God is Revealed

Psalm 19

It is a great thing to be able to look outside and just look around. You can’t help but be amazed at God’s creation. David starts out this Psalm by writing, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Creation is evidence of God. God is not creation but the evidence of him is shown through his creation. Not only creation but David goes on to say that night to night reveals knowledge.

It is a good thing to take a break from moving around from one place to the next and not stop and look around. I know if I ever go on a hike it is good for me to just stop and look around and just enjoy God’s creation. It is easy to be so focused on walking that you just don’t see what is around you. We can get so caught up in the things of this world that we do not just stop and look around at God’s creation and when we look at creation it should cause us to look at God.

God and His Law

David wrote in vs 7 that the law of the Lord is perfect, the testimony of the Lord is pure. The law is blameless and that is why we fail at keeping it and why we need Christ who justifies us. When we look upon the purity and holiness of God it should cause us to see how bad and sinful we are and the need for the Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the closing of the Psalm David talks about God keeping him from sins and that he would be presented innocent. The only way is through Christ and how much we need him. Without him we are hopeless and lost. Thank you Jesus for the forgiveness of sin and the hope of salvation.

God You are God

Psalm 18

This is the longest Psalm so far, 50 verses on how great God is. In the introduction to this Psalm, we see that David wrote it after victory in war and after Saul had stopped pursuing him. It takes place in 2nd Samuel 12. If you could put your place in that of David’s and you just spent years running for your life and many different times you were in battle, then you would realize how mighty God is.

In this devotion let us just look at a few verses.

I Love you

In verse 1 David just starts with I love. He is to the point and honest. He loves God because we see why he loves God in the next 49 verses. God has shown himself to David by delivering him from the hands of his enemies, from that of Saul, and he has given him strength so he could fight in battle. Do you love God? This is a good question because we may say we do but do our actions show it?

God Acts

In verses 16-19 we see that God is the one acting out for David. He has rescued David and he has confronted David’s enemies. I love knowing that it was God’s action that has saved me. Jesus is the one that died for me to have eternal life, I need to believe that and repent from my sins. God is the one that has rescued us from the pit of hell.

Praise God because He is God

In verse 49 he says, “For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.” Psalm 67:3-4 says, “Let the people praise thee, O God; let the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for thou shalt judge the people righteously and govern the nations upon the earth. We praise God because he is God. He does mighty things, we have salvation in Christ Jesus, we are made anew. We praise God because he is God. Do you praise God because he is God? Why do you praise God? Why don’t you?

This is a great Psalm to just think about and let it go through your minds and think about God.

Your Presence I Seek

Psalms 16

David writes a song about being in God’s presence and the greatness that is.

It is Not Good…

In verse 2 David writes that apart from you there is no good. How true it is when you are not in God’s presence it is not good. When God’s hand is away from you, you are miserable. In verse 4 he also writes, “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply.” When you are seeking the things of the world, you may feel satisfied for a second or two but soon the guilt and sorrow comes. When you keep on seeking the things and pleasure of the world you do multiply your sorrow away from God. David is speaking from what he has seen and we too can speak from either experience or watching a loved one go down that path. They are miserable and they may try to put on a front but the truth is they are miserable away from God.

With God we Discern..

In verse 7 David writes, “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.” We have the ability to discern what we need to do in certain situations when we are in God’s presence and that is because we want the things God wants. We want to please him! Being in God’s will is doing what God wants. It is when you are not in God’s will situations which should be easy to know what to do actually is hard. Ephesians 5:17 says, “Do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

When we are in God’s Presence…

When we are in God’s Presence we have true peace. David still faced enemies and hardships but he knew true peace and security. He writes in verses 8-11 I will not be shaken, my heart is glad, my flesh also dwells secure, God will not abandon my soul, he makes known my path of life, and at your right hand or pleasures ever more.

As Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7~ When we pray and seek God, the peace of God which surpasses the understanding of this world which is through Christ Jesus. That is is being in God’s presence, knowing that you are in the storms of life, but you have safety. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were thrown into the fiery furnace but they were not alone, it was Christ walking with them (Daniel 3). We have the peace and know that God is in control of and over our lives and it is peaceful knowing that.

The Fool

Psalm 14

In this chapter David is talking about the fool and also the fallen condition. He starts by saying the fool is someone that says there is no God. A fool is someone who denies the creator, denies who God is and what the Bible says about Him, denies the Bible. A fool is someone that knows about Christ but denies him as Lord. In verse 3 we see that David talks about how there is none that are good, not even one. We can flip to the New Testament in Romans 3:23, Paul says the same thing as he talks about sin. Everyone has sinned, no one is perfect. David continues by saying that a fool is the one that does not call on the Lord.

We know that God is real. We know that we call on the name of the Lord we will be saved (Romans 10:3). We know that God is for us. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). There is God in heaven who loves who cares for us, who sent his only Son to die for us. 

It is interesting that this chapter follows the ch. 3 where David was asking, “How long Lord will you forget me?” He was asking how long will you not answer me. But as David was being honest before God, he also went to God in prayer and his conclusion is found in 13:5-6, “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me.” God is real and as David had his time of distress he knew God was real and went to him. May we learn from this and turn to God. God you are real!

The Only One

Psalm 12

Have you ever felt like you were the only one that did not do certain things or did certain things and no one else did. I am talking about feeling like you are the only Christian in the room and you feel alone. There have been times that I sat certain things out because I did not want to do them and I felt so alone. 

In this Psalm David is writing to God that he does feel alone. Most likely this Psalm was written while David was in the wilderness running from Saul. Even though he had his friends, David did feel like he was the only one doing what God wants.

Loner

David asked the Lord to save as the godly one is gone. He felt like he was trying to do what God requires and was the only one. He could have been talking about Saul as should have been seeking God but instead did not. This reminds me of Elijah as he complained to God that he was the only prophet left. Everyone else was either killed or turned away (1st Kings 19:14). That was not true as God saved some prophets still and Elijah did not know and the same is for David. 

He will never be alone. God tells us that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Even when we feel abandoned by others, we are never ever alone. David ended his song by saying the words of the Lord are true. He will show himself to David and to those that are alone. Just like God spoke to Elijah, it was the still small voice. Just like God spoke to Job by revealing himself, God shows himself to us. When you start feeling alone, pray to God to give you strength and to know that you are never alone. I also prayed that God would give me a friend with a like mind. He answered that prayer and continues to show himself to me!

Remember Your Wonderful Deeds

Psalms 9

In this Psalm, David recounts all of God’s wonderful things that he has done for him. He remembers how his enemies turned back because of God. God has been there for him, and been his strength in his life. The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed. God does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 

I wonder if David was thinking about all of his experiences that happened in his life. If he had flash backs to when he was a shepherd in the fields and God gave him the strength to kill the lion or the bear. I wonder if he thought about his battle with Goliath and how it was God that gave him the victory or his time of fleeing from Saul and how God gave him peace and strength.

David went through his life and realized that it is all about God and his wonderful deeds.

What about You?

I stopped and thought about all about what God has done in my life and for me and I am just amazed. I thought about the times I was little and how God always showed himself or even to the recent birth of our daughter, I see God’s wonderful deeds at work. I know I do not deserve anything and all I can do is give him credit and praise him for it.  The one thing that we can not overlook is salvation which we have through Jesus Christ. This is more wonderful than creation, or God controlling time and nature. God loves us so much that he gave his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us. I truly am in awe of that great wonderful deed as he has been gracious to me. As David prayed at the end of the chapter, verse 20, Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men!. I pray that we would know that we are just human and in need of a Savior. Thank you Jesus.