Year of Exposure Day 41: Don’t be pushed into temptation.

“Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, To practice wicked works With men who work iniquity;”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭141‬:‭4‬a ‭NKJV‬‬

To this point in our discussion of Psalm 141 (as a template for successfully navigating 2025), we have seen that David:

> cries out to the Lord for help

> lifts his hands to the Lord in an expression of helplessness (submission), praise, and adoration

> asks the Lord to help him restrain his words

As seen in our opening scripture, in today’s portion of Psalm 141 we see that David also asks the Lord to keep him on track and out of trouble.

Mistakes made in times of peace and security don’t have nearly as much potential for damage and/or destruction as those made in the midst of a dangerous situation or environment.

Think of it: A person may trip and fall on a carpeted flour in their house and come out of it unscathed. But what if you’re standing on the two-story roof of your house when you trip and fall? The chances are not in your favor of surviving that two-story fall with no injury. Now, what if that slip and fall happens at the edge of a deep precipice? You get my point.

Here’s another truth to consider: The chances are very high that if you find yourself in a crisis of some sort, you are also dealing with mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual exhaustion. Indeed, it’s likely that you are grappling with a combination of these areas of exhaustion.

So, you find yourself up against it, facing high stakes, and you’ve got nothing. As such, you are more vulnerable to entering into temptation of some sort. And, not only entering into temptation, but succumbing to it. Can I get a witness?

In Psalm 141 David has found himself in a stressful situation. As well, some sort of evil traps with his name on it have been set. (Lord willing, we will explore this aspect on another day.)

The point we can glean here is that temptation on any day complicates our Christian walk. But the temptation to go astray, intensifies when something else is going on in our lives that is filling most of our “bandwidth.”

The good news is that we have a Good Shepherd Who will keep us out of temptation, no matter what is going on around and/or in us. David expresses this truth in the 23rd Psalm.

“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

But the Lord can’t/won’t keep us out of temptation, out of the snares of the enemy if we won’t follow Him.

Child of God, we must not allow anything we may go through in coming days cause us to veer off course. Make no mistake, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Let’s allow the Lord to keep us out of trouble by keeping our eyes on Him, and following where He leads!

“And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭13‬a ‭NKJV‬‬

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!