Category: Bible Study

on God’s team

Psalm 3-4, 12-13, 28 & 55

Psalm 3 3 ESV

I am a huge baseball fan. It is by far my favorite sport. There is a great mental challenge to baseball and it requires excellent motor function. Baseball, where I am from, means you have two options as far as baseball teams, the Mets or the Yankees. I went with the Yankees from a very young age. My grandfather was a big Yankees fan as well. I remember playing Little League and wearing a Yankees hat at practices from the age of 6 or 7. I still have the hat somewhere around my house in a box.

It just so happens that I grew up in the golden age of Yankees baseball. Since I have been alive the Yankees won the World Series 5 times and I am 29 years old. Ain’t nobody got anything on the Yankees since I was born. I remember as a kid in school all sports were really big. As a kid in high school I would go look at baseball statistics on the computers at the library during free periods and lunch. I would wear my Yankees World Series Champions t-shirts around with pride. When they would win, it would almost be like I had won. Even though I was doing absolutely nothing to contribute to them winning I was sort of sharing in the glory of their success.

In Psalm 3.3 we have something kind of like this. The text says

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,

my glory, and the lifter of my head.

The three ideas in this verse are really awesome to think about. The Lord being a shield around me means that I am not reliant on my own strength or the military’s protection to keep me safe. I can rely on God that he will protect. The idea that he is the lifter of my head is awesome. When most people are sad, depressed or dismayed they look down at the floor. Just today one of the youths I work with was depressed and had her head hung low, looking at the floor. I wish she knew the God who is the lifter of heads, who restores joy, gives peace and is the source of true happiness.

Does anyone else feel like that middle phrase is interesting? David is saying that God is his glory. You may not necessarily think of serving God as glorious. I almost didn’t know what to make of it until I thought about the Yankees. I did nothing to receive glory from the Yankees winning; yet, because I picked them and said they are my team I got to share in their glory. David didn’t do anything to receive glory from God. There is nothing David could have done to deserve glory from God. All David did was put on the hat and said I am on Team God and wore the t-shirts of God’s victories. He still received glory because he was on the ultimate victor’s side. When God won a battle, David shared in that victory.

I think it goes even further though. The text doesn’t say that he received some of the glory from God. It says that You O Lord are my glory. That is a complete statement. David had already gone off and killed Goliath, had songs written about when he killed tens of thousands of people, killed lions and bears and was victorious over Saul. David has a seriously impressive resume. The only position he isn’t overqualified for is King.

Yet in this statement he says that all that he has done he doesn’t deserve the glory. David didn’t let his head blow up. This statement about glory is almost an identifier as well. David’s identity isn’t wrapped up in his accomplishments or his position. No one whose identity is wrapped up in the things of this world would say that God is their glory because there is no self-esteem without an identity in the image of God or in your accomplishments, beauty or position. David put his identity in the image of God in him and that is why he was able to say that his glory was in God.

Do we say that God is our glory? Do we still try to derive our glory from our relationships, beauty, intelligence, notoriety, strength, accomplishments, jobs, successes, strengths or weakness? We should be saying that God is my glory. In his victories I will share and I know that his will ultimately be the victory.

Praise God that he is our glory.

Daniel Wall

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+3-4%2C+12-13%2C+28%2C+55&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be 2 Samuel 16-18 as we continue on the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

He Designed That

Psalms 65-67 and 69-70

psalm 65 8 NIV sgl

I wrote this devotion with Ps. 65 in mind but specifically v.5-13. Go ahead and read it now if you haven’t already.

Everybody has their hobbies and one of mine is woodworking. It’s super tactile and when I am woodworking, I have a kind of solitude. In a crazy technology driven era it is just really nice to do something physical and focused. It allows me to focus completely on one thing. No distractions, just wood and my hands and tools. My tools aren’t seeking my attention and neither is the wood. One of the other parts of woodworking that I love is the design element. Taking different materials and being able to think about how to put them together to get something that is designed well for its purpose but also holds a beauty. One of my favorite things that I have designed is a coffee table for my girlfriend. I made it as a Christmas present and definitely spent a ton of time (read: too much time) making it. Haha. I had a great time doing it though. I originally was just going to make it out of a wormy pine but I realized I didn’t have enough materials to make it the dimensions I wanted to. Through a little bit of problem solving and some design though I decided to make it out of two different types of wood. I had some beautiful red oak that I thought would work perfectly. I laid the oak and pine in an alternating pattern to make the table the size that I wanted. At the end of the process I was really happy with what I had made for her and in my opinion, it is really beautiful.

coffeetable

This new hobby has also allowed me to grow a deeper appreciation for how things are designed. This includes many types of design from something like how businesses are structured to the architecture in homes. People have designed some really awesome things. I think about how they designed the pyramids with no modern construction equipment to the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. There have been a couple failures, too, like the sinking city of Venice and the leaning tower of Pisa. Maybe Italians aren’t the best architects. Haha. Too much passion and not enough structural integrity.

Some of the designs I have seen in the world made by humans are really impressive but the designs of God are truly mind boggling to me. The more I think about how God designed things in creation the more amazed I am. There are a ton of different things to consider too. All too often we can simply consider the earth and how beautiful it is. However, God’s design goes so far beyond that. God in 6 days did some pretty incredible things. Some of the things that really put me in awe are how he designed the water cycle, which allows the earth to receive water all over the land. If you think about water without the process of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation it would just stay in the lowest place it could run to. God designed that. He designed it so that all the earth would be watered as in Psalm 65.10.

He also designed the concept of gravity and set its force in just the right way. It is perfectly tared so that we are neither crushed to death by its pull or float around with nothing to tether us to the ground. God designed that. This gravity is also the same force which draws the water to flow in beautiful streams and rivers to a lower point in the earth.

He also happened to design the earth in such a way that it is self-sustaining. The earth requires absolutely nothing from humans except not to harm it. Haha. It has been around thousands of years without us doing anything to maintain it. It has been and will be. God designed it that way.

He designed the process of photosynthesis. Through photosynthesis plants take the energy from the Sun and convert it into food which the plant then uses to grow and sustain itself. God designed that.

Oh yeah, and it just so happens that we take that plant and eat, or preferably take that plant and feed it to another animal and eat that animal. Haha. God designed that

Oh yeah and the Sun, we missed that one. God designed it so that the earth was the perfect distance from the Sun. Too far away and we would be a block of ice and too close and we would be a ball of fire. God designed that.

He designed the seasons by making the earth rotate around the sun in such a way that the hemispheres received longer and shorter periods of sunlight. Thereby, allowing us to have beautiful white snow on the ground in February for most people, or if you are in New York, in May, and also get to experience the warm summer days and plants growing all around. God designed that.

You may be saying, I get it – God designed it all. For me it all screams of his glory, might, and his love for us that we would get to experience something that he designed so beautifully. This all leads me to a point of awe. An awe of all creation. My heart’s desire is to always have something to praise God for and something to keep me in awe of Him. Sometimes when I am looking for something I go to God’s creation and I can admire the beauty of his design and the deep level of care that He put into all of it. He did so for his glory. I am so thankful that I get to experience all of it, that he allows me to use his beautiful creation and that it provides for me.

Hope you guys have a great day back to work and really enjoy the day that God has given you to rejoice in.

Daniel Wall
Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+65-67%2C+69-70&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be 2 Samuel 11-12 and 1 Chronicles 20 as we continue on the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

In God’s Big Hands

2 Samuel 10, 1Chronicles 19 & Psalm 20

2 Samuel 10 12 NRSV sgl

Have you ever felt a little weird asking God to heal someone who is sick? I know I totally have. Inside my brain I feel this want to pray that God would heal the person but I also feel this tension between wanting God’s will to be done and wanting my own specific will to happen. For the record I absolutely think that we should be praying for the sick. I think that in some ways the tension exists because we want what we want and we all want this world to be as pleasurable as possible for everyone. While I think it is a little short sighted, it makes perfect sense. We don’t want to see our loved ones in pain, so we pray that God would bless them.

On the other hand, I do believe that the will of God will be accomplished eventually in this world. I also believe that the will of God is absolutely the best solution for each situation. Babies still die and sometimes younger people die too early. They don’t get to grow old and experience life through a number of years. This leads me to believe that there may be a creature out there in this world who is in opposition to God. So the question sort of remains do we pray that people will be healed or do we just pray that God’s will would be done in this situation. I believe that our prayers can be effective through God’s actions if they are God’s will. I think above all else in the realm of prayer my goal is to praise the Lord for all he has done and to try to pray according to his will.

In the reading today in 2 Samuel 10 we have this super weird story with half shaven beards and half naked men. Kind of crazy. The retaliation of this is where I want to focus though. So here the Ammonites had hired the Syrians and the king of Macaah and his men and the king of Tob and his men. This is looking to be a pretty intense battle. It’s sort of looking like everyone versus Israel in this scene. Now the Ammonites hired 33,000 soldiers and in addition you can throw in there all the men that the Ammonites had together. I can almost guarantee you that this was a formidable force against the army that Joab had.

Now this situation is kind of tricky because not only are they facing an army  that is larger than them but that army is also facing them on both sides. This is what is known as a flank and it’s a well used military strategy. Joab, the commander of Israel’s army, knows this and he knows that the odds are not in his favor at the current moment. He is well aware that he is already in trouble and the battle hasn’t even begun yet. Joab does the best with what he’s got and makes a plan to fight the battle. He divides his two forces and tells them we will help each other where we need it and after that Joab gives an awesome pep talk.

We don’t hear a lot about Joab’s life. We mostly hear about his military conquests but here we get a little glimpse into his spiritual life. In verse 12 he says, “Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.” Love this motivational speech. He says be of good courage, which in my head and maybe some of Joab’s men immediately kicks me back to Joshua where Israel was winning every battle set before them. Then he says do for the fam, or for the family, and for the cities of our God. He acknowledges that they are God’s cities, Amen, right?!

The next subphrase though I want to hone in on a little bit. He asks that the Lord may do what seems good to him. That is nuts. He has all these men under him, he is literally responsible for all their lives. That is how leadership works. No begging and pleading for mercy and asking for blessings on his men and his nation. All he is asking is the Lord to do what seems good to him. He must have really believed that he deserved good to be done with him or he must have decided that God deserves to have what is good done in his eyes. He believed in putting it in God’s hands. He may have even believed and had confidence that God would want to do good to him. Not because of his actions surely, but because of God’s nature.

I think this phrase was spoken in humility and he was allowing his life and the lives of his men to be put in God’s hands. Of course all our lives are in God’s and the things that go on in our lives are still in God’s hands but Joab was crazy enough to voluntarily submit and acknowledge it. That’s the best type of crazy. I think this was the same attitude Jesus had in the garden of Gethsemane.

I think what is actually going on is these people are volunteering their sense of control over their lives. They are submitting to God and telling him you do what you think is good to you. This is the point of surrender in our lives that I believe God is continuously working us towards – an emptiness of our own and fullness of things of God. It is ushering us towards the freedom that we yield control over our lives to God.

So let’s give to God what is his and pray that he would do what is good to Him in our lives.

Daniel Wall

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+10%2C+1Chronicles+19%2C+Psalm+20&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be Psalms 65-67 & 69-70 as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Leading to a Deeper Faith

Psalm 50, 53, 60, 75

Psalm 14 15 NIV

Some of my really good friends a few years ago started to hold a dinner on Sunday nights after church. This dinner was absolutely awesome back in the day. It was the highlight of my week. I know we are supposed to say church is always the highlight of our week but this was even better than church. Hopefully I am not blaspheming right there. Haha.

The reason why it was so awesome was all of my favorite people gathered under one roof, having a meal together, talking about God, life and just having an awesome time. The way the dinner worked was that everyone would simply bring something with them to the meal. Whether it was a side dish, a plate of cookies or some beverages. The host would normally provide the meat and everyone would chip in to make it an awesome meal.

In the beginning everyone would chip in to help out to clean up. We all sought to do our fair share of the work. Eventually, we started to invite more and more people. The problem that arose was some of these new people didn’t contribute their fair share to the meal. When it’s just one person this isn’t such a big deal but when it’s a larger group of people it is more of an issue. People also stopped contributing as much to clean up. This left the group that was contributing doing more work and for more people. People grew too complacent in not contributing to the meal.

In my life I tend to do the same thing. Humans just have a natural tendency to get complacent in things like our relationships or work. The people of Israel in Psalm 50 had become complacent. They were going through the motions making sacrifices but it had become an emotionless, passionless ritual that lacked the heart behind their actions. Now, dry seasons where you don’t feel God with you are just a part of life. I think these may have even been manufactured or designed to make us want him, commit and submit to him more. I think too many Christians are afraid to admit that they have or are in one of these times. We view these times as negatives and feel like we should never have these moments in our life.

There are natural rhythms to life and at times complacency happens. Sometimes we find that we have become complacent or sometimes its told to us (ugh hate/love that I have people in my life who will do this). I don’t think we need to get hung up on the guilt or shame though. God uses discipline to help his people (Ps. 94.12, Rev. 3.19). He even rebukes those who hate discipline (Ps. 50.17). Discipline is ultimately to our benefit. Discipline is not always suffering the consequences of your actions. Rather, discipline from God is always for your benefit. It is to help you grow. God doesn’t just punish you to hurt you. In the TOTC commentary for Psalm 50 it describes how truth being realized or spoken in our life should be received. “But the truth is meant to heal, not only to convict.” This a great concept. I believe it allows us to look at failures in our lives and cast our future in a positive growth mindset.

This morning in a weird coincidence I was reading about Moses and the people of Israel as they left Egypt and wandered into the desert. They went three whole days into the wilderness with no water. Now this left them empty and physically wanting. Their reaction is not great but I think this incident illustrates something to us. God led them out into the desert, God knew there was no water, God knew that they would need water, and God clearly ended up giving them water because the Bible doesn’t say that they all ran out of water and died. So, what was the point of the whole incident? I’m theorizing but maybe God wanted them to ask him for water. He might have been trying to make them more dependent upon him. Out of this incident in Exodus 17 the Israelites were able to see that God would provide for them. The hopeful reaction from the people was supposed to be trust and faith that God would provide for them. Their period of physical dehydration was supposed to lead them to deeper faith.

Knowing that the difficult or challenging things in our lives may be godly discipline or our complacency could allow for growth, healing or growing in faith and love for God as I wait for him gives me a good perspective for handling these things.

Hope everyone keeps their eyes focused on God and that we can walk with God through whatever circumstances we are going through.

Daniel Wall

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+50%2C53%2C60%2C+75&version=NIV

 

Tomorrow’s reading will be 2 Samuel 10,  1Chronicles 19 and Psalm 20 as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Teach Me, God

Psalm 25

Psalm 25 5 NIV

Truth in our current culture has been a major point of contention. The common motto of today is “You have your truth and I have my truth.” As if truth is something that can be different to different people. I believe that there is only one truth and I think this is the one that includes God in your worldview. I believe that when we become Christians, we are forced to accept the truth that there is a God in the world who is all powerful, with us and loves us.

Our faith or belief about what we believe should greatly inform how we act and how we view our world. Belief or faith in God should change our paradigms regarding the things we do, what we worry about and what we focus on. When we view the world, we cannot accept the natural possibilities but we are made to view the world in light of the knowledge that we have a miracle-working God alongside of us who is active in our world. An example where this plays out best is in the beatitude blessed are the meek because this is so contrary to the world in which we live. Living meekly through the natural course of this world doesn’t end up with our benefit but God tells us to live meekly and believe that following God’s commandments is ultimately to our benefit. This allows us to be meek because we believe that God exists, knows what’s best and cares for his people.

I think that the world teaches us a bunch of lies about how our lives should go and what will make us truly happy.

Therefore, if we have faith, we should seek and know God’s commandments and words to follow them to the best of our ability. I think this is what David is looking for in Psalm 25. I love how David opens up this psalm.

David is completely committed to the truth that God exists. He opens up the Psalm by saying to you I lift up my soul. I feel like this would be a great thing to incorporate into our own prayers. Just opening up our souls to God to begin our prayer time.

He follows that up with “O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.” What this prayer says to me is David wasn’t seeking his own victory. David was seeking and depending on God for victory. David was dependent on God for his life. He submitted his life to the paradigm that God was in control and put his battles, struggles and life in God’s hands. David was humble before God by living in obedience and submitting to his leadership.

Verse 3 shows David’s conviction to this idea. David articulated a very important scriptural theme. David recognized that having faith in God meant waiting for God to act and bring victory.

In verse 4 and 5 David is asking for guidance. He asks to know God’s ways and to be taught his paths. This should be a prayer for all of us. I think sometimes we don’t seek God’s guidance in our lives. Not just in specific instances, I think we sometimes forget to ask God to teach us how to live life while believing him. The teachings of Jesus give us a great list of things we should be doing but I would rather God show me his way and his path than trying to do those things on my own path. David in this verse was acknowledging the truth of God in this world and seeking to be taught by God directly.

David later in the Psalm says that the man that abides in the path of God will have his soul abide in well-being. Is there anything more you could want? To have a soul that is abiding in well-being is the best life I can imagine. This is what happens when we learn the ways and paths of God.

In verse 5 David asks God to teach him his truth. He asks God to teach him. That is so convicting for me. I am not sure that I really do this. I just kind of assume God will because of my heart for him. We should be asking God to teach us just like we would our earthly fathers. I think that learning God’s truth will change the way that we view everything. There is only one truth and it’s God’s.

So, today I pray that God would teach us his truth. God, I ask that you would change our paradigms, the way we view others, the way we view our lives and the way we view you. I pray that you would teach us your ways, teach us your way of doing life and lead us in our pursuit of you. I pray that you would teach us.

“See” you guys tomorrow. Have a great day.

Daniel Wall

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+25%2C29%2C33%2C+36%2C39&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be 2 Samuel 8-9 & 1 Chronicles 18 as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Who You Want to Be

Psalm 101

Psalm 101 2a

Are you who you want to be?

Almost no one jumps up at this question and says I am exactly who I want to be. Maybe we won’t ever become who we want to be. Our view may be too grandiose to actualize. We all have strengths, weaknesses and limitations which is perfectly fine. I have accepted that I will never have a voice like any of the singers from Casting Crowns. Haha. I have identified areas of my life where I am semi successful and try to work on those areas. This doesn’t mean I don’t work on my weakness it just means that I know the areas that I am most able to serve others in and hone those skills in order to serve God and those around me better.

With all that being said I am still not who I want to be in the picture-perfect sense.

Actually, before we move forward, I want you to write down exactly who you want to be and maybe what you think you are missing to become that person in 100 words or less. Sometimes it’s helpful to write down our goals.  Envisioning them can make them more concrete and help to actualize them. No longer are they just things or ideas they have an actual physical existence now.

Second question: Do you think you are on the road to become who you want to be?

Does your life reflect that you are taking steps daily in that direction and you are pushing yourself to become that person? Are you doing that hard work in your life? Or do you shrink back to what is comfortable?

These are problems that all of us face and today we are going to look at some of these.

Ps. 101 is going to be the focus today.

Verse 1 praised God for all that he does through his steadfast love and faithfulness. I like how David doesn’t stop there. He follows the praise and gratitude with an action step by saying “to you Lord I will make music.” I wish that I would do that more often—turn the gratitude in my heart into an action step to worship and praise God.

David starts out verse 2 by saying “I will ponder the way that is blameless.” This isn’t the first time anyone will hear this but sometimes we need reminders. What you think about will be what is manifest in your life. If you are continually allowing sinful things to have space and time in your mind, you probably won’t be able to stay pure and live a holy life. There are scientific studies that show if you think about something that you are grateful for, you will be more content. The thoughts you allow in your mind will be the rudder that steers the ship of your life.

David asks God when will God come to him. It shows us where David’s heart is. It shows us that the desire of his heart is to be in God’s presence.

This next line is something I want to work through in more detail. “I will walk in the integrity of my heart within my house.” A definition of integrity that I think is applicable for this verse is the quality or state of being complete or undivided. Integrity is being the same person even when no one is watching. I don’t think any of us want to think that we display a “for show” version of ourselves but I think most of us do. Do you think that you are whole in what you think is right in your heart and do in your actions? This is something I really want to be a part of my life.

For a long time, I have known that God is the only place that I can truly be satisfied. I have found this to be an extremely prominent theme in scripture. Here are seven Psalm 107.9, Isaiah 58.11, Jeremiah 31.25, Psalm 91.16, Isaiah 55.2, Mark 15.15, Psalm 132.15. Also, via google there is a page that has 54 verses regarding satisfaction in God. So, it’s kind of a big deal. I know that God is the only one in whom I can find contentment, satisfaction, peace, and fulfillment. I know this and yet I let myself believe the lie that other things may satisfy.  In this way I am not walking in the integrity of my heart.

There is a chasm between what I believe to be true and what I do.

I started out the devotion asking you who you wanted to be. I think that person would be the one who walks in the integrity of your heart.

I can offer you a little insight if you are younger and tell you that you may not ever be the person you want to be but I will tell you that you should be content with making progress and putting in the effort to walk in the integrity of heart.

I hope that you will join me in reorienting your life or continue the process of walking in the integrity of your heart and becoming who you want to be and who God has called you to be.

Daniel Wall

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+89%2C+96%2C+100%2C+101%2C+105%2C+132&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be back to the life of David – 2 Samuel 7 & 1 Chronicles 17 – as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

The Goal

Psalm 24

Psalm 24 1 NIV

I think the ultimate goal of Christianity is to have a relationship with God. I think this is ultimately the goals of our lives as well if you believe in God. I once heard Pastor Vince Finnegan, Sean’s dad, say that as long as he had his relationship with God nothing else really mattered. He said this years ago and it has still stuck with me to this day. This is crazy because despite my ability to intensely focus on things there are days that I would forget my head if it wasn’t attached to my body.

Back to my point I wanted to open up by reminding you what is the point of our lives.

No one starts out running marathons by just running a marathon or hiking really huge mountains by just going and doing it. You have to start out by training for a marathon or hiking smaller mountains. You need to build endurance to complete formidable tasks. The cost of admission for hiking that larger mountain or running that marathon is rigorous training before hand. If you only do half of the marathon training, you probably won’t be able to run the whole marathon. That’s generally just a rule of life.

The real life long question for me is how can I draw closer to God and I think Ps. 24 lays out a way in which we can do that. You should go ahead and read it all the way through right now then we will talk about it some more.

I love the way this Psalm opens and I think it is super appropriate for what David is going to ask in verse 2 as well. David opens up the Psalm by acknowledging and praising God for his creation. He says that the earth is the Lord’s and all who dwell in it. If you read yesterday’s devo you know I love the idea that all I am and all I have is God’s. “I deserve nothing and I have been given everything” is probably my favorite saying and David’s opening lines feed directly into that. The reason I think it is so appropriate that David opens the Psalm like this is because he is acknowledging the greatness of God. He is acknowledging that we really haven’t done anything and don’t really deserve anything from God.

Verse 3 is the focal point of this psalm. David says “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?”. This isn’t just talking about standing on a hill or standing in God’s holy place just to stand there. And to clarify no one is worthy. Well, except Jesus. Jesus is always the exception and the answer. Haha.

Back to what I was saying before I distracted myself. David isn’t only saying this to proclaim God’s greatness. Ascending the hill of the Lord and entering his holy place are ways in which we can draw close to God. Psst… remember the opening paragraph. So, whatever comes next may be pretty important for us.

Verse 4 says “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, and doesn’t lift up his soul to what is false?” Remember what I was saying earlier about the cost of admission? Here it is. The disappointing part is that even if we cover the cost of admission we still need God’s help to cover the rest of it but that’s in the next verse. So, what do you think clean hands and a pure heart is? I think I can probably define it but I’m gonna take the easy way out with this one and say being like Jesus. Remember the answer is ALWAYS Jesus. So, to define living like Jesus is much easier for me; it’s living a life where from my heart my actions reflect love of God and his people. I just don’t see Jesus getting angry because he had to help another person because his actions where overflowing from a pure heart. The goal here is becoming more like Jesus.

I love the way that David phrases this second part ‘don’t lift up your soul to what is false.’ It speaks of something so true. Anything that we look to for satisfaction from, other than God, is false. We can give it life and make it out to be true but it will not satisfy.

In verse 5 it says that, “He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” It says here that we will receive righteousness from the Lord as well. God is even supplying righteousness in the areas in which we are lacking in order to draw close to him.

Verse 6 gets to the heart of what we have been talking about here. God is looking for those people who will seek his face and draw close to him.

I pray that God will help me to draw closer to Him by cleansing my hands and purifying my heart and helping change my heart. That my actions would be an out pouring of my heart and I could become holy as he is holy and draw closer to him.

Bonus Material: If you wanted to read another Psalm similar to this one Psalm 15 is great as well.

 

Daniel Wall

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+1-2%2C+15%2C+22-24%2C+47%2C+68&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be Psalm 89, 96, 100, 101, 105 & 132 as we continue with the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Remember His Goodness

Psalm 106 – 107

Psalm 107 8 NIV

Our God is great!  We just don’t deserve Him.  Praise Him and thank Him for His goodness and mercy.

This is the psalmist’s cry in Psalm 106 & 107.  Beautiful chapters of truth for today

Let’s start by looking at just some of the phrases describing the actions of man as recorded in these psalms.

 

MANKIND’s ACTIONS

Done wrong & acted wickedly (106:6)

Gave no thought to God’s miracles (106:7)

Did not remember your many kindnesses (106:7)

Rebelled by the sea (106:7)

Soon forgot what he had done (106:13)

Did not wait for His counsel (106:13)

Gave in to their cravings (106:14)

Put God to the test (106:14)

Grew envious (106:16)

Exchanged God’s glory for an image (106:20

Forgot the God who saved them (106:21)

Did not believe His promise (106:24)

Grumbled (106:25)

Did not obey the Lord (106:25)

Yoked themselves to the Baal (false god) (106:28)

Provoked the Lord to anger by their wicked deeds (106:29)

Angered the Lord (106:32)

Rebelled against the Spirit of God (106:33)

Mingled with the nations & adopted their customs (106:35)

Sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons (106:37)

Shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters (106:38)

Bent on rebellion (106:43)

Wasted away in their sin (106:43)

THEN THEY CALLED OUT TO THE LORD IN THEIR TROUBLE (107:6, 13, 19, 28)

Became fools through their rebellious ways (107:17)

Suffered affliction because of their iniquities (107:17)

 

It is easy for us to see and remember the foolish actions and attitudes of these generations long gone.  How easily they forgot the good deeds and commands of their God.  How quickly they rushed to selfish sins.  And we shake our heads in disbelief.  But, are we brave enough to look in the mirror to consider our own imperfections, mistakes, ignorance, selfishness and flat out sins?  Do we truthfully see when we have rebelled and turned from God’s perfect law?  Do we excuse the sins of society as modern and politically correct?  How would God’s psalmist describe us, our priorities, our actions, our waywardness, our selfishness?  Where do we turn when we are stuck?

What about God?  How are His actions recorded in these psalms?

 

GOD’s ACTIONS

Yet He saved them for his name’s sake (106:8)

He led them through the depths (106:9)

He saved them from the hand of the foe (106:10)

He gave them what they asked for (106:15)

But sent a wasting disease upon them (106:15)

He was angry with his people (106:40)

He handed them over to the nations and their foes ruled over them (106:41)

Many times He delivered them (106:43)

He took note of their distress (106:44)

He heard their cry (106:44)

He remembered his covenant (106:45)

He relented, out of His great love (106:45)

HE DELIVERED THEM FROM THEIR DISTRESS (107:6, 13, 19, 28)

He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom (107:14)

He sent forth His word and healed them (107:20)

He stilled the storm to a whisper (107:29)

He guided them to their desired haven (107:30)

 

What a contrast.  What a good God.

Yes, He does get angry with his wayward children.  And He does send punishment to turn them around.  That is what a good dad does.  He knows that through loving discipline His children must be taught that rebellion reaps no reward.  There are real consequences for forgetting God and going in your own direction.  And when that lesson is learned and His children return to Him, He hears their cry and picks them up.  That is also what a good dad does.  And sometimes, for stubborn children, it takes more than once or twice to learn this lesson.

Psalm 107 repeats four times the call of God’s people returning to Him – and God’s response:

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.”

(Psalm 107: 6, 13, 19, 28).

It also repeats four times how the people ought to reply to God’s goodness:

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.”  (Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31).

I urge you today, call out to Him.  Don’t forget God.  Learn from His lessons.  Remember His law.  Cry to Him and He will pick you up.  See His goodness.  And give thanks to the Lord.  He loves you and He has done great things.

 

No better way to close than with the psalmist’s final verse:

“Whoever is wise, let him heed these things

And consider the great love of the LORD.”  Psalm 107: 43

 

Marcia Railton

 

Today’s reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+106-107&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be 2nd Samuel 5:11-6:23 and 1st Chronicles 13-16 as we continue on the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Live Together in Unity

Psalm 133

Psalm 133 1 NIV

Live together in unity.  It’s sweet.

I don’t know exactly how it is that we have such a short Bible reading today – but how timely.  It won’t take you long to read the 3 verses.  And I won’t take too much of your time telling you how important it is or how to do it or how not to do it.  Instead, I challenge you – take the time today to DO it!  Live together in unity with God’s people.

So many of our homes are finding they are doing a lot more “living together” than normal with the consequences of Covid-19 policies.  Remember those in your home are God’s people and we are called to live together in unity.  How will you strive today to do your living together in unity?    Seek God together.  Compliment.  Communicate.  Celebrate together.  Listen.  Apologize.  Work together.  Ask good questions.  Extend grace.  Exercise together.  Accept differences.  Share burdens.  Laugh.  Sing together.  Plan together.  Serve together.  Create together.  Pray together.  Love.

Make sure you do much more than watch the screen together.  Or complain together.  Or criticize together.

You are not STUCK at home!  You have this beautiful opportunity to work more and more at living together in unity with the people of God you get to call family.

Also, remember the rest of God’s people that we can’t physically be with at this time.  How will we live together in unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ when we can’t be together?  Check in with your church family.  Find creative ways to worship and fellowship and serve together from a distance or virtually.

How will you show the world the beauty of the unity of God’s people? Pray to see the needs and act together in God’s love for the lonely, the stressed, the over-worked, the unemployed, the nursing homes, the children, the starving, the lost.

Live together in unity with God’s people.  No one said it would be easy.   It takes desire, time, commitment, patience and sacrifice to overcome the many challenges to unity.  But keep at it, remembering, the rewards are great.  “For there the Lord rewards his blessing, even life forevermore.”  (Psalm 133:3)

Marcia Railton

Today’s short Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+133&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be Psalm 106-107 as we continue on the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Feeling Weak

Psalm 102-104

Psalm 102 1 NIV

I didn’t have to read for long in today’s passage to find something that might apply to me.  He had me at the intro to Psalm 102: “A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.”  I have been there more than once, recently, what about you?  Verse 2 also got my attention as it sounded eerily familiar to my week: “Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress.  Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.”  Yup!  Come on God – we are working on a time schedule.  We need an answer and we need it now.

At our house we are making college decisions.  Well, it is my son’s decision, but it has been weighing heavily on us all as it seems unclear to any of us what the wisest answer is, and we need an answer very soon.  With so many different implications for the future and not able to visit any of the top contenders this spring, and with new information and opinions emerging daily, it is truly tiring.  And I am weak.

It doesn’t feel good to be weak – especially for those who relish being in control or regarded as strong.  The psalmist writes of how this anguished state is affecting his appetite, health, sleep, and relationships.  We have seen some of that.  He has been reminded once again of his frailty, limits, shortcomings, weakness – and it hurts.

But, in his weakness he still knows where to go.  To the One who sits on the throne.  “But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.” (Psalm 102:12).  The tone of the psalm changes from personal despair and questioning in the first 11 verses – to hopefulness – because he knew where to go when he was weak. Humbled, and at the feet of the all-powerful, all-knowing, loving and compassionate Creator, he gains a new perspective.  When we can put ourselves in His presence we know we can rely on Him no matter how weak we are on our own.  We know, “He will arise and have compassion…He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.” (Psalm 102:13,17).

It reminds me of the poor kid who has been ruffed up by the bully on the playground, again and again.  He knows he is weak – and it hurts.  But this battered kid puts his broken glasses back on his tear-stained face and says to the bully – “Yeah, but my Daddy is stronger than your daddy.”  And, sure enough, Dad just arrived and is waiting at the gate.  It’s okay to be weak, when you have the strongest Daddy in the world!

I know you may be facing issues, decisions, and heartaches much larger than making a college decision.  And you may be struggling with feeling weak.  If you aren’t now – you will be later.  Weakness has a way of finding us all.

I want you to know what I want my son to know, and what I need to remind myself of over and over again.  God has good things in store for you.  He is a good God to His children.  Be His child.  Keep seeking Him.  I pray for you what I pray for my son and family.  “Dear God, we thank you for your greatness, power, wisdom and love.  Thank you for being what we are not.  Thank you for the gift of Your Son and your perfect plan.  Help us to sit at your feet, in Your presence, humbled, and drawing our strength and hope from You.  Help us to see You at work.  Even when life seems muddled, difficult and painful and we feel like we are being beaten up, give us your eyes to see how You ordered and provided and blessed.  We want to seek You first.  Please show us how to do that.  Help us to see your greatness – and share that with others, boasting of our Daddy’s goodness and strength.  Thank you for hearing our prayers and responding, quickly.”

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring – well, we don’t even know what today will bring.  But we are thankful we are not alone when we put ourselves in His presence.  In our weakness, He is strong.

 

A Weak Momma at the Feet of a Great Big God on His Throne,

Marcia Railton

 

PS – One great way to put yourself in His presence is through reading His Word.  Dig in.  He is there.

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+102-104&version=NIV

Tomorrow we jump back into the events of David’s life as we read 2 Samuel 5:1-10 and 1 Chronicles 11-12 in our journey through the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan