Not shaken

DEVOTION

PSALMS

NOT SHAKEN

Ps 15

LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? 2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, 4 who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, 5 who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

NIV

Why would anyone not want to dwell in the Lord’s sanctuary? Why would anyone not want to live on the Lord’s holy hill? Wait, there is another description as a hill for the new city of God, New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven. But the point of this psalm is whose is qualified to live there. Who is qualified to dwell in his sanctuary? That word also implies New Jerusalem as the Hebrew word translated sanctuary means tent, or home. It also could be seen as rest. But if we just take tent or home, that implies the place God dwells. In the Old Testament time of the tabernacle only the high priest could enter the holy of holies once a year on the Day of Atonement.  Then he had to go through extensive preparations before entering, for if he did not and was not worthy to enter, he would be struck dead. Here we see for us to dwell in his home, to live on his holy hill, we need to walk blamelessly and do want is righteous. There is a list of attitudes and behaviors as well. But let us take this blameless and doing what is right first. What does that mean? How can we really have a blameless walk in this life? Certainly we have some blame and we have done that which is not right from time to time. However God has declared those who are in Christ as holy and blameless in his sight.

Col 1:21-23

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight , without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

NIV

If we continue in the faith, believing Jesus is our righteousness, our salvation then we are in fact holy, without blemish and blameless, free from accusation. This alone should qualify us to dwell in his city, to live on his holy hill. However, because we have committed our life to Christ, there are results which should follow. Thinking about committing our life to Christ make us consider the difference between accepting what Jesus did on the cross for us, asking Jesus into our heart and committing ourselves to him as Paul puts it in Roman 12:1-2.

Rom 12:1-2

12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

NIV

This is where doing what is right is applied. This is where speaking the truth matters. This is where doing no harm to others counts as well as where Paul defines love to the Corinthians. We also have the two greatest commands spoken by Jesus.

Matt 22:37-40

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'   38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'   40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

NIV

Because we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves we would not do them any harm nor cast any slur, which means gossip about them. Even though we are supposed to love them, we also should despise the vile man, which is despise his acts for God loves us yet while we were still sinners. So even though we despise what he does we should still exhibit love toward him. There is also the point about keeping our oath, but God says not to make an oath.

Matt 5:33-37

33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

NIV

Then there is the whole money thing, lending without expecting payment with interest. Our whole society works on the principle of interest, but we are not to, as well as take a bride, which implies we cannot be bought at any price, we will not compromise our principles or faith for anything. Because we live by faith in Jesus Christ, we will never be shaken. We will stand fast, hold our ground, not given to retreat, not sacred of anything, because we are clothed in God’s armor. We will not be shaken.

Understand and seek

DEVOTION

PSALMS

UNDERSTAND AND SEEK

Ps 14

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. 2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3 All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. 4 Will evildoers never learn — those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on the LORD? 5 There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous. 6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge. 7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

NIV

First we should understand the word fool in the Hebrew means the morally deficient So then the morally deficient says in his heart, “There is no God.” Those who have no moral compass are corrupt. Everything they do is vile. It appears at the time of this Psalm was written, there was no one who was not morally upright, or had any morals at all. It might well had been much like the time God brought the flood because man’s heart was bent toward evil all the time. Yet Noah found favor in the eyes of God. David found favor in the eyes of God, for God himself testified that David was a man after his own heart. It seems there are also many today who would be seen as morally deficient. God is looking down from heaven, he is still looking to find anyone who understands and seeks him. It is worrisome that the statement is made about there being no one who does good, not even one. Although we must admit we are but sinners saved by grace, we do have a tendency to think we are not as morally deficient as those who say there is no God. We know, we understand there is a God and he is our God and we are his people. Yet, we still do that which is not good. We still have thoughts, feelings, behaviors which are not right. Yet, because we are in Christ, God is present with us. The question which is asked, and it still applies today, is will those who do evil, the morally deficient, ever learn. Some day they will be overwhelmed with dread because God is present with the righteous, those who are in Christ. The reason has to be due to the taking out of the righteous from the earth. The word which is used to define that event is the rapture, which does not actually appear in the scripture. Yet that is what is meant when we all will raise up in the air to meet our Lord. Sometimes it appears the evil doers frustrate the plans of the righteous. Not sure how that was in the time of this writing, but today we know some in the government as well as certain special interest groups want God taken out of any public square, they do not want God around. They want God removed, they may be the ones who say there is no God. They are certainly morally deficient. Perhaps because they truly know God is real, they believe if they can remove any reference about him, it makes him not real. There may come a day when our faith is outlawed. Other faiths will be accepted because they believe in many gods, or false gods, that mean nothing to the morally deficient, Christianity has to be banished from government, from invading the public square. However we know God is our refuge, He will protect us from all who are morally bankrupted, because he is our salvation. He restores our fortune, we can rejoice because when God is for us, who can be against us? They do not stand a chance, they cannot win, and they will lose. We hold onto our faith, we hold fast in Jesus because we know, we understand and seek God.  

Unfailing love

DEVOTION

PSALMS

UNFAILING LOVE

Ps 13

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

NIV

Historically we know there were times in the life of David when Saul was hunting him down because David had been anointed as the new king and Saul would not have anything to with it. Earlier in their relationship after David, as a youth, had killed Goliath, Saul had David in his court. David would play music for Saul. But once it was evident that the anointing was on David, Saul was trying to kill him. This psalm gives the impression David felt as though God had left him alone. There are times in our life when it seems God is far off. Sometimes we think he is not listening to our prayer. Sometimes when we fail him and seek forgiveness, it just does not feel like we have been forgiven, but we know that is the enemy accusing God of being far off. We remember the inspirational words of Daryl Scott when he said, “There is a difference between the conscience presence of God and the constant presence of God”. God is always there, even if we are not conscience of his presence. David knew this as well, so he concludes that he will trust in God’s unfailing love and his heart will rejoice in his salvation. This is our song, this is our story and we are sticking to it. God has done so many works in our life. He is always working in and on our being, perfecting us in the likeness of his Son.

Rom 8:28-29

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

NIV

God decided before anything that those who put their trust in him, he determine he would do a good work in us, that he would work in us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, so that we would be like Jesus. So we sing his praises, even if we are not feeling his presence at times. We will always trust him because we know his love for us is unfailing. He will never stop, not ever stop, loving us, even if we disappoint him at times. His love is not dependent on us, his love is dependent on him. This might be a true lesson in being conformed into the likeness of his Son. We love people, our family, our spouse, our children, and yet is our love unfailing? When a member of our family disappoints us, is our love unfailing? When someone lashes out in anger toward us, or is critical of us, is our love unfailing?  Love always protects, love always hopes, always trusts, and always perseveres. It is unfailing. His love for us is unfailing. We should live with that kind of love. So we sing because he is good to us, he loves us with unfailing love.

Kept Safe

DEVOTION

PSALMS

KEPT SAFE

 Ps 12

Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. 2 Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception. 3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue 4 that says, "We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips — who is our master?"

 5 "Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD."I will protect them from those who malign them." 6 And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. 7 O LORD, you will keep us safe and protect us from such people forever. 8 The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.

NIV

It almost sounds like there will be a great falling away from within the church. If the godly are no more and the faithful have vanished from among men, it seems this is talking about those who were once enlightened,

Heb 6:4-6

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away , to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

NIV

The vanished faithful or the godly that are no more could also speak about those who get saved by fall away when times get tough.

Luke 8:13

13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away 

NIV

Both of these two types of believers become conceited with their own words, their own form of religion and traditional practices. Some have fallen prey to the lies. They listen to the lips that flatter, but are nothing more than a deception. We merely have to tune to some of these mega television churches to hear them. Not that all are filled with lies and deception, but with the discernment of the Spirit, it is easy enough to spot them. But they are not the only ones who are in danger, for right within the local church there is danger. There is teaching which is from the lips of men rather than from God. Again we need to rely on the Spirit, to test everything.

1 Thess 5:19-22

19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

NIV

God will judge the unjust, the liar, the deceiver, the false teacher and preacher. God will judge those who honor their own words over his, even when they are talking about the scriptures. They think their intellect, their knowledge, their education makes them worthy, and they honor themselves. But God will protect us, he will put a shield around us, keeping us safe from those who would malign. They words have flaws, but God’s words are flawless, his words are perfect and true. Because we are in Christ and have the Spirit dwelling within us, we will keep step with the Spirit.

Gal 5:25-26

25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

NIV

The wicked may strut about with all their self-ordained worthiness thinking themselves better than the honored vile acts of men. But they are committing the vile acts themselves by strutting about, being filled with pride and arrogance. God will protect us from all of them. He will guide and direct our path for he is our light, our salvation, our fortress, our shield, our ever present help in trouble. He is our rock, our refuge, in him will remain and be kept safe.

Face of God

DEVOTION

PSALMS

FACE OF GOD

Ps 11

In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: "Flee like a bird to your mountain. 2 For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. 3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" 4 The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. 5 The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. 6 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. 7 For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.

NIV

If we are taking our refuge in the Lord, or as the Hebrew puts it, put our trust in the Lord, then why would we have to listen to someone telling us to flee? So they take up arms against us, they bend their bows and set their arrows against strings to shoot at us from the shadows, to shoot at our heart. That sure sounds a lot like Satan with his flaming arrows. But our trust is in the Lord for he has given us the shield of faith to extinguish all those arrows aimed at our heart. We also have that breastplate of righteousness protecting our heart, which is Jesus, for he is our righteousness. The Psalmist asks what we can do if the foundations are being destroyed. What are the foundations? Is it the foundations of the earth? The Hebrew word gives us a little insight as it is used figuratively as the basis of political or moral support. This might imply as to what the believer will do when all that we hold dear is ripped from the fabric of our society. What will we do when our religious freedom has been taken away? We are already seeing an all-out attack on Christianity from many different fronts, even our government. One past president even said this is no longer a Christian nation. Many special interest groups whose lifestyles are spoken against by the Word of God fight to have any reference of God removed from the public square. One ex-governor said Christianity is just a crutch for weak-minded people. But we will stand, we will take our stand, we will defend the name of our Lord. He is in his holy temple, he is on his heavenly throne. God sees all that is going on regarding the hatred people have toward him and what his word stands for. The Lord might well examine the righteous, again the Hebrew word there could even imply tests the righteous. This is not a test to fail us or a trial to see if we will fail, but as in a test to see how well we do, as a jeweler would test gold to see how pure it is. He does this because he loves us. He wants us to continue to trust in him even if the fabric of our society is dead set against him. He wants us to maintain our faith, our belief in his word even when it is not the popular thinking of our culture. We will take our stand, hold our ground, not given to retreat. We will not allow the enemy to advance any further. God loves us, but look what it says about those wicked and who live violence. His soul hates them, or he hates their soul as the Hebrew could imply. He hates their soul makes it sound like he hates what they do, how they think, their way of life. He still loves all his creation, even the wicked, as we once lived among them, and God loved us so much he sent his Son to die on that cross for us. We heard his voice, his call and repented. We stepped out from among the wicked and became one of the righteous. So he still loves them, but hates their sin. If they remain steadfast to their cause of wicked ways, if their soul is set on hatred for God, then they shall reap the rewards of their choice. God will rain down fire on them, just as he did on Sodom because of their wickedness. The lake of burning sulfur with hotter wind will be their lot. The Lord is righteous and those who are upright, that is those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior will see the face of God and live. The only uprightness we have is our faith in Jesus. He is our righteousness, he is our uprightness. Because of Jesus we will see the face of God.

Safe and Secure

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SAFE AND SECURE

 Ps 10

Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. 3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. 4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. 5 His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies. 6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble." 7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. 8 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims. 9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net. 10 His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength. 11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees." 12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless. 13 Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"? 14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.

16 The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. 17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, 18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

NIV

Here is a range of emotions, a range of faith, a questioning why God seems far away at times. Why does God allow the wicked to be so wicked and get away with it? Why does he allow the wicked to become so wealthy that they can take advantage of the poor? However it is also possible this wicked one could be Satan blessing the greedy and reviles the Lord. Still this does speak about people who have no room for God in their thoughts. It is the haughty person who does not even think of the laws of God. However, it is Satan who inspires this haughtiness. Man, without accepting even the concept of God looks to his own abilities and education or knowledge for life, thinking he can make himself happy, he will never have trouble and he will not ever be shaken. What a fool he is because his mouth is full of lies, curses and threats and evil are under his tongue. All of that also describes Satan, especially when it is added that he lies in wait near the cities, from ambush he murders his victims. We have seen other words describing Satan as a roaring lion roaming to see who he can devour.

1 Peter 5:8

8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

NIV

In this Psalm the verbiage is:  “He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.” It is the same lion, the old serpent, Satan who is after the helpless. Then we could ask how long is God going to allow him to destroy people, to drag them off in his net? But is it really Satan who drags them off or it is their own arrogance, their own heart which is bent toward evil all the time? We also have to consider the victims in this Psalm. Who is really the victim? It is the arrogant, is it the ones whose heart refuses God? They may be victims of Satan who also make every effort to victimize us. We can become victims. It is easy to take on the victim mentality in our current culture. It seems everyone is a victim of something or someone. We are not a victim for the Lord is our shield, he is our strength, our help in trouble. God is our defense against Satan and the wicked. Arise Oh God? He has, he is the King forever and ever. He hears us and he answers with power from on high. We have nothing to be terrified of for we are the children of God. He is not far from us, in fact, he has sent his Spirit to dwell within us, to inspire us, to encourage us, to ensure us that we are in the hands of the Father. We could go through all the range of emotions the psalmist did, but we do not have to for we are in Christ and Satan or the wicked have to hold on us, in fact, the lion is toothless.  We are safe and secure from all alarm.

Sing Praises

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SING PRAISES

Ps 9:11-20

11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done. 12 For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

13 O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, 14 that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation. 15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden. 16 The LORD is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. 17 The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God. 18 But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

19 Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. 20 Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men.

NIV

Praise him, ask him and praise him again. Is there any question that we should be singing the praises of God among the nations? Should we not be telling people what God has done? What has he done that we can testify to? Our salvation is a good start. How about the times he has healed us, both physically and spiritually? How about the times he has provided for us in a miraculous way? There are so many ways we could tell the nations, the people, what God has done. God remembers when we have been affected, he remembers when things were going badly and he never ignored our cry. The enemy is in pursuit of us and wants to persecute us, to make us feel guilty because we fail God. Satan would like nothing more than to make us feel so guilty that we are not even saved. Just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden, he plants that seed of doubt. He wants us to think that we are not really saved, because we still fall into temptations. He says, “How can you be a Christian and think, say, respond, or behave in  that manner?” “You’re not really saved”. But we cry out and God has mercy on us and he lifts us up from the gates of death. He says no way, you are not guilty, I have avenged your guilt with blood, my blood. He did this so we could sing his praises, not just in this life, but at the gates of Zion, the new city of God that is coming down from heaven, the daughter of Zion, where we rejoice in our salvation. But those nations, Satan and his legends of demons will indeed fall into the pit they have tried to dig for us to fall into. Satan and his legends will have their feet caught in the very snare they intended to trap us with. There is also the nations of the earth who forgo worshipping God for images they made themselves. They forgot about the God who created all that is created. They stand in the midst of his creation and yet refuse to remember him. All believers will not be in the grave, but the wicked, those who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will return to the grave, experiencing the second death. We are never forgotten, we are never forsaken, and God will continually be with us. Even though Satan might redouble his efforts to demolish our faith in God, we will never lose our hope, our hope will never perish, for we believe God, we trust God, our hope is in him. Because we have a heart for God and know it is his desire that none should perish, we have to believe this last portion seeks God to destroy Satan and his legend of demons, yet all those who have set their heart against God and us he will strike them down on the last day. He will judge the nations, the people of all nations. The judgment will be based on believing and accepting Jesus or refusing to believe and accept. Those who refuse will be cast down, he will strike them with terror. Even with all the glories that have built for themselves, all the edifices they have constructed to testify of their greatness, all the accumulation of wealth they have amassed for their future, will all be gone, as they are shown they are but mere men. God will demonstrate his great power and all the elements will melt away to nothing, all that man has done will be gone, and God and all his glory will be forever and ever. We will sing praises to his name.

The forever

DEVOTION

PSALMS

THE FOREVER

Ps 9:7-10

7 The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. 8 He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice. 9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

NIV

Forever is a long, long time, if fact forever is void of time. We think, because time is all we know, in a linear fashion. We have a past, we have present, however fleeting it is, and hopefully we have a future, at least we think of a future. God, however is always present, he has no past for he always is. It is difficult to wrap our time sensitive mind around that concept, but forever contains no time. From before the beginning of time, God established his throne for judgment and he has, is and will judge in righteousness, he knows no other way for he is our righteousness. When we consider his justice we have to think of Jesus because he satisfied the Fathers need for justice. Yet there will still be justice metered out in the last day. He will judge between the sheep and the goats. Although we always seem to read, those who fear the Lord, it is more of those who reverence the Lord, who hold him in esteem. If it were an afraid fear then we would not see him as our refuge or our stronghold when we are going through hard times. We see him as a loving caring protective Father who did everything in order that we would be saved from death. We also know that we trust him because we not only know who he is, but we know him. We perceive him, we have an intimate knowledge of him because the Spirit who dwells in us has revealed the Father to us. This is why we trust him. Those who do not have that revelation of him, do not trust him, they put their trust in their own abilities and knowledge. He said it so well, that cursed is the man who trusts in flesh. So we do not trust in ourselves, but in him for he reigns forever and he will never forsake us. Although the forever is timeless, it started for us when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That was the moment we entered timeless, we entered the forever.

Book of Life

DEVOTION

PSALMS

BOOK OF LIFE

Ps 9:3-6

3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. 4 For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously. 5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. 6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.

NIV

At first glance this might be taken as David singing to God about his current enemies. We could see that David has been pursued and that God has intervened and judged that David’s cause is just and so God destroyed his enemies. But the phrase about God having blotted out their names for ever and ever gives us the idea this is talking about the last day. Also the verbiage about endless ruin gives us that same idea. We also see God sitting upon his throne judging righteously. This is really looking like the Day of the Lord. The righteous will not have to turn back, they will be given access to the rest of the Lord, the paradise of God. But the wicked, they stumble, they have been turned back from his rest and cast out into the lake of burning sulfur where they perish before God. The righteous will not have their names blotted out of the book of life.

Rev 3:4-6

 They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life , but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

NIV

We can see the scene in heaven as clearly as the psalmist can, seeing God on his throne judging all peoples. We can see the endless ruin, of the wicked. All heaven and earth will experience a great upheaval and all the great cities mankind has built as their own edifice, much like the tower of Babel will be uprooted. When Jesus told his disciples about the destruction of the temple, which did take place in AD 70, and that not one stone would be left upon another, it does not even compare to the destruction of the cities of man. Everyone remembers the temple, but no one is going to remember cities like New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Sidney, Los Angeles, Dallas, or any of the great cities of this world. Not a memory at all, they will all be so destroyed, the elements will even melt. That means the steel, the aluminum, the concrete and glass, all that exists will simply melt away to nothing, becoming molten lava, as it were. Because they will be in torment day and night for ever and ever there only thought will be their torment and they will have no memory of what was their cities. We too will not remember as we will be in the new earth, the paradise of God, the new city of Jerusalem in the presence of our Lord. All the glory and grandeur will overshadow any thoughts of our past. We will be forever praising our God, giving thanks for our salvation. We will be enjoying eating from the tree of life, and having rest. Our names will forever be written in the book of life.  

Whole heart

DEVOTION

PSALMS

WHOLE HEART

Ps 9:1-2

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.  

NIV

We always have to remember these psalms are not just the words of a man, but words that are inspired by God written down by a man. They are an inspiration which is derived from God. We are told that all scripture is God-breathed, therefore we read words God desires us to and understand because the Spirit leads us into all the truth. God does write in riddles to hide the truth from us. Here we see praise is to be with our whole heart. This is so clear that we cannot praise God with a divided heart, or half-hearted. This takes all we are, all we have to praise him. Sometimes it seems that many of our fellow believers are not giving it all in the praise or worship portion of the Sunday service. In fact, there are times we are not fully engaged with all our heart. Why is that? We are so easily distracted by the things of life, or by someone else in the service, what they are doing or not doing, by children that are whispering and not singing, by parents paying no attention to what they children are doing, or someone who isn’t even singing at all. Maybe it is someone in the choir or on the worship team that draws our attention.  But here we are looking around instead of praising our Lord with our whole heart. What is with that? No, we have to be fully engaged one hundred percent in worship, it is simply just between us and God. What about the applause thing when the choir or worship team sing a special? Who are people applauding, the singers, or God? If the singers than were we just entertained? If God, why are we not applauding the pastor after he brings the word to us, for that was from God? What about his prayer? That too was from God. Maybe we are just applauding God in our hearts. The other question is, do we tell of his wonders? Are we always telling of his wonders? Do we know his wonders? Are we experiencing his wonders? Sometimes life brings us as many downs as there are ups, but does that interfere with his wonders? The Hebrew word means marvelous works, wonderful. We just have to look around or even look in the mirror and we see his marvelous works.

Ps 139:14

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

NIV

We will get to the rest of all that sometime later, but for now we only have to understand that we are the works of his hands. He has wonderfully made us. We are one of his wonders. Do we tell of his wonders? Do we explain how God designed the universe, how he formed everything simply by the words of his mouth, except when it came to us. When he formed us, God got down on his knees and got his hands dirty as he spit into the dirt to made mud, or clay and formed our being, then leaned over and breathed his very breathe into our lungs. With each breathe we inhale the very breathe God gave us. How wonderful is that? Each morning we arise to see the sun bringing us light to warm us, illuminate our day and we can hear the birds singing praise to our God. In the spring we see all the plants bursting forth with buds and the green appears soon after, life is back in their limbs as they soak up the rays from the sun. He has made this place a paradise for us to enjoy. Sure we are not in the Garden of Eden and we have to toil all the days of our lives, and by the sweat of our brow we labor for our sustenance, but we still are his handiwork and we should be praising him with our whole heart. We are glad and we rejoice, we sing his praises with our whole heart.

Crowning Glory

DEVOTION

PSALMS

CROWNING GLORY

 Ps 8

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

NIV

That is not a question, but a profound statement. How majestic is your name in all the earth! Yet when we consider that much of the earth, at least much of the peoples of the earth do not think his name is majestic, in fact, they have rejected his name for some other god or gods. This psalm seems as it speaks about Jesus and it may have been used as a prophecy concerning Christ. But when we think about it, it may not be about Christ, but instead about us. Verse five gives us this clue. God made his a little lower then, and here is the rub, the Hebrew word there is Elohiym, one of the names of God. Here it is translated heavenly beings. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are heavenly beings. How could God make himself lower then himself? If we translated the word as angels, which some translations do, how then could God make himself lower than who he created? When God created Adam he gave him authority over the works of his hands. He gave him rule over creation.

Gen 1:26-28

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

NIV

God has crowned us with honor and glory, in fact, we are the glory of God, we are his masterpiece, and we are his artwork, the work of his hands. To consider we are his workmanship. We are his poem.

Eph 2:10

10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

NIV

God’s workmanship, his work of art, his poem, his handiwork, his creation and we have been created to rule over his creation, which is the good work we are to do. We are to rule over the works of his hand. He has put everything in his creation under our feet, we are at the top of all creation. He gave Adam the right to name everything he made. Our work is to rule over all the herds, the flocks the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and all the swim the path of the sea, which includes all the mammals which live in the sea. We are God’s crowning glory. He has crowned us with glory and honor.  How majestic is your name in all the earth!

Sing praise

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SING PRAISE

Ps 7:14-17

14 He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment. 15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. 16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head. 17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

NIV

We are back looking at the results of doing that which should not be done. Consider what it means to be pregnant with evil, giving birth to wickedness. But first the conception must happen and we should ponder in what is meant by that. What does it mean to conceive trouble? This is nothing more than plotting something which leads to a lie, disillusionment. It is not being truthful about life, working situations for the benefit of self, even at the expense of others. Whenever we put ourselves before others, it is in essence conceiving trouble, trouble for ourselves. The Psalmist puts it in the context of digging a hole for someone to fall into, but falling into it ourselves. That is if we plot to gain something by making someone else look bad, we end up looking bad. This might be seen in the context of competition for a position at work or in church. If we were to cast any kind of doubt about the character or the abilities of another who is seeking the same position, we will end up on the short end of the stick. Whatever trouble we cause will recoil back onto us. That is an application in this life. But there is a greater application in the eternal realm. Although it is true we are not perfect beings and that we make mistakes, we fail God, we sin, he has already declared us holy and blameless in his sight because we are in Christ. That does not mean we are free to live being pregnant with evil and all that entails. We are the righteous because we are in Christ, by faith we have been saved. The wicked are not so fortunate. Those who live their lives being pregnant with evil, always conceiving trouble giving birth to falsehoods and digging pits for people to fall into will have all that recoil on them in the day of judgement. Everyone who lives with evil, rejecting Jesus, will be judged accordingly and cast into the lake of burning sulfur. The general thought of most theologians is they will be in torment for the rest of time, all of eternity, never finding any rest from torment. What a horrible way to spent all of time. Of course those who conceive trouble, being pregnant with evil do not believe this will be their end. The refuse to even believe or at least say they do not believe in heaven or hell and the bible was just written by men. They believe in science, not God, yet God created science. However, we will always praise our God, we will always believe, trusting in Him. We will continue to thank him for his great mercy, his salvation. We will sing his praises in our heart daily, and it will be on our lips, even in the presence of the wicked. We will live our faith out loud, they will know we are Christians by our love. No deceit will be on our lips, but only praise for our God.

The Judge

DEVOTION

PSALMS

THE JUDGE

Ps 7:10-13

10 My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day. 12 If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow. 13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows.

NIV

How could we live if we did not have God as our shield? Now the question is how can we be of upright heart? The Hebrew word translated upright means pretty much that, a straight forward, just, proper heart. This could only make reference to a heart which is bent toward God. This is the only way a heart could be proper. To chase after anything or anyone other than God would definitely be improper. To have a non-straightforward heart would imply a crooked heart, one that is divided, split, making an effort to seek both God and something or someone else, trying to have two masters, so to speak. God is righteous and is a righteous judge. We also think of God as loving because he loved the world so much he gave is one and only begotten son, so that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. Yet we are also told that he expresses his wrath every day. This translation may not express the Hebrew as well as it could. The direct Hebrew verbiage reads, God judges the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day. Other translations have rendered it just as the original and so we would have to agree that does judge us, the righteous fairly, he sees us through Christ. He is also angry with the wicked. He expresses that anger, but the psalmist does not say that he meters it out on the wicked. He does have his weapon ready, but he says that if he does not relent. The fact is God has relented, he is relenting, he holds back his wrath for the time being. He still expresses his displeasure with how the wicked live. His word, the scripture is full of language expressing how he feels about those who reject Christ and live to please themselves rather than him. Yet he relents from doing them harm for now. It is his desire all would come to Christ and be saved. So he waits for now, patience, holding back from exacting his wrath. But a day is coming when the open door to salvation will be shut. Just as in the day of Noah, God shut the door and those in the ark were saved and those outside perished. When that day comes, his wrath will no longer be held back. He will use his sword, his bow, his deadly weapons, which are the words of his mouth. He will judge the righteous, those in Christ as innocent. He will judge the wicked and they shall be found guilty for they did not accept Christ, and they will feel the full force of his anger, being cast from his presence into the lake of burning sulfur. How can we stand by now and just allow them to experience his wrath. Should we not be about our Fathers business, making every effort to share his love, so others might be judged among the righteous?

Secure

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SECURE

Ps 7:6-9

6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice. 7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you. Rule over them from on high; 8 let the LORD judge the peoples. Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High. 9 O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure.

NIV

How long will God allow Satan to continue to attack his people, how long will he permit Satan to send his legend of demons against us? The Psalmist makes is sound as if God is asleep, asking him to awake, but we know God is not asleep, he keeps watch over us. We live under the shadow of his wing. There will be a day in which God will degree justice upon the enemy of our soul. We are his assembled people, we have gathered ourselves to him, seeking refuge under his protection. We have given him or submitted ourselves to his rule from on high, making him our Sovereign Lord. He will judge every person according to their deeds. This has been a point of contention among believers for some time. There is the school of thought that he judges us by how many good or bad deeds we have done. That school teaches false doctrine. We have already been judged holy and blameless in his sight, but his own words. We are his sheep and will appear in his right side and given entrance into his rest. Those who have continued to refuse Jesus as Lord and Savior will appear on his left side as goats and will be cast into the lake of burning sulfur. We have been judged as righteous because we are in Christ and he is our righteousness. Once again the day of the Lord will be at hand in some time in the future. Whether that is a supernatural event the whole world will witness or a one on one experience the moment we step from this life into the eternal presence of our Lord, matters not. But there will be a day all the violence of the wicked will be finished. It will end for we know Satan will be cast into that lake of burner sulfur and we will be secure in the new paradise of God. Yet we have to live out our allotted days here with the enemy at large. Still we are also under the protection of our Lord, we are still secure.

No harm, no foul

DEVOTION

PSALMS

NO HARM, NO FOUL

 Ps 7: 1-5

O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, 2 or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

3 O LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands —  4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe —  5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust. 

NIV

Here we must take a stanza at a time, as this was a song David wrote about Cush who was a Benjamite. We are not sure if these experiences are those of David or about Cush. Yet we can be sure that whenever there is someone in pursuit of us, we can take refuge in the Lord. There is no question that Satan is in hot pursuit of our soul. Because he is not omnipresent as the Lord is, he does have a legend of demons who he has sent out to trouble us. If we are not seeking refuge in God, they could very well tear us to shreds as a lion does its prey. God can and will deliver us from the jaws of death. We also need to accept the realization we have committed sin either in word, thought or deed. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, for we certainly do not deceive God. He knows our every thought.

Heb 4:12-13

12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

NIV  

Here the psalmist seeks the Lord to examine his heart, to see if he has guilt and has done harm to anyone who is at peace with him. We should be careful to note we are at peace with God. It is also true that as much as it depends on us, we should live in peace with all men.

Heb 12:14-15

14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

NIV

Living in peace means to do no harm to those we are at peace with. This means everyone, but especially God. We should do no harm to God, or to his name. That would imply as his representatives to the world, we should live as harmless beings, so as to not give God a bad name, or bring dishonor to his name. If we live bringing dishonor to him, then as the psalmists asks, let them trample us down, let them tear us to shreds, and make us sleep in the dirt we have created with our disgraceful words or deeds. Oh sure we cannot be perfect, but let us not willingly go about living as if we are not at peace with everyone and see how much harm we can do to them or our God. We should live with that adage, no harm, no foul and seek the refuge of God.   

Accepted

DEVOTION

PSALMS

ACCEPTED

Ps 6

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony. 3 My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?

4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. 5 No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?

6 I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. 7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.

8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

NIV

We cannot break this one up, it requires the whole to see the truth in our relationship with our Lord. Surely we do not have such agony in our bones it appears David did. Our soul may not be in as much anguish either, but the point is this life does has its ups and downs. We have those days or moments in our life which seem difficult and there may be times we simply what to give up. Why brother to go on, we need the Lord to deliver us from those times. We need relief from the stress of life at times. The Lord is always there, but at times he seems so far away, we have to always remember he is there and his unfailing love is completely surrounding us. Each morning we begin with a praise because one more day we have his unfailing love, his mercies which are new each day. The world might try to beat us down. Satan tries with all he has to break our spirit, to tempt us to give up on God and put our trust in ourselves. Satan shows us what appear to be the good things of life. The typical main three he brings into the lives of men are money, power and sex. It seems in our modern culture, many women are falling prey to the same temptations. He offers these in all sorts of different ways, not being obvious with them, but in a deceptive underhanded way, so we may not notice. It seems even as strong as David was, the man who killed Goliath and became one of Israel’s greatest kings, the man God testified was a man after his own heart, had those times in life he wanted to give up because of the enemy of his soul. He used the phrase all his foes, or you who do evil.  If such a man as David had such feelings, do we think we are immune from those feelings? Although there may be men, people who are foes, or enemies, the truth is Satan is their driving force. He is the true enemy who desires our defeat. But it is those words, “get thee behind me Satan” which puts life back into our bones, which brings everything into perspective. They Lord is near, he hears our hearts cry and accepts our prayers. He smashes the enemy, he turns him back, and he keeps him from our hearts door. The enemy can do nothing without the Lord’s permission, so we are safe in the arms of our Lord. It is sure we cannot praise our Lord from the grave. That may not mean the actually grave, but from a dead life, a life without joy, without love, without peace, kindness, gentleness, goodness and faithfulness. Jesus said that apart from him we can do nothing, we need to remain in him. He is the vine, we are the branches and in order to have live, to have fruit we must be in the vine, if no fruit, we might as well be in the grave as we are living in dead men’s bones. But alas, we are alive, we are filled with the Spirit and we are bearing much fruit and our mouth praises our Lord with each new day, for God hears our voice and he answers our prayers, they are accepted.

Favor of God

DEVOTION

PSALMS

FAVOR OF GOD

Ps 5:9-12

9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit. 10 Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you. 11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

NIV

In many of the Psalms we have comparisons between two types of people. We just saw how he listens to one and not the other. Now we see the psalmist verbalizing how the wicked are characterized by God.  Just as we started in Psalm one, why would we want to take any advice from a mouth that cannot be trusted to tell the truth. Sure, fine sounding words may well come from a throat that is an open grave. But their words will bring destruction, their tongue is full of deceit. We might think these people are really wicked evil people doing all sorts of nasty evil things. But that is not the case, many of them are really nice people, kind and have families who love them and whom they love. They are everyday people we come in contact with daily, some we even work with. They are business people, doing life in the way of the world. But here is where we have to draw the line. If they do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, if they do not use the truth of God as a guide for their lives, they are defined by the scripture as wicked. We cannot trust their advice. Because they are not believers, they are non-believers and they cannot speak the truth as defined by God. They can only speak words based on humanity, human thinking, human reasoning, from a human, worldly perspective. It may sound good, but it is destruction to a believer. If we pay attention to this deceitful advice we are in real danger. We cannot live in both the world of the wicked and that of the family of God. Just in one area alone, they say store up as much as you can. God says don’t store up, for where your treasure is so is your heart. On and on the contrast glares, shining so bright it would be difficult to miss it. Their lies about God helping those who help themselves is outlandish, but some believers might think works help, that we need to do all we can to improve our position in life. Some might think education is the key to success. The lies just keep spewing forth one after another. We simply cannot trust their way of thinking, we have to set our course on the truth of God. We have to take refuge in him and be glad we know the truth of God, how we are to really live. We can only put out trust in God, not in man, or self for the matter. We can sing for joy because God has spread his wings over us, he protects us, he provides for us, he guides us, he is a light onto our path, he shows us the way we are to go, we can trust his word because it is full of truth. Because we are considered by God as the righteous, because we are in Christ, he surrounds us with his favor. Consider living in the favor of God. Consider having his favor, to find favor in the eyes of God. We can live in the favor of God or in the eyes of the wicked. Is there really a choice?  We choose the favor of God, always.

Make Straight

DEVOTION

PSLAMS

MAKE STRAIGHT

Ps 5:4-8

4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. 5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. 6 You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors. 7 But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple. 8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies — make straight your way before me.

NIV

When we say God cannot look upon sin, using the words of Jesus on the cross to substantiate that claim, we could not be farther from the truth. If that were so, we could never be in the sight of God. It is not that he cannot look on sin, but he takes no pleasure in sin. He is not pleased when men do evil, and those who live in evil, which are those who are not in Christ will not see the paradise of God. But we also might see this as not having any personal relationship with God. We dwell in the house of the Lord, He dwells within us, we are the temple of the Lord. Again those who are arrogant, those who believe in their own accomplishments, cannot stand before God. He sees their arrogance, their sin and although he still loves them, which again is evident in Jesus on the cross, he will not allow them to stand before him. Some day they will stand before him to be judged, and their own arrogant sin condemns them so they will be cast from his presence into the lake of burning sulfur. This is their destruction. However, here we stand, according to his great mercy, in his house. We come into this house gathered in his name to worship Christ our Lord. We not only come into his house, but we are his house, we are the temple of the Lord. We live in his presence. We live in a constant state of worship, for he is our righteousness, he is our very life. Without Jesus we have no life at all. Without Jesus we are lost souls wandering through the darkness headed for death and destruction. We reverence him, we bow down in adoration and submission to his holy hill. We put his life before ours, this is why we seek him to lead us. If we did not want his leading, then we are not reverencing him. If we do not want him to lead us, we are actually wanting to lead ourselves. That old Bob Dylan song about having to serve somebody, either we are going to serve the lord, or serve Satan, but you have to serve somebody, carries a truth within. If we want our own way, rather than God’s way, it may not appear we are serving Satan, but serving self is one of the schemes of the Devil. His temptation of Jesus was centered on Jesus serving himself, get his own food from the stones, have all the kingdoms, being king with power, and using God to protect himself. We cannot allow self to overturn Christ. He has to be at the very core of our life. All that we are, all that we do and all that we say should be derived from our relationship with Jesus. It comes back to that not being able to serve two masters, God and self. So we ask him to make straight his way before us.  

New Morning

DEVOTION

PSALMS

NEW MORNING

Ps 5:1-3

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. 2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

NIV

There is nothing like the beauty of the early morning as slumber gives way and the awareness of laying still before the Lord. It need not be a time of lengthy or wordy prayers, including every need or a list of all those we know and their needs, but simply a time of reflection on the greatness of our Lord. How he has blessed us and the beauty of our life, the life he has given us. But more importantly then our words, is his still small voice as he speaks a new day into our being. Certainly he wants to hear our requests, but should we also not want to hear his answer. We lay in expectation of what he will bring to us. First in his thoughts for us, second any particular new truth he wants to reveal to us. If we are not waking each morning with expectation of what God is going to do in our lives, we miss out on so much, we live in the realm of mere existence rather than in his blessings. He is our King and God and we are his people, but also his children. He desires the best for us, as any father would for his children. He listens to our voice, the cry of our heart, but that cry should be for his voice. To hear him speak life into our being is the very best we could ever desire. To hear him reveal truths, to speak of his mercies each day. Oh how wonderful to awake to his voice. To know he is there, loving on us, gives us warmth in our heart. We arise with expectations of how the day will unfold as he guides us, and gives us opportunities to be to be his children doing his will. Praise him for each new morning.

Dwell in Safety

DEVOTION

PSALMS

DWELL IN SAFETY

 Ps 4:1-8

Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. 2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? 3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. 4 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. 5 Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD. 6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?" Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD. 7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. 8 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, Make me dwell in safety.

NIV

It would seem the psalmist is seeking the Lord for some relief of distress. We can know that God is always there to give us relief from any moments of anxiety, tension or distress. When times seem difficult we can seek the Lord and he will answer us. He will show mercy for that is who he is, that is his character. Some might what to point to how much wrath or vengeance he exacted on people in the Old Testament. Although that is true, he is still a merciful God. The idea of his wrath may be seen in this idea of men turning his glory into shame. It is God asking the question as to how long will man love delusions and seek false gods. It appears for a very long time since this psalm was written thousands of years ago and still men love their delusions and seek false gods. It also appears that anger can be an acceptable emotion only if we do not sin while having anger. That might only be the case if our anger is righteous. How can anger be righteous? To have anger about men loving their delusions, to be angry about men seeking false gods. That type of anger moves us, motivates us to do something about their delusions and false gods, such as being a light to them, being salt, being an ambassador to them, sharing the good news with them. It is one thing to be active and alive, living our faith out loud during our waking moments, but when we lie our head down at the close of the day, it is time to search our heart, and be silent, so we can hear the voice of the Lord giving us rest. God has set us apart for himself, he wants to speak into our lives words of encouragement, words of correction, words of wisdom and we need that time of silence so we can hear him. While we are so busy and active, even doing ministry, at times it is difficult to listen, but prone in bed, the day at its end, we can lie there and listen and he will speak to us. He fills our heart with joy, the light of his face shines upon us. He is glad we are his and that we have time together to talk. He gives us peace so our hearts are settled, content, for we know we dwell in his safety.