just comes naturally to us. This is good if the thought pattern is a good one, but it isn't so exciting if the thought pattern we are following isn't good or virtuous. We have to train our minds - to focus on whatever it is we should be thinking upon rather than allowing our minds to cross the same pathways that are not taking us good places. A stronghold is a place in our minds where a thought pathway has been crossed time and time again. We need to focus on the right stuff!

Our mind rarely drifts into areas of truth, but rather it drifts into areas of thought that say we aren't enough, we don't have enough, or that we are not 'bad' in thinking a certain thought. We have to focus on truth if we want to regain strongholds in our minds. We have to form new pathways of thought. We have to know what is holding us back in our minds. When we identify the thought pathway where we are being held back as a result of thinking as we have been thinking, we take the first step to be free of the thought stronghold. We make progress toward a new pathway when we can identify any pathway of untruth and begin to focus on the opposite spiritual truth that can demolish that stronghold.

Truth sets us free - this is more than a nice statement. It is something that we need to embrace - there is the potential of renewal. Write it down - think it over and over again - confess it over and over again - and eventually that new pathway will be formed. We don't have to dwell upon wrong thoughts - we can take control of them, but it takes work. We have to identify the wrong pathway and we have to make specific effort to 'rethink' that thought pathway. Then we have to remind ourselves of the truth each and every time the wrong thought pathway tries to get us to follow it down that negative rabbit hole!

Renewal isn't instant - it is us traveling the new pathway over and over again until it gets worked into our minds. A pathway that is in an opposite direction of the stronghold pathway we have been following that has led us into sin, compromise, and negative impact. We need to give thought to truth - that means we have to take time to figure out what it is that we have been thinking that holds us bound to any untruth in our lives. We are not always going to be....  Jesus says clearly we are a new creation - that means we are not always going to be whatever it is we have pursued because of negative thought patterns in our minds. We can change our focus - write it down, think it over and over again, go back to those truths and confess it until you begin to believe it.

Our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts (Craig Groeschel). Think on that one for a while today and then begin to identify that pathway you have been crossing that isn't the right thought pathway to be crossing. Identify that stronghold - call it what it is and then ask God to show you truth that points you in the opposite direction of that dominant pathway. It is time to replace truth where we have been believing lies within our lives! Just sayin!

And now this...

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. 

(Eleanor Roosevelt)

What does this 'new day' bring for you? It isn't a loaded question, I am simply asking us to consider what new strength or new thoughts may come today. I discovered quite some time ago that my thoughts do a lot to influence my physical, emotional, and even my spiritual strength. What I choose to dwell upon when I go to sleep at night can 'color' my rest with either delightful ease and refreshment, or unease and feelings of greater weariness when I rise. Our thoughts actually encompass us and often determine the strength with which we will face each hurdle that comes. Someone once told me it is hard to escape your thoughts and I think they were right. Our thoughts permeate everything we do - even our rest.

This is the reason we do not give up. Our human body is wearing out. But our spirits are getting stronger every day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Our human bodies are indeed wearing out. I played hooky last Wednesday and went up to the Rim Country to take in some nature and fishing with my BFF. It was delightful being in the outdoors, but at altitudes I am not used to exerting myself in and after some hot months that didn't let me get out to take long walks or enjoy bike rides, my body was a little 'deconditioned' for the trails. I enjoyed them, but I took them at a much slower pace than I would usually take them! My body wasn't keeping up with my mind because my mind told me I could climb the peaks and traverse the valleys - my body told me I needed to sit down and admire the scenery!

One thing I can count on as other things in my life are 'wearing out' is that my spirit isn't getting weaker. In fact, it is growing stronger as time goes on. I find I am 'comfortable' in my own skin, enjoying life a little bit more, and just content to be a child loved deeply by God. I don't know about you, but that definitely makes up for the parts that are wearing out! Regardless of our age, we need new strength for our day - pure thoughts to guide our actions. Throughout the day, my mind is bombarded by hundreds and hundreds of 'influencing thoughts'. I hear this or that on the radio and away go my thoughts. I see an ad on the TV and away go my thoughts. I listen to a song and away go my thoughts. I overhear a conversation and away go my thoughts. Our thoughts are always 'on the move', if you know what I mean.

If our thoughts are constantly on the move, how do we get them to stop for a while so we can actually enjoy a little 'mind rest'? I think it comes when we re-center our thoughts on what matters. God wasn't telling me I couldn't take the trails last week, he was asking me to just sit and enjoy what he had made. He reminded me of his infilling breath as I listened to the gentle breezes through the tall pines. He delighted me by bringing the wee chipmunk to my side, eager to have just one piece of my lunch. He captured my attention and began to renew my spirit when he focused me on the stump with roots wrapped tight around boulders that should have made the tree's growth impossible. God is always ready to renew our thoughts. We just need to be willing to slow down enough to have both our strength and thoughts renewed! Just sayin!

Re-engage

At the end of a particularly long, arduous day I might just desire a little 'me time'. The transition from the hectic pace of the day into the quietness of an evening relaxing and a little slumber later into the night is a promised reward for a long day's work. There are times when we desire renewal, whether it be by 'me time' or some type of 'retreat' from something, but it seems hard to find. The opportunity just doesn't seem to come and we are finding ourselves getting tireder by the minute. There are times we don't understand the reason for our endless work, but we know we are called to engage in it. We might question the continuation of the efforts, not always seeing much return on our investment, but growing more weary each day. Remember this - we don't always have to see the immediate return on our investment - we just need to continue making it.

He continued, "Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don't have anything: This day is holy to God. Don't feel bad. The joy of God is your strength!" The Levites calmed the people, "Quiet now. This is a holy day. Don't be upset." So the people went off to feast, eating and drinking and including the poor in a great celebration. Now they got it; they understood the reading that had been given to them. (Nehemiah 8:10-12)

Revival brings a response of heart that cannot but help bring praise to God. The people of Israel had been listening intently to the Word of God as Ezra, the priest, brought it forward to them - something they had missed for so very long. They were moved by the Word - as are we so many times - and they were brought to a place of awareness about just how far they had drifted from what God had intended for their lives. There are times we just need a fresh look into God's Word in order to 're-enter' what engaged our hearts in the first place. That is what a fresh look into the Word can do for us - it can bring us to a place of recognition, repentance, and re-engagement.

Ezra is a wise leader - he knew the passion of their hearts, but he also recognized the struggles they were having - their extreme need to re-engage with their Lord and Savior. He saw the older members of the congregation and understood their deep sorrow over the loss of their former ways of worship - those experiences were only memories now. The "old ways" of worship were destroyed when they were taken into exile as a nation. The temple was destroyed, the walls of the city brought down, and even the "instruments" of worship were carried off into foreign lands. The old was gone - that brought deep sorrow to those that remembered the "former glory" of the old ways. It is quite possible for us to be 'exiled' from what it is that is capable of bringing us the greatest of joy and not even realize we have missed it so very much!

God gives us times of refreshing in order that we will connect with the freshness of worship that God has prepared for us in this season of growth. The nation of Israel was allowed to "return" from exile in a foreign land, but they would never be fully restored until they also returned their hearts to their God. There is something that happens within us when there is a renewed awareness that God is with us - it is the beginning of revival in the spirit of a man. When this awareness begins to dawn, there is a corresponding awareness that the worship God desires stems from a heart that is free of compromise - free of distraction and the fatigue of the recent arduous activities that have kept us so distant from him.

There was weeping that day in Israel - some out of sorrow because of all that had been lost, some out of joy for what lay ahead. Perspective often determines our response to the offered sanctuary of re-engagement. When we hold fast to what is lost, we are rarely able to grasp what lays ahead. There is something so powerful that happens within us when we let go of the past and embrace the freshness of the present. The Word of God will impact our hearts - it will ring true in our minds, affecting us in the depths of our souls and refreshing our spirits. The hunger of our souls brings us to the place of exploring the Word. As is true with all times of revival, God honors the hunger of souls willing to be "real" with him. The dryness of our spirits is refreshed in the newness of his grace - whenever we are willing to truly be "naked" before God.

The true, unencumbered celebration of God is the outcome of a seeking and transparent heart. We often worship out of a sense of obligation - God desires worship that is given out of a sense of awareness and hope. The beginning of revival is hunger - the awareness we need to re-engage in order to be filled anew. The means to revival is repentance. The response of revival is worship from a pure, unmasked heart. The result of revival is re-engagement. Just sayin!

Crushed Under or Trying Again?

Honor is sought by many, but only some of those who seek will ever find it. Why?  "Pride first, then the crash, but humility is precursor to honor." (Proverbs 18:12 MSG)  Simply put, honor is an outcome of humility - most who seek honor are not doing so with a humble heart.  They seek it for the "importance" or "stature" it produces.  Honor is indeed the reward of the humble - for those who bring others blessing first will find honor in their endeavors. You cannot truly find honor in climbing over others on your way to the top!  Humility is also a precursor to a healthy spirit - for a right view of yourself and others comes from a right view of God.  The right view of God will produce the right vantage point for us to view everything and everyone else in our lives.

A healthy spirit conquers adversity, but what can you do when the spirit is crushed?  Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights.  Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach; good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.  Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.  Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.  (Proverbs 18:14-15, 20-21, 24 MSG)

More men and women are walking around today with crushed spirits than we might imagine - simply because we don't fully appreciate all the influences which contribute to the "blows" by which the spirit of man is crushed. Sickness in your body is one thing - a crushed inner man is something quite different. You can endure the sickness in your body, but there is an overwhelming sense of defeat and disconnect when the spirit is heavy laden.  The spirit is what animates us - put it under a crushing load and the animation is gone.  It gives us our will to live, driving us forward when others might think we'd quit or throw in the towel.  It also gives us the determination to "try again" when the previous attempts have not worked out so well for us.  

Why do we "try again"?  I think it is probably because people of wisdom know learning is a life-long process.  The initial blows might have knocked us down a few pegs, but when we "recover" from those initial blows, we begin to see where we could have done things differently and we are encouraged to try again.  Our spirit is the place where we connect the dots and begin to build up again to take another "first step".  God honors - and always will - those who are willing to learn at his feet.  Those who are willing to "try again" are always honored to have his assistance in getting out from the load which caused us to fall in the first place and then helping us to our feet so we can take that first step.

Words create a heavy load at times, don't they?  The wrong words spoken at the wrong moment in time create a huge burden for some - heaping upon their shoulders, and ultimately into their spirit, the load of guilt, shame, or grief they bring in their wake.  Words bring release and satisfaction to the soul, and ultimately the spirit, when they are the right words spoken in the right timing.  Talk without purpose and you will often load someone up with something carelessly said.  Some of the most crushing blows to our spirit are a result of words spoken in careless manner.  Learning to weigh the message we bring is harder than we might imagine, but considering the impact those few words might just have, isn't it worth the effort?

Fresh insights come from renewing our spirits.  When we determine to have our spirits lifted into his presence, we begin to sense the renewal only he can bring.  Words from a friend may lift us for a while, but we all need to hear the instruction and encouragement of our heavenly Father more than we might realize.  It is in those moments of him "connecting the dots" for us where we come to recognize the load we were crushed under was not his intention for our lives.  Most of us assume "loads" not ever intended for our carrying.  We assume loads of "guilt", "shame", or "grief".  All of which God reminds us are the loads his son, Jesus, carried to the cross on our behalf.  Whenever we try to carry these, they have a crushing effect because they are not the load God wants us to bear. Just sayin!

Not just a life preserver!

Affirm your promises to me—promises made to all who fear you. Deflect the harsh words of my critics—but what you say is always so good.  See how hungry I am for your counsel;preserve my life through your righteous ways!

(Psalm 119:38-40 The Message)

 Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you.
 Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good.
 I long to obey your commandments!  Renew my life with your goodness.

(Psalm 119:38-40 The New Living Translation)

Sometimes we need to see things written a little differently to help us understand the purpose of what is being written.  From our passage today, let's look at a few similar words that have some very unique meaning:

Affirm and Reassure - Affirm carries the meaning of remaining true to that which has been promised.  It is the idea of confirming or ratifying an agreement.  David is asking God to give him confirmation that his promises will remain true for all time.  Reassure carries the idea of being encouraged again by those promises.  When one is reassured, there is a confidence that what has been promised will indeed come to pass.  Our psalmist is pointing us to the promises God makes - not the ones we make to God.  At best, our own promises are marginal - we seem to vary our commitment to them with the changing of circumstances in our lives.  The tougher things are, the more we draw into God.  The converse is true - the better things seem to be going, the less intent we may be at honoring those promises we made in the tougher times.  Isn't it reassuring that we don't have a God that is "situational" in his promise keeping.  He makes them to all who fear him - he fulfills them to all who fear him!

Deflect and Abandon - Deflect has the meaning of turning aside from something that seems to be coming straight at you so that it misses you totally.  It seems that the psalmist is asking God to "turn aside" those attacks that come his way because of his commitment to stand for God's truth.  Abandon carries the idea of giving up completely so as not to take it up again.  With this word, David appears to be asking God to ensure that his attackers abandon (give up) their course of attack against him.  We will always have critics in life - it is human nature to criticize what we don't understand!  We have a unique opportunity to allow God to act as our shield against those attacks of doubt, criticisms of faith, and accusations of guilt.  In so doing, we allow God to protect us from the things that could easily get us off course with him.  Look again at that word "abandon" - David is asking God to HELP him to abandon his shameful ways.  He doesn't want to keep doing the same shameful things - these only serve to weigh him down with guilt.  I think we'd do well to follow David's example - asking God for his HELP in abandoning (laying down so as not to pick it up again) those things that we struggle with.

Hungry and Long - Hungry carries the idea of a compelling need.  There is something David is trying to describe here as a compelling need to no longer rely upon his own wisdom, but to lean into God so he receives only God's counsel.  In so doing, he is counting on God's assistance to help him walk in obedience to that revealed counsel.  Long carries the meaning of a persistent desire - it is not easily satisfied.  When we have that kind of persistent desire, we usually do everything we can to see it is fulfilled!  There are all kinds of hunger, but David counts on God to help him sort out the good hunger from the hunger that just isn't going to result in good things for our lives.  He yearns to be obedient and he lays that yearning at God's feet.  In so doing, he is asking God to help him with that compelling need - a need he is incapable of meeting in his natural man.

Preserve and Renew - If an object is preserved, some would say that it is kept alive.  In the case of brain death, the brain can no longer sustain the life of the body without the assistance of machines.  In these cases, the patient may be an organ donor.  If that is the case, every attempt is made to "keep alive" the organs of the donor via the machines until they can be harvested and given to the intended recipient.  Preserve means to "keep up" - not allowing something to fall into disrepair.  David knows that his life is bound to fall apart if God is not actively engaged in preserving him from his own "hell-bent" course.  Renew has a totally different meaning, but adds significance to what David is conveying.  It means to "begin again" - as in taking up something again that might have been laid down for a while.  It is the idea of resuming something.  It has the additional meaning of being replenished.  The psalmist is asking God to replenish his commitments to walk in is ways and his ways alone.  

David was assured of one thing:  God listens when we lay our needs out before him.  If we are struggling, he stands ready to step in.  If we are shamed by our missteps, he comes along to set us on course again.  If there is pressure to conform to standards not always the best for us, he outlines the best again so we are clear on what they are.  If we just need to begin again, he is the God of new beginnings (no matter how many times we have to begin!).  God's commitment to those that fear him is that we will not fall into a state of disrepair!  Thank him for his continued care - even when we aren't crying out for his help, he is still there!