Psalm 143. A plea by David to God asking for his help. David has been pursued by the enemy and has been crushed. His spirit faints within him and his heart is appalled. He asks God not to judge him too harshly, for no man is righteous before God. As he reflects on his wrongdoing and need for mercy, David stretches out his hands to God. His soul feels like parched land thirsting for God. So please, David asks, make haste to help me! Teach me the way I should go, so that my soul is lifted up to you. "In thy righteousness bring me out of trouble! And in thy steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries."

This is how we should feel when we really realize the depth of our sinfulness and the consequences of it. Many people never do, so they never get to this point. They do not reflect on the evil of their ways - they justify their actions and forgive themselves when confronted in any way with their bad behavior. I do not know how God's judgment and plan works for these people - maybe they will get to that point before they die, maybe God will make sure of that. Or, maybe, unless their sins are mortal sins, they will spend a lot of time in purgatory.

But those of us, like David, who have this revelation in this life are the lucky ones! It is at this point, on the brink of despair for what we have done, when we have to fully surrender to God, as David does here. When we get to this point, we have two choices - we can either give into despair, which leads to more bad behavior, such as addiction, lashing out, other harmful actions, and even sometimes suicide; or we can realize that we have nowhere to turn but to God. We need his mercy like a parched land needs rain. We cannot get ourselves out of this mess, but we do not have to!

This is what he wants from us - our surrender, our repentance, our reliance only on him and his help. When we truly do, he will respond with more love and grace and mercy than we can possibly imagine!