Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Struggling For Approval | The Writings | Psalm 17

Episode Date: January 23, 2024

Calling all people-pleasers! Psalm 17 is for you. How can you become confident enough that you don't obsess over what others think of you? How can you become humble enough that you can admit weakness? In today's episode, Tanya shares the key to becoming enough. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 17

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. And the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. Hi guys, so Psalm 17 is for anyone who struggles with approval. It's for anyone who tries to be a people-pleaser and knows how that can be a deadened street. Psalm 17 is where we get to see David grapple between looking and obsessing about what others are doing and thinking and remembering what God is doing and what God truly thinks. thinks of him. So how do we become confident enough that we don't obsess about what other people

are saying, but how do we become humble enough to truly care about others? And also to ask God for help when we need it. And the answer is Jesus. And we're going to get to that. But first of all, in Psalm 17, I want you to hear how David plays with God. He says, hear me, Lord, listen to my cry. Hear my prayer. It does not rise from deceitful lips. Let my vindication come from you. May your eyes see what is right. Though you probe my heart, though you examine me at night and test me, you will find that I have planned no evil. My mouth has not transgressed. Though people tried to bribe me, I have kept myself from the way of the violent through what your lips have commanded. My steps have held to your paths. My feet have not stumbled. Those are some pretty confident words, honestly, and they're not

really things I can speak without some pretty icky introspect. Even my very best intentions are tinged with selfishness. Even my kindest words come from a desire for people to like me. It would be really hard to stay that I always follow God's path. So how can David say that the Lord can probe his heart and find that he's planned no evil? Well, we can. can examine that idea in a couple of different ways. The first way is that David is not claiming to be a sinless human, but he is saying that as a king, he's not corrupt. He specifically relates that he doesn't bribe his people, he doesn't lie to them. Even though he's being accused of those things, he has a clear conscience before God. The second way to look at this is through the lens of

the cross. Even though David is tinged with sin, and maybe remember that while he was king, he took Uriah's wife as Shiba for himself. He had Uriah killed. But while he's capable and guilty of evil, through the lens of the cross, his sin isn't counted against him. Now, one of the things that make the Psalms so special for us is that there are words going back up to God. Much of the Bible is God's word coming to us or God's speaking to us, but the Psalms are a picture of human words, faithfully, going back up to God. So for those of us who struggle with approval, Psalm 17, shows us how to address this in a truthful way with our Heavenly Father. If you feel so bad about yourself that you think you can't talk to God,

then you don't really grasp what Jesus has done to rescue and redeem you. And if you feel so good about yourself that you don't think you need to talk to God, then you don't grasp how much Jesus loved you to die for you. David says, God, you have tested my thoughts and examined my heart. You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong. So how is that possible? Well, it's twofold. First, do the right thing.

David says, I am determined not to send in what I say. I have followed your commands which keep me from following cruel and evil people. Sometimes, we want to minimize doing the right thing. But as we study the Bible and know God more, we grow in our understanding of what is right. Not only that, but we grow in our desire to want to do it. Second, when we don't, we repent immediately, knowing, like David says in verse 8, that we are the apple of God's eye. We are still the apple of God's eye. Now today, for those of us on this side of the cross, knowing where the apple of God's eye comes from what we read in Philippians 3, it says I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law.

Rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. In other words, God loves you, not because of how good you are. but because of Christ. So it's not wishy-washy. It doesn't change with what you've done today or the way you feel about yourself. We have to constantly remind ourselves that this is true, just like David was doing.

David has re-established. He's reminded himself where he stands with God. His relationship with God is secure. He has God's approval. So the second half of Psalm 17 is David talking about the real threat on his mind and really on his life. And that threat, well, it's what others are thinking and doing and saying, and his obsession

with what they're thinking and saying and doing. He says, they are without pity, listen to their boasting. They track me down and surround me watching for the chance to throw me to the ground. They are like hungry lions, eager to tear me apart. He's talking about people who do whatever it takes to live in the moment, to be happy right now. It's so tempting to listen to the lie that we don't have enough. that God isn't good enough and to join the crowd. It's so tempting to look elsewhere to solve our problems and join the crowd.

And honestly, sometimes it could make life a lot easier, at least for a while. But David remains confident that there's a truer story than living for the moment. There's a life that he's invited into, where he already has access to everything good, and he doesn't need to take the spotlight. He doesn't need to take the treasure right now. he doesn't need to have everyone's approval to experience fullness. So when David prays this Psalm, his heart is taking the temptation to find approval in people to the throne of God.

He's asking God to not let him be absorbed in what others think of him or what he thinks of himself, but to remember what God sees when he looks at him and sees Christ's beauty. If you can relate to the temptation, to craft your answer to questions based on what you think people want to hear, or tell your story a certain way based on what you think they might like to hear, I encourage you to hear and remember Romans 8, 31, and 32. It says, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all? How will he not also, with him, graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Maybe, then you

can write down the answer to this question. What has God done to make you righteous? I'd like to imagine myself sometimes as a stick figure person, walking around with a lamb over my head. When God sees me, no matter where I am, he sees his lamb covering me. If God gave his lamb, his son for your redemption, can you trust him when you feel insecure? Can you trust him when you meet new people? Can you trust him when you apply for a job? Can you trust him when you don't get the job? And then when you do? Can you trust him to be yourself? Your unmasked, real self that is covered by the lamb? That's what I want others to see when they look at me. Not me, but the lamb. Not me, but Jesus.