Radiant Face

DEVOTION

PSALMS

RADIANT FACE

 Ps 34:1-10

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

NIV

So many truths within this psalm we could almost take one line at a time and spend a day on it. Let us consider that we too should extol the Lord at all times. The word extol does not truly represent the Hebrew word as best as it could. Most other translations use the word bless, I will bless the Lord at all times. But the Hebrew also carries the meaning of I will knee to the Lord at all times. I will bow to the Lord at all times. This means we consider ourselves less then the Lord, he is our God! We have to understand we do not incorporate God into our lives, he is our life, we knee before him. We submit to him. His praise will always be, not some of the times, but all of the times on our lips. This has to imply that it does not matter what is going on in our life, we will always praise God. We will praise him in the morning, we will praise him in the evening, and we will praise him all the day long. Whether we are well or not so well, we will praise him. Whether we have plenty or are in want, we will praise him. Whether we are in good times or bad times, we will praise him. It does not matter the situation of our life, he is always worthy of praise and our lips will do that praising. We will live our praise, our faith, out loud. We will not remain silent. We have already seen being silent makes our bones wax old, in pain. So we will live our faith, our praise out loud, our lips will bless the Lord, our soul will rejoice out loud. Let those who are afflicted, those who suffer from the wages of sin, hear our praise and rejoice. Let them find the Lord and receive the forgiveness we have and rejoice. We can ask them to glorify the Lord with us, to exalt, to bow to his name together. When we sought the Lord, when anyone seeks the Lord, he answers. He does not turn a deaf ear, he hears us. He hears the seeking of the sinner, the cry of the sinner for forgiveness, the cry of repentance. He delivers us from all our fears. First of the fear of death, but then also all the fears of life. There is nothing in this life we should fear, for God is with us and if he is with us, who can stand against us. We can overcome all things, we can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives us strength. We do no need to fear, to cower in the corner, to be silent about our beliefs, to worry about any reprisals for our speaking out about God. We will not fear. Because of our faith, because of our bowing before him, exalting him, always praising him, always living rejoicing in our soul, always being without fear, our face will be radiant. We will never be put to shame. Our face will reflect the radiance of our Lord. When we consider that word grace, and how many times it is the Greek word which means the divine influence upon our heart and how that is reflected in our lives, we have to see this same truth about our faces being radiant because we look at God. Those who look to the Lord, those who see God, have they face lightened. Whenever we call upon the Lord he is there to save us from all our troubles. This may not always mean he takes us out of the trouble or takes the trouble away, but we will have peace and contentment, and security within the trouble, we will continue to trust him, never losing hope throughout any situation in life. We have the angel of the Lord encamped around us, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we are safe and secure from all alarm. We merely have to taste the Lord, and we will know he is good. Taste, perceive the Lord and see he is good. Understand the Lord, and we will know he is good. We are blessed because we have tasted the Lord and know we can take our refuge in him. Because we put all our trust in him, because we look to him for everything in life, we will lack nothing. The lions, the unsaved will grow weak and hungry, they live without hope, without freedom from fear, anxiety, tension and unrest. They live without God at their side. But we seek the Lord and as a result we lack no good thing. Our face is radiant.

Unfailing love

DEVOTION

PSALMS

UNFAILING LOVE

Ps 33:11-22

11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. 13 From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; 14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth — 15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. 16 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. 18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. 21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

NIV

We might have finished the first ten verses with verse eleven, but it better to begin this section with those words. The plans of the Lord stand firm forever. Just considering his plans are always there, and they are firm, not wavering, not shaky, non- changing, and will always be a solid foundation for our lives. His purpose, the purpose of his heart, side bar, just thinking about the fact God has a heart, brings all sorts of imagery. Well back to the purpose of his heart. His purpose is for us to spend eternity with him, to fellowship with him, to enjoy each other’s company. This is what it was like in the Garden of Eden with Adam. That was his intent, his purpose, but Adam messed that up. However, God never changed his purpose and made a way for us to regain that position, that fellowship. When we make that choice to accept his provision for fellowship he blesses us. When an entire nation lives in that manner he blesses the nation. Historically, we would have to say that Israel is the nation whose God is the LORD. They are the people he chose for his inheritance. But because we also know Israel as a nation rejected Jesus, they had him killed. But we also know that he has declared those who accept Jesus as LORD and Savior as a holy nation, a royal priesthood. He also declares through the Apostle Paul that true Israel is made up of those who have a circumcised heart, rather than simply a circumcised flesh. So then we would have to say we are Israel, God’s chosen people, a holy nation whose Lord is God. He looks down and sees all of mankind, he watches all people and observes their lives. He knows who will and who will not accept his provision for salvation, but he allows each one to make that choice. He formed the heart of every person, he made us in his image, to have a heart like his. He watches to see who will use their heart like his, or who will refuse and shut their heart off. But we who have allowed him to circumcise our heart, to expose it to his purpose for us, will be blessed. Because we fear him, we revere him, we have reverence toward him, and we have hope in his unfailing love, his eyes are upon us and he has delivered us from death and will keep us alive no matter what happens, we will have eternal life. We wait upon him, we live in anticipation of his work in our lives, are hope is in him, both for eternal life and in this life in the here and now. We wait for his purpose to be fulfilled in us. We have a heart full of joy because we trust in him. When men trust in themselves they will not find joy, but only worry, anxiety and frustration, just to name a few. But all that is gone when we put our trust in God. We rejoice in our heart because we are his, and he is our God. His unfailing love is upon us.

Sing Joyfully

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SING JOYFULLY

Ps 33:1-10

Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. 2 Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. 4 For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. 5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. 6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. 10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

NIV

Is there any appropriate time not to praise the Lord? Is there any situation we are not supposed to sing joyfully to the Lord? It would appear the truth of the matter is, that because we are the righteous, we are to sing joyfully to the Lord. That has to mean no matter what is going on in our life, we are to not just sing to the Lord, but sing joyfully to him. It is absolutely fitting, that it is right, for us, the upright, to praise him. Sometimes certain events occur in our life when we may not feel like praising God. Maybe there are times when we feel like he is not providing as we think he should. Maybe there are times when we are hurting, either physically or emotionally and our spirit is down. But the fact is we are still considered as the righteous and therefore we are to sing to the Lord, with joy in our hearts. He is always worthy of our praise. He is always worthy of our making music in our hearts directed toward him. He is always worthy of our living with a new song and living life skillfully and shouting for joy. He is always faithful, even when we are not. He loves righteousness and justice. We need to live in his righteousness and his justice, knowing the place we live in full of his unfailing love. He always loves us, never does he fail to love us, even if are going through a rough patch in life, he still loves us. Everything in this earth and above it was made by the words of his mouth. He spoke everything into existence, his power is so supreme we may not be able to completely understand it. But when we see life from the eternal perspective, it puts the temporal things of life into a correct perspective. We cannot focus our life around the temporal because it is not eternal. Because God created all that is created he is, not was and is and is to be, he simply is. That is why we can sing to him with joy in our hearts because he has not only created us, but has redeemed, us bought us back, paid the price for our lives, our eternal lives. When we look into the eternal there is God. When we look into the temporal, there is God. Where can we go from his presence? So we sing, so we make music, we rejoice in our heart because we are his and he is our God. Sing joyfully!

Surrounded

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SURROUNDED

Ps 32

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD" — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.   

6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. 10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.

11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!

NIV

Why would we not want to confess our sin to the Lord? When we do, our sins are covered. They are covered by the blood of Jesus. When we confess our sin God no longer counts our sin against us. But what about this deceit? Do we attempt to hide our sin from God? Do we pretend that we have no sin to confess? That is just stupid. The whole idea of being blessed carries the meaning of being happy, satisfied, content, complete, fulfilled and in fellowship with God. If we keep silent, pretending we have nothing to confess our insides will waste away. We will live in our own groaning, we will feel our guilt, although we refuse to admit it. Because we know God, we will sense his heavy hand upon us because we are not willing to accept his forgiveness. But when we accept the fact we have sin, and when we fall short of perfection, like every day, and we ask the Lord to forgive our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive the guilt of our sin. Why would we try to hide from him? Why would we ever attempt to think we have no sin, in word, thought or deed? We have heard some believers actually say they do not sin in word, thought or deed. Who are they deceiving, God or themselves? It would seem both. We simply cannot hide from God. It does not matter how much we try, it is not possible.

Ps 139:7

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

NIV

We will get the rest of this psalm some time later, it continues about all the places we cannot hide, even in the darkest of dark. We cannot hide from God, so why then would be stay silent? Have we become so tainted by sinful thought or even deed that we have become so accustomed to that kind of living we do not recognize it as sin? Maybe we make excuses for our humanity and simply accept the fact that is the way we are, so we do not confess it to God. The time to confess is now, each and every moment sin occurs within our inner most being. There is a time coming when confession will no longer be accepted. David saw it as when the mighty waters rise. It would seem he was thinking about Noah, the ark and the great flood. Noah had found favor in the eyes of God and he was saved from the flood. When the waters rose, the people knew then that God was God, but confession time had passed, they were going to perish, God had shut the door. Now is the time to confess, we are in the cross, we are in Christ, and we need to remain in fellowship with him for someday God is going to close the door again. We cannot assume we are safe, if we have unconfessed sin, if we are living with what we believe is an acceptable level of sin. God is our hiding place, we need to live in him continually, always aware of our failure and seeking his forgiveness. We do not need a bridle, for God will simply instruct us, giving us the truth of his word. When we listen to his voice, we know when we do something unacceptable and we confess it. When we listen to his voice we know when we are not doing something that is acceptable, when we are not obeying his call. No, we rejoice because he counsels us, he instructs us, he leads us in the path of righteousness for his name sake. The wicked are surrounded by troubles, but we are surrounded by the love of God.

Take heart

DEVOTION

PSALMS

TAKE HEART

 Ps 31

In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. 2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. 3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. 4 Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. 5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. 8 You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. 10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. 11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends — those who see me on the street flee from me. 12 I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. 13 For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." 15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. 16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. 17 Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and lie silent in the grave.   18 Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

19 How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. 20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.

21 Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city. 22 In my alarm I said," I am cut off from your sight!" Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.

23 Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. 24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

NIV

We really should take this in bits, or at least in stanzas, but the whole is the overall thought. The ups and downs, the ebbs and flows of life are seen within the whole of this psalm. There are times of trouble when we cry out to the Lord to relieve us, to rescue us from those moments in life when everything seems to be going the wrong way. There are times when it seems like everyone and everything is against us. Then we take a breath, we hear from God, and we see things for what they are, and see his hand at work in our life and feel his presence and peace. But there is another truth in this psalm that parallels the life is Jesus.  It starts with those words which Jesus quoted from this psalm.

Luke 23:46

46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

NIV

Jesus wanted God to come to his rescue on that cross. He knew it was time, and he wanted it to be over. So he laid down his life, the enemy did not take it from him. He decided when he would commit his spirit unto the Father. He was pursued by his enemies, he was chased after in attempt after attempt to catch him in violation of the law, in blasphemy. He knew all about the pain and suffering his creation endures at times. He experienced all our emotions, all our pain, all our sorrow, anguish, our groaning and our afflictions. Sometimes we even feel like broken pottery, but he felt that way as well. All of the times of hardship can be put to rest in knowing God is our strength, our shield, our fortress, our redeemer, our salvation, our rock, our shelter, our ever presence help in trouble. His goodness is stored up for us. His love is ever shown to us. Even in the times when it seems like he is not there, he is. Jesus quoted in essence this other verse in this psalm about being cut off from his sight. Actually from psalm 22, but this psalm has that same idea.

Matt 27:46

46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi,  lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"   

NIV

Feeling forsaken, feeling cut off from his sight, not feeling the presence of God in difficult times is human. Jesus was fully human and having understood all the emotions, all the senses, all the ups and downs of life, he understands our ebbs and flows. So when we experience those moments we can understand he is always there, he said that he would never leave us nor forsake us. It does not matter how we feel, or what sad state of affairs our life might be in certain times, God is always there to comfort us, to love us, to preserve us for we are among the faithful. We will never give up on God, we will never turn from him to worship or trust some other god or idol. So we will remain strong and take heart because our hope is in him.

Forever Thankful

DEVOTION

PSALMS

FOREVER THANKFUL

 Ps 30

I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. 2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. 3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.

4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." 7 O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.

8 To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: 9 "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help."

11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent .O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

NIV

Once again we see the transition from the city of darkness and death into the city of light and life. This move from the depths might be our choice, but we cannot make that move ourselves, we have way too much baggage, we require a moving company. The Lord is that company, he carries our baggage, in fact he removes it, and the Spirit drives us across the bridge, the cross of Jesus, into the new city, the new creation, the city filled with light and life. We did not have to stay in the pit, nor do we ever have to return to the pit. The Lord has healed us. The sickness of our sin weighted us down and kept us from getting out of the pit. We could not climb out, but Jesus took all our sin, he healed us. We are his saints and we sing to him, a new song, a song of life, of joy, of praise and thanksgiving. Yes, he has anger, anger over the sin of the world, the fact that man’s heart is bent toward evil all the time. But that wrath is momentary, as his love for his creation is eternal. He favored his creation by sending Jesus to die in our place, so we might have eternal life. There are times of night, so to speak, when we slip, failing to remain as faithful as we should. We are not perfect and we do sin, but rejoicing comes in the morning. With each new day, we rejoice and start our day singing praises to our Lord. Today is going to be a good day, we are secure in the Lord and we will not be shaken, we will not be moved, we will stand firm against all the attacks of the evil one. We have been given his armor so we can take our stand. We know God will sustain us for what pleasure does he derive from our being in the grave, in the dust, silent, unable to sing his praises. No one who lives in the city of darkness and death sings his praises, but we have been moved out, relocated into the city of light and life and we will sing a new song, our wailing in the old city has been turned into dancing. He removed that old sackcloth from us, those old clothes of despair and death and clothed us in his righteousness and filled us with his joy. Now our hearts can sing, we can live in song and dance for our Lord has done a great thing, we can praise him in the morning, we can praise him in the evening, and we can praise him all the day long. We do not have to be silent for he has given us voice and we will give him thanks forever.

Voice of God

DEVOTION

PSALMS

VOICE OF GOD

 Ps 29

Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning. 8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. 11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.

NIV

Great and mighty is the Lord our God, great and mighty is he. Men device many different methods to glorify themselves, to give themselves praise, to celebrate their achievements. If we ever begin to think we are a mighty one, if we ever think we have any might, any abilities, any knowledge, any wealth, any skills or talents, even any spiritual prowess, we merely have to remember we need to ascribe to the Lord all the glory and strength and what is due to his name. Then we need to remember it is us who should be worshipping the Lord in all his splendor and holiness. Is our voice heard over the waters? Does our voice thunder over the oceans? If we ever think our voice is powerful and majestic, we deceive ourselves, for only the voice of the Lord is powerful and majestic. We need to always remember we are but the creation of him whose voice strikes like lightning, whose voice shakes the desert and twists the oaks, stripping the forests bare. Sure we are something special to him, for he created us, but he created us to have fellowship with us. He redeemed us, we cannot redeem ourselves. He justified us, we cannot justify ourselves. He consecrated us, we cannot consecrate ourselves.  He sanctified us, we cannot sanctify ourselves. It is by his mighty power and voice he declares us holy and blameless in his sight, we cannot declare ourselves holy and blameless. At one time before we became a believer, we might have had ourselves upon a small and insignificant throne of sorts. But God seats upon the throne of heaven, he is enthroned over all that is created, he is enthroned as King forever. That means we have to dethrone ourselves off that pitiful little resemblance of a throne and bow at his throne, giving him all the glory and honor for ever and ever. Then it is he who gives us strength. Then it is he who blesses us with peace. God is the only one who can give us peace alone with everything else. Why would we listen to the voice of men, when we have the voice of God.

Carried forever

DEVOTION

PSALMS

CARRIED FOREVER

 Ps 28

To you I call, O LORD my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit. 2 Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.

3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts. 4 Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back upon them what they deserve. 5 Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD and what his hands have done, he will tear them down and never build them up again.

6 Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

8 The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. 9 Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.

NIV

We can be sure we do not want to be among those David is asking the Lord not to be dragged away with. There is plenty of pain ahead for those who do evil. We have not thought too much about the fact they speak cordially with their neighbors, but harbor malice in their hearts. That is an evil thing indeed. It would be wise for us never to allow ourselves to be that kind of a person, to be that hypocritical, especially within the body of Christ, but even among the outsiders. We have to be the people whose our yes is yes and our no is no. That is truthful in all situations. That is not to say it is alright to have malice in our heart and tell someone that is how we feel toward them. We are admonished to rid ourselves of all malice.

Eph 4:31-32

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

NIV

David prays that those who do such evil will receive what they deserve, and we know that is the case, the truth is they will receive exactly what they deserve. But we lift our hands toward heaven, which means we lift our hearts to him, not just for praise, but for examination. Like David, we continually ask the Lord to examine our heart to see if there is any iniquity within, any evil thoughts or desires, any wicked way. He does and he cleanses our heart forgiving our sin, and declaring us holy and blameless in his sight. He hears our cry, our prayer seeking forgiveness and wanting his work to be done in our life. Although we are weak, he is our strength, our shield. When we turn our heart to him, when we put all our trust in him, we are helped. Our heart leaps for joy, and we will break out in song unto the Lord. It is difficult to be sad when we are singing unto the Lord. He is our strength, our fortress of salvation. He is our shepherd, the Great Shepherd and he does carry us forever. We will never be alone, we will never get lost, we will always be safe for we are carried forever.

Wait for the Lord

DEVOTION

PSALMS

 WAIT FOR THE LORD

Ps 27:7-14

7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. 13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

NIV

He does hear when we call. There were times when David did not feel as though God was hearing his voice. There might be times when we feel he does not hear our voice, but we know he is always there and we should never doubt or have those feelings, for God is always merciful and always answers. It is not that God does not know the desire of our heart, but it is good to have a heart that seeks his face. We cannot live with a divided heart, half –heartedly seeking his face while the other half chases after the things of the world. Just wondering if that might be the reason David felt like God was hiding his face from him. Was David chasing after fame and fortune? We know David was the only man in the bible who God testified that he was a man after his own heart, but David also did some pretty bad things in the flesh. Was it in the times that he was seeking after worldly things, that he felt God was not answering him? This might be the reason we do not hear him answer, if we are seeking worldly things. This is the divided heart syndrome. Our heart desires God, but wants the stuff the world offers. But God will never forsake us, even in those times of our faltering from having a pure heart for him, whole-hearted type pure heart. The world will forsake us. David saw this truth in saying his father and mother would forsake him. The world, the world system, people in general, will forsake us. We cannot count on people, although they say they will stand by us, in certain times, when things get really tough, people might stand by to a certain degree, but it is doubtful they will stick it out forever. However, God will never leave or forsake us, he is there solidly all the time. He will always receive us. Though the enemy wants to destroy us, although he wants nothing more than to make us depressed, feeling lonely, as though God does not hear or care about us, God will always be there watching over us, protecting us, making us feel safe and secure. We are ever confident in the Lord, we never lose heart regarding his goodness, both in the eternal life we have and in this life of the living, the here and now. It does not matter what life brings, we will take heart, having confidence, always waiting for the Lord. We will always be strong waiting for God. We will not forge ahead under the direction of worldly ideas, but we will wait for the Lord. We will not buckle under the pressure of worldly temptations, but we will wait for the Lord. We will not yield to the feelings of loneliness, depression, feeling that God has left us, or does not answer us, but we will wait on the Lord. We will be strong of heart, trusting and waiting for the Lord.

Making music

DEVOTION

PSALMS

MAKING MUSIC

Ps 27:4-6

4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.

NIV

To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life and to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple, is the best thing we could ever imagine. One way we could see this is to simply look in the mirror. Because God has declared we are being built into the temple of the Lord,

Eph 2:19-3:1

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

NIV

Because we are his temple, his dwelling place, we gaze, we look upon our lives as his dwelling place. This has to move us to live in a manner which pleases him. Because he dwells within us, we should be seen as the beauty of the Lord. When we consider the massive structures of the past, the temples, the churches, the basilicas and all those which people visit to enjoy the splendor of those buildings, we have to know people sense the presence of God within. The question is that because we are the temple of the living God, do people sense the presence of the Lord within us?

However, the meaning of this psalm might well be seen better as in the way we live. Being a believer, a follower of Jesus, we live as though we are living in his temple all the days of our life. What does that look like?  This brings us back to being the temple of God. We should live as being his temple. We should live both as the temple as well as being the royal priesthood who serves in the temple. At the same time we have to know that being in his temple, God being our shelter, our fortress, our rock, upon whom we base our lives, he will keep us and hold us in the palm of his hand. The enemy cannot harm us, we are kept safe. When we have some trouble, and surely that it true, trouble does have a tendency to find us from time to time, He will keep us safe. That implies then any trouble cannot do us harm, in fact God can use trouble to teach us, to bring us closer to him. No matter what life brings, we have hope in the Lord. We will continually sing praises, make music in his tabernacle, which brings us back to being his temple, his tabernacle. We will make music in our heart, we will sing to the Lord within our heart, and in doing that, people cannot help sense the presence of the Lord when they are in our presence. Let us make music.

Being Confident

DEVOTION

PSALMS

BEING CONFIDENT

Ps 27:1-3

The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.

NIV

This psalm just has too much to handle in one day. We need to spend some time on each stanza to garner all the truths within. Without the Lord we would be living in the darkness and without any hope of eternal life. Those who either refuse to live in his light are currently living in darkness and their only chance to escape eternal darkness is to step out from that darkness into his wonderful light. Because we live in the light of the Lord we have nothing to fear, from people, from the powers of evil in this dark world, or from death itself. Because the Lord is our stronghold we have life. We can live without being afraid of anyone, especially the enemy of our soul. It is not by our power or might that we will cause our enemy to stumble and fall, but by the power and might of our stronghold, the Lord. The lord is the strength to my life, the Hebrew word translated stronghold means the strength, a fortified place. This means the enemy can use all his weapons against us, but because we are in the fortified place of God, nothing can break down or scale the walls of this place, we are safe and secure. The problem is that at times we might think we can battle on our own in the open field. We step out of the fortress of God and try to take on the enemy in our own strength. Wrong idea, the worst thinking ever. Although he gives us all his armor so that we can take our stand against the schemes of the devil, that armor is intended so we can stand in the stronghold, not on the open field of battle. It does not matter what the enemy throws at us, we will not fear, our heart will not flutter or miss a beat, it will not doubt the ability, the power, the might, the awesomeness of his stronghold. The stronghold will never fail to protect us, in fact the stronghold of God will cause the enemy so much difficulty he will stumble and fall. When the devil wages war against us, we will not care, for our stronghold will keep us safe and secure, of this we can be confident.  

Solid ground

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SOLID GROUND

 Ps 26

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2 Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; 3 for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth. 4 I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites; 5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, O LORD, 7 proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds. 8 I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your glory dwells.

9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners, my life with bloodthirsty men, 10 in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes. 11 But I lead a blameless life; redeem me and be merciful to me.

12 My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.

NIV

David is asking God to judge him and is not that what we desire as well? We want God to be our judge, for he will judge us fairly without favoritism. However, we can be sure we will be judged blameless because we are in Christ. We have trusted in the Lord without waving. That is we will not slide or tumble or vacillate. We do not move from our trusting in him, not just for salvation, but for the life in the here and now. Here is where the proof is in the pudding. We can say all we want, that our trust is in the Lord, but now we are asking him to test us, to examine our heart and mind and see if we are really who we say we are. David was confident God would not find any difference in what he said and who he was. Can we say the same thing? Can we say that God’s love is ever before us and that we walk continually in his truth? Wavering from this would mean we would have to say no. But we do not waver, we do not make a move without his counsel. We do not trust in our own choices. We do not trust in our own abilities. We do not trust in our own intelligence. We do not trust in our wealth. We trust completely in God and his plan for our life. We do not sit or take counsel from deceitful men. This is the meaning of sitting with deceitful men. We do not consort, or fellowship or exchange ideas with hypocrites, those who claim to be believers, but do not live or are the people they say they are. There are far too many who claim to believe in God, but live as though they believe in the world. We need to stay far away from these types, unless of course we have been called by God to bring them the truth. But the idea is that we do not take any of their advice or counsel. It is not that we are just believers, but we abhor the assembly of the evil doers, we refuse to sit with them, accepting anything they have to say about how to live. Sure we can learn knowledge from the world, raw education without the bias of man. But when it comes to concepts that are indifferent to the word of God, we cannot accept them for we are in the truth. It is the philosophies of man, which we stand against, for we base our life on the truth of God. This is the only way we can say that we wash our hands in innocence. The world’s way is corrupt, God’s way is pure without blemish, and because our trust is in Jesus, we are holy and blameless in the sight of God, therefore he has declared us innocent and we can have clean hands. We proclaim his love and give him praise for his loving kindness and blessings in our life. We love the house where he lives, where his glory dwells. The church built of brick and mortar is not his dwelling place. We are that house, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we are living stones being built into the temple of God. So as David asked, we also ask, but at the same time know, God will not combine us with the wicked. He will separate us, putting us on his right side and them on his left. We will be ushered into his everlasting paradise, and they will be cast out into the everlasting lake of burning sulfur. So we can say with confidence our feet are on solid ground. Our feet are firmly planted in the word of God. On solid ground I stand. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, my righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Redeemed

DEVOTION

PSALMS

REDEEMED

Ps 25:16-22

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

NIV

Though we did not need to repeat the whole of this Psalm today, but just deal with the concluding remarks. It is remarkable how God does turn toward us if we recognize we are lonely and afflicted and that we have troubles in our heart and experience anguish. The opposite to being lonely and afflicted is being self-sufficient and prideful, unaware of our sinful state and not concerned about offending God. When we understand we are in distress, or in danger of destruction, then we seek God asking him to take away our sin. Those who refuse to acknowledge God, or their sinful condition have no clue they are in distress. They are not hated by the enemy of our soul, for he has them already in his control. But those of us who have understood our condition, who heard the voice of the Spirit and responded are fiercely hated by our enemy, Satan. He increases his efforts against us trying his best to entrap us, to make us stumble, to get us to forget about God and live for our own passions. But we will not forget God, we will continue to seek him, asking him to guard our life and rescue us, not letting us be put to shame. We will always take refuge in him, for there is no other place safe enough from the enemy. If we try to stand on our own, we will fail, we will fall prey to the enemy. If we think we can rely on our own abilities, our own resources, our own knowledge, even of the scriptures, or our own spirituality, we will fail and fall prey to his schemes. We can only have victory by taking refuge in the Lord. It is his integrity and uprightness that protect us, not ours. Our hope is in the Lord. He already has redeemed Israel from all our troubles. We can say that because we know we are the true Israel because we have allowed God to circumcise our hearts. A person is not Israel just because of the circumcision of the flesh, but that of the heart. Praise God for his redemption.

Learning at his feet

DEVOTION

PSALMS

LEARNING AT HIS FEET

Ps 25: 8-15

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13 He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. 15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.

22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

NIV

We already said God was good, but again we have to say, Good and upright is the Lord. He does instruct sinners in his ways. This means we cannot get ourselves ready for salvation. It isn’t as if we can clean ourselves up before he instructs us. When we first came to Christ we were an absolute sinner, no question about it. But what about now? Are we still considered as a sinner? Not by God and we should not see ourselves as sinners either. Do we still commit sin? It would seem obvious that we do, but we are not living in sin as sinners do. God has instructed us to take off the old self and put on the new self.

Rom 6:5-7

5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

NIV

Eph 4:22-24

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self , which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

NIV

So then we are no longer a sinner. We were once a sinner saved by grace, but now we are a new creation, made new in the attitude of our mind and we have been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. So in our humility, because of his grace, we learn, we sit at his feet and learn, like Mary did rather than busy ourselves, even in ministry, like Martha did. Sometimes we can get so involved in doing, being spiritual, doing what we call, God’s work, we forget to just take a seat at his feet in humility and learn. Sometimes we think we have it all figured out and we go about doing, rather than seating at his feet and learning his ways. All of his ways are loving and faithful, if, yes there is an “if”, if we keep the demands of his covenant. There are so many covenants he made in the past with Israel or people of the Old Testament, like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Solomon, and the list goes on. Some of them did a pretty good job at keeping the commands of his covenant. Well, Adam did not at all, and that started this whole business of being a sinner. But today, because Jesus fulfilled all the Law, all the covenant God made with Israel, we are no longer under that law. Jesus did establish a new covenant. Jesus is, in fact, the new covenant God establish with us. By our accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior we entered into this covenant with God. By our remaining in Christ, we are keeping the commands of his covenant. It is also true Jesus told us that the new law, the new demands are to Love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our spirit and all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. How well are we keeping the commands of his covenant? That is why David asked God to forgive all his iniquity, how great they are. David failed to keep all the commands of God, we fail to keep them also. So we ask God, for his names sake, to forgive us for all our failures, all our faults, all our inabilities to keep all the commands of his covenant. Oh we say are in Christ, but do we do the rest? So we need to keep ourselves in fear of God, which is in reverence to him. Then remaining humble, knowing our failures, our imperfection, as compared to God, He instructs us in the way he has chosen for us. That might well mean all of us being instructed in the way of Christ, living as believers, or it might mean individually as to where he fits us within the body of Christ, or where he puts us, as living stones, in the temple he is building, where he dwells. As we seat at his feet and learn, we will prosper, we will live in prosperity. This does not mean live being wealthy, but the Hebrew says it this way; our soul at ease shall dwell. That is prosperity, to dwell at peace with God we can and should pass that on to our posterity, the generations to follow us, specially our own family, so we all will inherit the land, the Promised Land, the paradise of God, the new city of Jerusalem in the new creation. Because we have humbled ourselves and have chosen to sit at his feet and learn, he confides in us and he explains his covenant to us, making it known to us. So we keep our eyes ever on the Lord because he has freed our feet from the snare, the snare of sin, the snare of pride, the snare of greed and self-aggrandizement. He has freed our feet from the path that leads to destruction and set our feet on solid ground, on holy ground. God has done it all. So we have nothing and we remain humbly sitting at his feet, learning.  

God is Good

DEVOTION

PSALMS

GOD IS GOOD

 Ps 25: 4-7

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13 He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. 15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.

22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

NIV

Well, like we thought, we did not make it past the first stanza the day before, so let us continue on. Again, a question we have to ask our self, do we really want God to show us his ways? Do we truly want God to teach us his path? Are we willing to have him instruct us in his truth and guide us in the direction of our life. Hopefully the answer to those questions is yes. Sometime it seems easier to live life as we want and simply try to incorporate God into our way of life. But that is not how we should live. We have to set our course according to his ways. We have to seek his truth, his ways for our life. We have to be willing to listen to him and allow him to teach us his ways and then adapt to what he teaches us. When we read his word regarding all the attitudes and behaviors we are to rid ourselves of and how we are supposed to put off the old and cloth ourselves with the new, we have to hear those words and apply them. For he teaches us his ways. This means we change the way we interact with others. This means we change the way we think about others. This means we change the way we are, what we think, what we desire, what we do. If we say that our hope is in you Lord all day long then that should mean something. That should mean we are hoping in him to teach us, guide us as well as have mercy and compassion on us. God does not remember the sins of our youth. That may mean the younger years of our walk with him or before our walk began. When we were just babes in the Lord we had so much to learn, we did not do everything we should, and we did not give up all that we should have. But we learned his ways, he demonstrated patience with us, guiding us gently in his ways, showing us mercy and love. He continues this method with us even in our more mature years of our walk with him. Even now we know he does not remember our rebellious ways. When we ask him to forgive he not only forgives, but he does not bring it up to us again, or hold it against us, holding us accountable for our sin, for Jesus took it all, our past, present and future sin upon himself. This God did according to his great love for us. Just to think God loves us so much that he gave his only Son to suffer in the flesh and die so we could live, and not just live in this life, but in the eternal life. Jesus did not stay dead, he was raised from the dead, defeating death, so we too have the victory over death. Because of his resurrection we too will have resurrection. But resurrection not just to continue living here, but because Jesus ascended into heaven, we too will ascend into heaven to be at the right hand of God. How good is our God, How good is God. You are good, O Lord!

In God we trust

DEVOTION

PSALMS

IN GOD WE TRUST

Ps 26:1-3

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13 He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. 15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.

22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

NIV

It would be nice to be able to break this up and deal with each stanza or thought and maybe, depending on how the Lord leads us through this, as it applies to our lives, we might end up doing just that. The idea of lifting up our soul onto the Lord carries a refreshing, secure and liberating feeling. There are times when the daily grind of this life can generate a beaten down feeling. If we are not watchful we can get catch up in almost a hopelessness of this never ending cycle of life. We get up each morning and our routine begins and the day proceeds just as the day before and before that until we lay our head on the pillow at night, just to do it all over again the next day and the next. But when we spend time lifting our soul onto the Lord, everything changes. The day is full of hope, it gives us opportunity to be joyful. But it is not just a few minutes in the early of the day that we lift our soul to God, but it is a continuous lifting throughout the course of each day. We have and will always put our trust in him. As we remained focused on his love for us and his protection we are refreshed, we have peace and joy in our heart, worry and frustration are swept away by his mighty hand. We feel a sense of security unmatched by anything the world can offer. We have an assurance everything will be just fine, he is in control, his watchful eyes are upon us, not to judge us, but to shepherd us, to guide us through life. We are secure, but also we are free. We are free from condemnation for we are in Christ Jesus. Although we live by a certain form of law, we are free from the law. Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses that was given to Israel. He lived it perfectly and fulfilled all aspects of that law. Because we are in Christ, we too then have fulfilled all that law. However Jesus gave us a new covenant, just a simple one rule or law. That is to love the Lord our God with our whole being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We have a tendency to make up all sorts of rules and regulations to live by, but Jesus gave us just one or two depending on how we see it. All the law is wrapped up in that command of Jesus. All the lifestyle laid out by the Epistles is based on those words of Jesus. But some just can’t help themselves and want a set of rules and regulations, self-imposed laws, to live by. But lifting our soul onto the Lord frees us from those made man rules. We merely see the truth of loving God with our whole heart, our mind our soul, our strength will bring us into his fullness and we experience his loving kindness and because we have the Spirit dwelling within us, he expresses that loving kindness to our neighbor through us. If we take our eyes off all our self-imposed rules for Christian living and put all our trust in him living in us, through us and as us, we will never be put to shame. Our hope cannot be in the law, either the Law of Moses or our own law, our hope can only be in the Lord. In God we trust.

King of Glory

DEVOTION

PSALMS

KING OF GLORY

 Ps 24

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.   5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Selah 

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates ;lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty — he is the King of glory.

NIV

Once again we are assured that God established everything on this earth and it all is his. We do not own it but are but tenents who have been given authority to take care of it for him. Now, we do not pay rent as such, but nevertheless we are but renters. In fact because we live on this world we belong to him. That includes everyone, even those who refuse to acknowledge him at this time, and they still belong to him. This implies some very explicit truth. God can do with his creation anything he desires to do. He is the supreme owner of all that is. He can decide to do whatever he wants and we have absolutely no say in the matter unless he gives us that say. This was shown to us in the example of his decision to destroy all the people and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He first revealed his plan to Abraham who moved God to save Lot and his family. Had God not revealed his plan to Abraham no one would have had any say in the matter, God would have just done it. All too often we think the purpose of our prayers is to move God. Although he has given us that option, he has revealed to us that if we ask him, in the name of Jesus, he will answer us. Jesus said that whatever we ask of him, he would give it to us. But if we think about this, we can see that our prayers should be more about moving us into the will of God rather than moving God into our will. God does not come to stand on our unholy hill, but the question is who is qualified to ascend up to his holy hill? The question is who can stand in his holy place? He gives us the answer to those questions. It has nothing to do with him moving, but has everything to do with us moving up to his holy hill and standing in his holy place. We must have clean hands and a pure heart if we are going to move and live in his holy place. He also makes one more qualification for us. We cannot lift up our soul to idols. This has so much ramifications about making things of this world an idol, even the world itself. We are not to worship the things God made, but the maker of the things. There are so many who worship the world, who make it their idol, or the things in the world. The lovers of nature, who protest over whose use it for their purpose or the purpose of mankind. There are those who protest the use of energy, although God has provided it for our use. Other protest about the heat we cause by living, because we will destroy the planet. Some worship personal things, such as education, success or wealth and power. But they do not worship God, they cannot move into his holy place. But if we have clean hands and a pure heart, that is not a divided heart, but a pure heart for God, for only him, we will receive blessings from him. We will receive vindication, or as the Hebrew word means, righteousness from our God and Savior. This bears out in the fact that Jesus is our righteousness. In order for all this to be true in our lives we need to seek the Lord, seek the face of God, declaring his authority in our lives. We must open the gate of our heart and allow the King of Glory to come in. We need to lift up those ancient doors, all the things of our heart that we have held onto for so long and let the King of Glory enter and take possession of our ancient heart, allowing him to make everything new. We must allow him to clean our hands, purify our hearts as fine gold. We must let go and let God, the King of Glory.

The Shepherd

DEVOTION

PSALMS

THE SHEPHERD

Ps 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

NIV

This has to be the most familiar Psalm of all. It also must be the most recited one, as well as the one most likely written about. This would make it the most understood as well. Everyone knows its meaning. The whole idea is about God not just watching over us as a shepherd does his flock, but that he gives us life. The part of restoring our soul makes that clear. But first there is something which we have to confess. We need to make it clear that the Lord is our shepherd. We have to declare that we are his sheep and we will follow him allowing him to lead us to the green pastures to lie down. What if we were to wander around looking for our own green pasture? Then we would not be a part of his flock and he would not be our shepherd. It is a simple fact, if he is our shepherd, then we have to follow where he leads us. When we follow where he leads, then we will not want, or as the Hebrew implies, lack. If we are not lacking, then that implies we have all we need. This could be applied to eternal life because the very last statement is about dwelling in the house of the LORD forever. This eternal life might also be seem in the fact that even though we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for God is with us. But all this might also apply to our life in the here and now. This can apply to our walk into the green pasture, and being beside still waters. It applies to the here and now in the fact he leads us in a path of righteousness. That implies we are walking after him, allowing him to lead us. We cannot help think about the words of Jesus when he made the point that if one of us should wander off and get lost, he finds us, and brings us back into his flock. Yet he was making the point that he came to save the lost, and that great rejoicing will be had over one lost sinner, then over ninety-nine that are righteous. Still he comes for us, and when we are found, when we carried home by Jesus, a rejoicing will happen in heaven. Still in the here and now we will lack nothing, he provides all we need, and we merely have to lie down in the green pasture. This makes all sorts of problems for us. We want to work for our grass, our green pasture. That is what God made clear to us when, because of sin, God told Adam, of whom we are a descendent in the flesh, he would need to work the ground by the sweat of his brow all the days of his life. So we too must work for our sustenance all the days of our life. Yet he leads us to green pastures. He is the one who determines what pasture we lie down in, or where we live, work, play, etc. Although he leads us into the right pasture, we, like sheep, have to eat the grass and grow and we drink of the still water, Jesus. If we are leading ourselves we will be in the wrong pasture and it may not be as green as it could be. When we are in the pasture he leads us to and are by the still waters he brings us to, then he anoints our head with oil and our cup will be overflowing. Would it not make sense to follow his leading, to be where he leads us rather than trying to lead ourselves? We just make so many bad choices, wrong decisions and end up in a dried up weed infested field with not a drop of water around. So we determine, the one good choice we have ever made, he is our Shepherd and we will live as his flock and in his house forever.