JANUARY 6, 2024 Psalm 74:10-12 O God, how long will the adversary reproach? Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever? Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. As mentioned in a previous devotion, Asaph’s psalm deals […]
JANUARY 5, 2024 Psalm 74:1-2 O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, the tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed. As we continue to glean from the opening lines of this psalm, I feel it is important to point […]
JANUARY 4, 2024 Psalm 74:1-2 O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, the tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed. As we stated in the previous devotion, Asaph begins this psalm with questioning the strictness of God’s justice when […]
JANUARY 3, 2024 Psalm 74:1-2 O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, the tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed. In the previous psalm, Asaph addressed the issue of suffering God’s people must endure in contrast to the apparent […]
JANUARY 1, 2025 Psalm 73:21-24 I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel. Most of us can identify with what is stated above. When we allow the things of this world to conjure […]
DECEMBER 31, 2024 Psalm 73:17-19 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! I for one truly appreciate the sentiments expressed in this psalm because it’s real. Apparently, Asaph had contemplated […]
DECEMBER 30, 2024 Psalm 73:13-14 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning. As the psalmist continues to describe how wicked men seem to prosper unabated by any moral boundaries, he expresses thoughts conjured in the mind of those who […]
DECEMBER 29, 2024 Psalm 73:5-6 They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace; violence covers them like a garment. Speaking of those who do evil, the psalmist makes this observation — one I would recommend is shared by most people, righteous or not — which is: when bad things happen […]
DECEMBER 28, 2024 Psalm 73:1-3 Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. As stated in the previous devotion, all who have striven to serve God and […]
DECEMBER 27, 2024 Psalm 73:1-3 Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Whereas the first two books of the psalms recount specific and personal events in […]
DECEMBER 23, 2024 Psalm 72:16 There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains; its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; and those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. In the previous devotion, we discussed a spiritual concept derived from this verse: how a handful of Good […]
DECEMBER 22, 2024 Psalm 72:16 There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains; its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; and those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. The Hebrew word that is translated as abundance, interestingly, means a “handful” or a “fistful,” which prompts the […]