MAY 9, 2024 Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. Considering the anguish articulated in the previous psalm, this prayer composed by David strikes a much different tone — one of joy and appreciation for the relief and deliverance God granted him. In the previous psalm he […]
MAY 8, 2024 Psalm 39:4-5 Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. All of us have been created by God for a specific purpose; fulfilling […]
MAY 7, 2024 Psalm 39:2-3 I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; and my sorrow was stirred up. My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue. Seeing that we have addressed how important it is to guard our tongue against speaking impulsively, it […]
MAY 6, 2024 Psalm 39:1 I said, “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me.” David expressed a need and a determination to guard against his carnal inclinations lest he should sin with his tongue — in other words, […]
MAY 5, 2024 Psalm 39:1 I said, “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me.” There are people who feel that silence is something to be filled with words; and then there are those who consider silence to be […]
MAY 4, 2024
Psalm 38:21-22
Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
I realize that David prayed these words but the sentiment expressed could be appropriated to many of us, if not all. How many times have we felt that we are abandoned and vulnerable to the whims of our adversaries? As for me, it is has happened more than I'd like to admit. But let's also acknowledge that, though our emotions taunted us with this feeling, the reality is that God was and is always there. We have the promise that He will never forsake us, even when it sometimes feels that He has. As David reminds us though, He is not far from us.
That being said, there are those times when He allows us to endure spans of time when things aren't going the way we would like for them to go. There are times when He seems to step back and see what choices we will make in certain situations, and sometimes, our choices are not so good. That seems to be what David is conveying through his prayer — he realized that he had made some poor choices and was reaping the rewards. In a previous verse he said, “I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me.” How many of us can identify with this sense of defeat — feeling as if we can't take another step and that all is on the verge of collapse?
But that is why David called upon the Lord to help — not a person or human agent of assistance but the Lord Himself. Sometimes the Lord does send a person to offer assistance to those in need but, frankly, the assistance can be as short-lived as the agent himself. That is why David prayed that the Lord would bring salvation; if the Lord is the One coming to our aid, the salvation is complete and permanent. Isn't that what we all want? Admittedly, the Lord knows just what to do on our behalf and He knows when it's the appropriate time, nevertheless it is good that we should pray, “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!”
MAY 3, 2024 Psalm 38:15-16 For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.” As was discussed in the previous devotion, more often than not, it is far better that we should keep silent in the face […]
MAY 2, 2024 Psalm 38:12-14 Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction, and plan deception all the day long. But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; and I am like a mute who does not open his mouth. Thus I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no response. It is unfortunate but true: […]
MAY 1, 2024 Psalm 38:11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off. It is interesting to me to see that, through the ages, the attitudes and habits of people, both good and bad, have been pretty consistent. As we read the Bible, story after story reveals […]
APRIL 30, 2024 Psalm 38:9-10 Lord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You. My heart pants, my strength fails me. There comes a point in our lives when it serves no true purpose to suppress our thoughts and feelings from the Lord; He already knows our heart anyway. […]
