During a difficult season in my writing life, the Lord encouraged me greatly with these verses from Psalm 31.

Lectio Divina: Psalm 31: 1-5

“In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in Your righteousness. Turn Your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since You are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of Your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for You are my refuge. Into Your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O Lord, the God of truth.”

Lord, what beautiful verses that exactly speak to my heart where I am now. And these are the verses that were in my daily reading. Again, You show me that You are aware of where I am.

The words that leap out at me, though, are many, not just one or two.

First, shame. David pleads that the Lord will never let him be put to shame. And that is my prayer, Lord. As I have been meditating on Psalm 25 these past days, I’ve thought about how David uses these same words: put to shame.

And long ago I tasted the freedom from the guilt and shame that had pursued me. But I know, I KNOW, dearest Friend, that I have to keep this prayer ever before me because my mind and Satan are both very good at trying to put me to shame. As I’ve known for years. one of my biggest enemies is myself and the lies I hear, the expectations I heap on myself, the not good enough feeling. The comparison.

I am so thankful that I can acknowledge these condemning thoughts almost immediately now. So again, I say, Don’t let Satan or my subconscious put me to shame, dear Lord.

The next words that lept out at me were: for the sake of Your name, lead and guide me. Again, I’ve been praying this with Psalm 25 for a while: “show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me…”

But I love the added emphasis (and responsibility) that David puts on You, Lord: For the sake of Your name. And honestly, Lord, even though I can be so inward-focused, this is my heartfelt prayer.

What I long for the people for whom I’ve prayed for years to see is that I still love You and serve You, that what I do is for the sake of Your name.

What I long for the people who read my novels to see is a God whose name is great, who leads and guides in the long tapestry of our lives, a God who weaves our story into the intricate stitches of His story.

I have often shared with others how Your Spirit has guided me in the past in very specific ways. Yes, I’ve heard You clearly many times before so do I think You won’t guide me for this next phase?

As I have given my testimony over and over to book clubs and church groups and beyond, I’ve told of that prayer I prayed when I was a young girl and kept praying for years, “Lord, if You’ve given me this gift of writing, show me what to do with it,” and “Lord, if there is something else You want me to do with this gift of writing, please show me.”

And it hit me a few weeks ago, as I shared once again with readers, “Just go back to that simple prayer, Lizzie. Of course, you always ask the Lord for guidance and that he be glorified in your writing, but right now, as you feel confused and stuck, as the waiting continues, go back to that prayer.”

And so, this morning, with the birds singing and the little brook bubbling, I renew my prayer of yesteryear: “Lord, since You’ve given me this writing gift and blessed it over and over for so many years, and since I feel stuck, please show me the way forward.”
It strikes me that this year as I’ve meditated on The Lord’s Prayer, I’ve also been more aware of praying for Your Kingdom to come. So maybe all the waiting in other areas of my life has helped me get back to the prayer You taught us to pray—Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…

And then, I love the different names that David gives You: rock of refuge, strong fortress, my rock, my refuge, God of truth, Lord. And of course, inferred in this psalm are ‘rescuer, righteous one, deliverer, redeemer’.

So my precious Lord, my God, my Rock, my Redeemer, my Refuge, my Deliverer, my Strong Fortress, I commit my spirit into Your hands—another beautiful phrase from this psalm and a prophecy of what Christ will say on the cross—I say it again, take my life and show me if there is something else You want me to do with the gifts You’ve given me.

For the sake of Your name.

What psalms or other verses encourage you when you feel stuck and unable to see the way forward?