Month: April 2021

Psalm 44:1 We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what You did in their days, in days long ago.

This psalm takes us through a spectrum of emotions. The speaker and his people know God, believe in God, have heard of God’s steadfast love and provision from his ancestors and have felt it in his own time. But now he feels that God has withdrawn His hand, and the speaker feels that lack.

Psalm 44:9 But now You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go out with our armies.

Not only does the speaker feel the lack, he doesn’t feel they have been false in any way, he struggles with why God’s hand has been removed. But he doesn’t turn his back on God. He comes to God openly, honestly, angrily (with genuine emotion, not sugar coating as he works through where he is and what he feels). I truly think God appreciates that type of honesty as working through our mess is how we forge a deeper personal relationship with Him.

Psalm 44:17 All this came upon us, though we had not forgotten You; we had not been false to Your covenant.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You that I know of Your steadfast love from those who came before and I have personal stories of Your faithfulness to pass on to those who follow. Thank You that we can be honest as we seek You. Thank You that even in anger, confusion, or despair, we can cry out to You to rescue us because of Your unfailing love and You hear us. Draw us closer. Amen.

Psalm 44:23, 26 Awake, Lord! Why do You sleep? Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever….Rise up and help us; rescue us because of Your unfailing love.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 43:5a Why, my soul, are you downcast?…

According to commentary, Psalm 43 is either a continuation of Psalm 42 or closely related. Regardless, Psalm 42:11 and Psalm 43:5 are identical and carry, for me, a crucial reminder of the choice I spoke of yesterday. 

Psalm 43:5b …Why so disturbed within me?…

Don’t get me wrong: sometimes life stinks: it isn’t fair, it is painful, it is difficult. I am not trying to paint a rosy picture—all sunshine and no shadows. That’s not realistic. I’m saying God is there, even in the shadows. He is good, even in the pain and difficulty. He is sovereign and loving and steadfast, even in the unfairness. And in His unfailing love, He provides blessings even when we can’t see them and don’t look for them. God is bigger than our circumstances.

Psalm 43:5c …Put your hope in God….

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Sometimes life just feels so grossly wrong. I am out of sorts. Nothing is the way I want it to be. Sometimes there are crushing losses and painful disappointments. And yet You are still God, even then. You are still loving and steadfast and merciful. You still love me fiercely and bless me abundantly. Forgive me when I choose to dwell on the loss. Help me, always, to choose You instead, to trust You, to put my hope in You. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 43:5d …for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 42:1-2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God….

Panting and thirsting indicate lack, but if there is one thing I’m learning, it is that if I lack God’s presence and comfort, it is because I am not being mindful of them, not because He has withdrawn them from me. The idea reminds me of a song that talked about the fact that we are content with the crumbs from the feast that have hit the floor when in reality, we have a place set at the table. So why have we chosen to be content with crumbs? God wants more for us than that.

Psalm 42:5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

I have experienced these seasons of the soul firsthand. We all have. But I can’t help but think, again, that it is a choice, even if it doesn’t feel like it. We can choose to see God’s presence, comfort, and provision or we can choose to feel the lack. We can choose our seat at the feast or we can choose to content ourselves with crumbs. We. Can. Choose.

Psalm 42:8 By day the LORD directs His love, at night His song is within me—a prayer to God of my life.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for Your presence, comfort, and provision, for the ability to choose to trust Your steadfast presence, even when we can’t feel it. Help me, always, to choose You, Lord. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 42:11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 41:4 I said, “Have mercy on me, LORD; heal me, for I have sinned against You.”

As I read today’s scripture, Psalm 51:4 comes to mind: “Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight….” Humans are not stupid. We know when we aren’t living right. But this world makes it so easy to justify our sin, so easy to shift the blame to others or our circumstances.

Psalm 41:10 But may You have mercy on me, LORD; raise me up….

Both Psalm 41:4 and Psalm 51:4 speak to me of humility and personal responsibility. There is no attempt to shift blame. There is only recognition of the sin and the fact that the sin is against God, coming boldly, earnestly before God with humility to say: “Have mercy on me. Against You, You only have I sinned.”

Psalm 41:12 Because of my integrity You uphold me and set me in Your presence forever.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Help me to be bold and humble, honest with You and with myself about my sin. Be merciful to me. Raise me up out of this slimy pit where I have landed myself yet again. Cleanse me, Lord. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Draw me closer to You. Amen.

Psalm 41:13 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; He turned to me and heard my cry.

The imagery in verse 2 really grabs my imagination. I picture a slimy pit of Shrek magnitude—putrid, nasty, disgusting. Flies, maggots, death, decay. And verse 1 leads me to understand that I got myself into this mess. And now I’m crying to God, waiting patiently for Him to rescue me. Am I waiting patiently because I know I deserve to be in this pit, because I chose this pit, even though I now realize that I do not wish to be here?

Psalm 40:2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

And God, my precious Savior, doesn’t waggle His finger and say, “I told you so.” He doesn’t shake His head and leave me to my misery. He goes into the slimy, awful, disgusting pit. For me. He lowers Himself, dirties Himself, for me. And not only does He rescue me from the pit, He also puts my feet on solid ground and puts a new song—a hymn of praise to Him, for Him, because of Him—in my heart.

Psalm 40:3a He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God….

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for hearing me and rescuing me, even when my messes are my own fault, even when I climb into a slimy pit of my own volition. Help me, Lord, to cling to You, to sing to You a new song, a hymn of praise. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 40:3b …Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in Him.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 39:4 “Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.”

On Saturday, I wrote, “Take delight in the LORD. If He is my focus and my delight, He will show me the desires of HIS heart, and they will become the desires of MY heart.” I really feel like that idea is at the heart of David’s meditation today. He wants to be aware of the brevity of life, the preciousness of life, so that he can remain intentional about living a life that is pleasing to God, every second of every day.

Psalm 39:5 “You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.”

I can learn a lot from this intentionality. We are all guilty of living life as though we have all the time in the world, but that is not the case. We must be intentional, daily, hourly, moment by moment, to focus on God, to live for God, to shine His light and comfort His people.

Psalm 39:6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.”

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the reminder to live intentionally for You. Forgive me for squandering time, for living like I have all the time in the world. Help me to take delight in you. Show me the desires of Your heart that they may be the desires of my heart. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 39:7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in You.”

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 38:9 All my longings lie open before You, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from You.

As I read this scripture on Easter Sunday, it’s hard for me to be as dejected as David because I know how this story—Jesus’s story, our story—ends. I’m not saying that I don’t know sadness, doubt, and fear. I know them all too well, but I know Jesus. I know His hope. I know the empty tomb.

Psalm 38:10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.

Lord, Thank You for the glory of Easter, for the empty tomb, for the risen Savior. Thank You for hope in despair, for beauty from ashes, for joy from mourning. We all know the despair of David, Lord. Thank You for inviting us into the joy of Jesus’s resurrection.

Psalm 38:15 LORD, I wait for You; You will answer, Lord my God.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for Your love, grace, mercy, compassion. Thank You for Easter, for sunrise, for the empty tomb, and for JOY. Help me never to forget how much joy there is in Your world. Amen.

Psalm 38:21-22 LORD, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Everything on this earth is temporary—from the job I’ve worked so hard at, to the money I’ve earned to help take care of my family—all of it is temporary. I can take none of it with me when I’m gone. All the anger over times I feel I’ve been wronged, all the worry over the way a situation will go, all utterly useless. So how do I live a meaningful life in the face of this fact? “Trust in the LORD and do good.”

Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

And how do I know what constitutes “doing good”? Love God and love others. First do no harm. Take delight in the LORD. If He is my focus and my delight, He will show me the desires of HIS heart, and they will become the desires of MY heart. 

Psalm 37:5-6 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this; He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.

Lord, it sounds so easy—delight in You, trust in You, do good for You, but somehow I make it so difficult. I get angry or jealous, scared or bitter. I take my eyes off of You and get lost in the chaos of the world. Help me to be still before You, to wait patiently for You. Help me to delight only on You. Take out my heart of stone and replace it with a heart so full of You, of Your love, mercy, and compassion, that You are all I see, all I know, all I want. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 37:7-8 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it only leads to evil.

Have a blessed day.

Psalm 35:1 Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.

The first thing that comes to mind as I read this scripture is: Don’t use God as a weapon. I don’t think that’s what David is after, necessarily, but in our modern world, I’ve seen God brandished as a threat. “Do things this way, my way, or my God will show His might.” The trouble with that is that eventually, the human calling those shots, the one who dictates “my way” or “this way,” often forgets he is NOT God.

Psalm 35:2 Take up shield and armor; arise and come to my aid.

It’s easy to sit in my recliner and judge all those fools who have fallen into that trap, thinking that God thinks just like they do, but I know that I am guilty of that kind of thinking, too. I have to stay vigilant in my own life to be sure I am choosing God’s path instead of trying to mold Him to fit my world.

Psalm 35:3 Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to me, “I am your salvation.”

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the knowledge that I have to be careful to daily seek You so that I don’t inadvertently think that of course, You would see things the exact same way that I do. Lord, help me to seek, ask, knock. Always. Help me to draw closer. And when I am aligning myself to Your will, protect me from those who try to keep me from Your will. Draw me closer. Amen.

Psalm 35:28 My tongue will proclaim Your righteousness, Your praises all day long.

Have a blessed day.