true grit...

Growing up, Jessie and I were some of the few girls in the world who could actually quote John Wayne movies.  Our Daddy got us hooked.  One of his favorites was True Grit, the story of Sheriff Rooster Cogburn who stands as a man of integrity in the midst of people who are anything but.  It's his willingness to hang in there in spite of hard things, to hold firm no matter what that makes him a man of true grit.
Believe me when I say that I'm not trying to spiritualize Rooster Cogburn.  But I did think about his grit as I was reading this morning.  David is the writer of Psalm 86, and is pouring his heart out to the Lord in the midst of trials.  Verse 14 says that "insolent...ruthless men" are running after his very life.  He turns to the Lord as his only hope, clinging to the steadfast love and faithfulness of his God.
Here's the part where true grit comes in.  It would make sense to us if David wrote this psalm to complain about his circumstances, or to show that he deserved pity because of them.  But his words could not be farther from that.  With absolute tenacity, he declares to the Lord in verse 11, "For You alone are great and do wondrous things; You alone are God."
Really?  In light of all the things he could choose to say, David chose to praise the Lord, to declare that He does wondrous things.
Where does such grit, such strength, such fortitude come from?  It came first from the depth of David's heart, from the knowledge that his God was above all, unlike any other, "There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours," (verse 8).  And then it came from asking.  In verse 11, he says, "Teach me your way, O Lord , that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name."  David asked the Lord to unite his heart to trust nothing but Him.
And like David, I pray that my heart will be united completely to the Lord, that nothing will sway me from believing that He is great and all of His works are wondrous...