A week into the New Year, you may be thinking not much has changed from 2025. The resolutions have faded. The issues of 2025 are still present in 2026. Excitement for the year ahead perhaps is weighed down by the baggage of the year past.
Psalm 68 is here for us as we enter the New Year.
It’s first reminder for you today is that God goes before you.
1 May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.
2 As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away;
as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.
3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
King David, the author of this psalm, had many examples of the power and presence of God advancing in front of the armies of Israel. Enemies fell, not because the precision of David’s slingshot or the power of Israel’s army, but the power of the God who went before them.
As we enter the New Year, remember that the same God that went before David to defeat his enemies is the same God present with you to go before you.
Our year can be filled with uncertainty, but we have a God in motion before us. This is not wishful thinking, but the reality of our God. He loves to provide direction for his people and safety for their footsteps.
His power is paired with his presence and promises.
4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds—
his name is the LORD— and rejoice before him.
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
Relationships may be a challenge you are facing. God is not absent in the disfunction of human relationships. He invites us to find calm in his arms. He invites us to find peace in his presence. He rides above to guide us as we walk and live in this earth below.
David knew the history of the Lord. The path was not always easy. The journey not always clear. The victory didn’t always seem evident. But the Lord was walking with and before them. The Lord would not disappoint, the people would reach the safety of the promised land.
7 When you went out before your people, O God, when you marched through the wasteland, Selah
8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.
9 You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.
10 Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor.
The Lord hasn’t changed as we enter 2026. At the start of a new year, we are tempted to measure what we lack—energy, certainty, resources. Psalm 68 reminds us that the same God who went before his people then still goes before us now. The God who provided rain for weary land (v. 9) promises grace sufficient for what lies ahead.
So, before we ask what will happen this year, remember who walks ahead of us.
Prayer: Lord God, as you advanced to defeat all the enemies of your people, go before us in the year ahead to defeat all that stands against us and wrap us in the protection and peace of your presence as we walk confidently behind your lead. AMEN.