My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped. (v.5)
A narrow trail hardly wide enough for one person to walk on; trees and brush push against each side crowding out the sunlight and obstructing the view of the next corner. The occasional rock or rut lies in wait to throw you from the saddle and toss you like a rag doll forcing you to hang on mightily until you could settle back in to your rhythm.
That’s what they call “single track” in mountain biking. Whether you’re racing or just out pounding the trail with your friends, it’s a ride like no other. You can not take your eyes off the trail for a split second, as soon as you do, you will – without a doubt – find yourself against the closest tree or buried in the bushes! This kind of riding requires myopic focus. It is both exhilarating and exhausting!
It’s not something you learn over night. It takes a certain skill level to do single track and do it well. Yes, it requires strength – there are times when you literally have to throw your bike around a corner or over an obstacle. It requires stamina – the terrain is never level, it rises and falls and often you are at elevations you don’t normally ride at. It requires balance – knowing how to center yourself over the bike is ultimately important. It’s called your balance point – once you know that everything else you do is driven of that balance point. That’s your primary point of equilibrium.
To give you an idea of what I mean, do you remember as a kid, the first time you rode you bike with no hands? How excited you were? The first couple of times you were wobbling like crazy, then after a few tries, you could do it smooth as could be. You could even go around corners! You could do that because you had found your “balance point” on the bike! The place where you and the bike were “one”.
Perhaps the writer of the Psalm would have been a good single track mountain biker. He knew his “balance point”.He knew what it meant to hold fast, to not slip. He was firmly focused on one thing and one thing only – the path set before him; doing right in the eyes of his LORD. Keeping his heart free from sin; his life dedicated to following the very law of God.
For that reason it was not difficult for him to say “if you try my heart….if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me…” (v.3). That is something my lips would surely stumble over. Oh there was a time, I might pray it to impress my friends, but I’m not certain there was ever a time I could have said it with certainty or confidence. I’ve had “spurts” – but nothing I would consider sustainable when you include the heart!
I think many of us could do the “outward” sin part pretty well. But when it comes to what harbors in our heart! Well that might be a different matter. That’s where we get thrown off our “balance point”. I don’t know that I would find myself in a state where I could confidently say “…if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me…”
Getting to that point is not easy. Just as getting to be a good single track rider is not easy. It requires finding that “balance point”.
That’s what they call “single track” in mountain biking. Whether you’re racing or just out pounding the trail with your friends, it’s a ride like no other. You can not take your eyes off the trail for a split second, as soon as you do, you will – without a doubt – find yourself against the closest tree or buried in the bushes! This kind of riding requires myopic focus. It is both exhilarating and exhausting!
It’s not something you learn over night. It takes a certain skill level to do single track and do it well. Yes, it requires strength – there are times when you literally have to throw your bike around a corner or over an obstacle. It requires stamina – the terrain is never level, it rises and falls and often you are at elevations you don’t normally ride at. It requires balance – knowing how to center yourself over the bike is ultimately important. It’s called your balance point – once you know that everything else you do is driven of that balance point. That’s your primary point of equilibrium.
To give you an idea of what I mean, do you remember as a kid, the first time you rode you bike with no hands? How excited you were? The first couple of times you were wobbling like crazy, then after a few tries, you could do it smooth as could be. You could even go around corners! You could do that because you had found your “balance point” on the bike! The place where you and the bike were “one”.
Perhaps the writer of the Psalm would have been a good single track mountain biker. He knew his “balance point”.He knew what it meant to hold fast, to not slip. He was firmly focused on one thing and one thing only – the path set before him; doing right in the eyes of his LORD. Keeping his heart free from sin; his life dedicated to following the very law of God.
For that reason it was not difficult for him to say “if you try my heart….if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me…” (v.3). That is something my lips would surely stumble over. Oh there was a time, I might pray it to impress my friends, but I’m not certain there was ever a time I could have said it with certainty or confidence. I’ve had “spurts” – but nothing I would consider sustainable when you include the heart!
I think many of us could do the “outward” sin part pretty well. But when it comes to what harbors in our heart! Well that might be a different matter. That’s where we get thrown off our “balance point”. I don’t know that I would find myself in a state where I could confidently say “…if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me…”
Getting to that point is not easy. Just as getting to be a good single track rider is not easy. It requires finding that “balance point”.
Father Spirit, how wonderful is your name!!!
I'm certain I am not ready for single track riding right now. I need to get my legs under me and find my balance point again. I know that my mind needs cleansing and my heart refreshed.
Will you do that work in my through your Holy Spirit?
I want to be found ready for a "night visit".
In the name of your Son who makes intercession for me!!! May it be.
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