Devotions from April 2024

Passage Read: Psalm 3-6 Meditation Verses: 3:1-2 This is when Absalom launched a rebellion against David. So when David says his enemies have multiplied, primarily it is his own son, but also it is all those who have gathered about Absalom to support his rebellion.

Passage Read: Psalm 7-10 Meditation Verses: 7:4-6 This is a bold request by David. He is so confident of his own righteousness and love that he asks the Lord to judge between him and his adversary. He's willing to be trampled in the dust, perhaps…

Passage Read: Psalm 11-14 Meditation Verses: 14:2-3 This is a pretty terrible indictment against all mankind. Though in this Psalm, there is mention of the Lord's people and the righteous generation, Paul uses these verses to establish the fact that there is no one righteous,…

Passage Read: Psalm 15-18 Meditation Verses: 18:1-2 David wrote this psalm after God had delivered him from all his enemies. How many years did he live in fear of his life? How many years did he flee from Saul? In all that time and in…

Passage Read: Psalm 19-22 Meditation Verses: 22:4-5 There were those among the Israelites, certain generations, that trusted in the Lord, often after forsaking Him and crying to Him for help, and they were delivered. Their lives were saved and they went on to live in…

Passage Read: Psalm 23-26 Meditation Verse: 26:1 What a thing to say! What confidence in his faithfulness to the Lord, his integrity in trusting in the Lord and living like it's so! That he would have the courage to ask God to deliver him because…

Passage Read: Psalm 27-30 Meditation Verse: 27:13 David says this kind of thing a lot, that he must be alive to praise the Lord, that he must remain alive or else it would be bad for the Lord or he would miss out on the…

Passage Read: Psalm 31-34 Meditation Verse: 34:1 David feigned madness and Abimelech drove David away from him. And David writes a psalm of praise to God. He credits God with his deliverance, not his own cleverness. He is the one who played the part of…

Passage Read: Psalm 35-38 Meditation Verses: 38:17-20 David has so many psalms about enemies hating him so much that he needs God's deliverance. Here he is discouraged by his own sin, broken over it, confessing it, and his enemies are surrounding him and pressing in…

Passage Read: Psalm 39-42 Meditation Verses: 39:4-7 David was silent in the presence of the wicked, for fear of sinning with his tongue. He refrained even from doing good, but his sorrow only grew worse, and his heart grew hot inside him. Then he spoke…

Passage Read: Psalm 43-46 Meditation Verses: 44:17-22 The Psalmist says that all kinds of terrible things have done upon the people, yet they have not turned away from the Lord or been unfaithful to Him. Verse 22 is quoted by Paul to describe the state…

Passage Read: Psalm 47-50 Meditation Verses: 50:21-23 There are those who claim God's covenant as their own, but they hate discipline and they delight in those who do evil. God says nothing, and they think that means He approves of them. Instead, He sends a…

Passage Read: Psalm 51-54 Meditation Verses: 54:4-7 David speaks in the past tense, that God has delivered him from all his trouble, and his eye has looked with satisfaction on his enemies. Yet he was being ratted out to Saul, enemies were calling the king…

Passage Read: Psalm 55-58 Meditation Verses: 58:6-11 Again and again, David cries out to God for Him to act against those who hate him, who have attacked him, who plot his downfall. These are some of his most direct and descriptive pleas for vengeance. His…

Passage Read: Psalm 59-62 Meditation Verses: 59:3-5 David, like Job, is suffering for no fault of his own. He's right. Perhaps some might try to make the case that David somehow sinned against Saul and incited Saul to such anger that Saul wanted to kill…

Passage Read: Psalm 63-66 Meditation Verses: 63:1-4 The Lord is glorious in His power and greatness, and He is filled with lovingkindness towards those who seek Him and love Him. He is good to us beyond measure! David longs for the Lord with every fiber…

Passage Read: Psalm 67-70 Meditation Verses: 69:6-9 Zeal for the Lord's house has consumed David, and those who speak against the Lord also speak against David. His love and loyalty to the Lord have made him a stranger to his brothers and separated him from…

Passage Read: Psalm 71-74 Meditation Verse: 71:20 What an interesting verse! The Lord has shown him many troubles and distresses, but He will revive the psalmist again and bring him up from the depths of the grave. In one sentence, the author admits that it…

Passage Read: Psalm 75-78 Meditation Verses: 78:9-12 Ephraim was unfaithful to the Lord, turning back in the day of battle, not keeping God's covenant, refusing to walk in the Lord's law, forgetting God's deeds and miracles. At that point, Asaph begins recounting all God's deeds…

Passage Read: Psalm 79-82 Meditation Verses: 81:11-16 Two sobering thoughts from these verses: Those among God's people who don't listen to His voice to obey Him, He gives over to the stubbornness of their hearts to walk in their own devices. If they repented and…

Passage Read: Psalm 83-86 Meditation Verses: 83:15-18 This is the prayer of a man who loves God and His people. He pleads with God against the enemies who desire to destroy God's people. He pleads with God to terrify them and pursue them and destroy…

Passage Read: Psalm 87-90 Meditation Verses: 89:29-33 Ethan is dismayed at the Lord's treatment of his anointed one. God made a covenant with David, that he would never lack a man to sit on his throne before Him, that his kingdom would endure for all…

Passage Read: Psalm 91-94 Meditation Verses: 94:1-3 The wicked get away with so much. It seems their judgment is slow in coming, such that the righteous find themselves pleading with God to judge them quickly, to not delay. Because it is such a temptation to…

Passage Read: Psalm 95-98 Meditation Verses: 95:7-11 Today, if I desire to hear God's voice, I must be careful not to harden my heart. If I harden my heart against the Lord and His Word, I shouldn't be surprised if He doesn't speak to me,…

Passage Read: Psalm 99-102 Meditation Verses: 99:6-9 Moses and Aaron were among God's priests; Samuel was one who called on God's Name. They called upon the Lord and He answered them. He was a forgiving God to them, yet also an avenger of their evil…

Passage Read: Psalm 103-106 Meditation Verse: 104:35 There are two kinds of people in the world, the wicked and the righteous, and the only difference is how they respond to God. Both sin, but both are not characterized by sin. The righteous hear the word…

Passage Read: Psalm 107-110 Meditation Verses: 110:1-6 Psalm 110 is more than just a riddle about the identity of the Messiah. It is prophesy about God fulfilling that promise to make the Son of David rule over all nations! He will rule in the midst…

Passage Read: Psalm 111-114 Meditation Verse: 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is repeated many times in Scripture, so obviously, it's pretty important and very true. To fear the Lord drives a man to know what the Lord desires…

Passage Read: Psalm 115-118 Meditation Verse: 118:17 There is much about praising God in these psalms. In almost every case, the same reason is given: because the Lord delivered the psalmist from death or suffering. In some cases, the suffering seems to be the result…

Passage Read: Psalm 119 Meditation Verses: 119:97-104 The writer of Psalm 119 has discovered the secret to a righteous life: total delight and love for the law of God. Over and over he declares how love for God's law consumes him, therefore he walks in…