Devotions from March 2022

Passage Read: Nehemiah 12 - Esther 2 Meditation Verse: Nehemiah 13:26 This is such a wise statement: Solomon for all his wisdom could not resist his foreign wives, but succumbed to their pressure and was led astray from the Lord by them, and through him,…

Passage Read: Esther 3-6 Meditation Verse: 6:13 Where was this advice earlier, when Haman started casting lots to determine the day of destruction for all Jews? Where was this advice when they counseled him to build a gallows for Mordecai? These are fair weather counselors,…

Passage Read: Esther 7-10 Meditation Verses: 8:11-12 The Lord didn't remove this trial from the people, but gave them permission to assemble and face it together. Instead of being scattered and easily overcome, they could join together and defend themselves. And God granted them success.

Passage Read: Job 1-4 Meditation Verses: 4:17-20 Eliphaz has seen a spirit, but I don't think this is an angel of God. This sounds like an accuser, possibly The Accuser, Satan himself. Where did this question about man being more righteous than God come from?…

Passage Read: Job 5-8 Meditation Verses: 7:17-21 Even Job thinks he must have sinned, but he has no idea what. So to him it seems that God is constantly watching and looking for his every mistake, for his slightest failure. He has been working so…

Passage Read: Job 9-12 Meditation Verse: 10:3 Job has worked hard to be righteous, so that he expects everything to go well for him. He has done everything he knows to do in order to satisfy God's requirements. So when this happens, he cannot understand.

Passage Read: Job 13-16 Meditation Verses: 13:23-24 Job wants to know what he's done wrong. He doesn't understand, he doesn't know what he did to provoke the Lord to bring such punishment upon him. His understanding only allowed him to believe that he has done…

Passage Read: Job 17-20 Meditation Verses: 19:21-22,25-26 In the midst of his grief, knowing that God has struck him but not understanding why, still Job knows that one day he will stand before God who will redeem him. He is very bitter in his soul,…

Passage Read: Job 21-24 Meditation Verses: 23:11-12 Eliphaz is tired of Job's complaining and claiming innocence, so now he makes wild accusations. Surely Job has done something wrong in order to incur this suffering from God! But here Job declares his innocence, and not just…

Passage Read: Job 25-28 Meditation Verses: 28:12-13 This is so true: Men do not understand the value of wisdom. It is far more precious that silver or gold or iron or bronze. Men risk their lives for such stones and trinkets, they spend all their…

Passage Read: Job 29-32 Meditation Verses: 31:13-15 Though Job owned slaves, he did not consider himself better than them. He recognized that he and they alike were human and made by God, so he treated them with dignity and respect. He considered carefully their complaints…

Passage Read: Job 33-36 Meditation Verses: 35:2-3 Elihu seems to be misrepresenting Job, twisting Job's words into something he didn't say. He is perhaps taking Job's words further than Job meant them, that the implication of Job's complaint was that he was more righteous than…

Passage Read: Job 37-40 Meditation Verse: 40:8 According to God, Job justified himself and in so doing he condemned God. When we are the focus of our attention, when we define everything by our comfort and joy, then we are setting ourselves up as rulers…

Passage Read: Job 41 - Psalm 2 Meditation Verse: Psalm 2:12 The blessings of those who flee to the Son for refuge are great! Those that think they can overcome the Son, those who laugh at the Son and plot against Him are the real…

Passage Read: Psalm 3-6 Meditation Verses: 4:3-5 The people of this world make fun of those who trust in God, and it can be wearing to have to continually put up with their mocking. But they live for lies and chase vanity, and the Lord…

Passage Read: Psalm 7-10 Meditation Verses: 9:19-20 Lord, if You were to arise and judge the nations, who could stand? There is no one righteous, not even one. But You have sent Your Son to pay the penalty of all those who trust in Him.

Passage Read: Psalm 11-14 Meditation Verses: 14:2-4 The wicked endure and prosper and overcome the righteous. They do as they please on the earth and get away with much evil. Yet they are heaping up condemnation for themselves. They eat the righteous like bread, the…

Passage Read: Psalm 15-18 Meditation Verses: 17:2-6 David had confidence to invite God's judgment on him because he was sure that he walked faithfully in the Lord's ways. He did not fear the Lord's judgment, but rather was confident that the Lord would hear his…

Passage Read: Psalm 19-22 Meditation Verses: 22:21-22 When God delivers, when God answers prayer, He deserves to be praised for it. It is not merely that other believers need to know that He answers prayer, but that He deserves credit for saving His child! His…

Passage Read: Psalm 23-26 Meditation Verses: 25:8-10 Because the Lord is good, so He teaches sinners the way they should go. But of course, only those who are meek and humble will accept His guidance and actually follow in His ways. Only they receive and…

Passage Read: Psalm 27-30 Meditation Verses: 27:1-3 Ah, but I am afraid of these things, because I fear pain! David trusted that the Lord would deliver him, and he'd seen it many times. He fought against armies for the Lord and for His people, and…

Passage Read: Psalm 31-34 Meditation Verse: 34:21 Those who hate the righteous shall become guilty. The Lord will hold them accountable for all they did to the righteous in their hatred of them. He will charge them with sin if they do not repent. It…

Passage Read: Psalm 35-38 Meditation Verses: 37:10-13 There wicked seems to get anything they want. They seem to get away with all kinds of evil, whatever their heart desires. So it is tempting to envy them, to consider joining in with them and enjoy their…

Passage Read: Psalm 39-42 Meditation Verses: 42:9-11 It is not unusual for the oppressed to feel forsaken, especially when mocked for his faith in God. When his oppressors continually ask, where is your God, as they abuse the believer, it is no wonder that the…

Passage Read: Psalm 43-46 Meditation Verse: 44:22 The psalmist says that the people have done no wrong, yet they are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. They have been faithful to the Lord, but still they are given over to death all the day. Like…

Passage Read: Psalm 51-54 Meditation Verse: 51:13 This psalm is an amazingly full picture of true repentance. There is the shame over sin and the desire to be disciplined, that he might be cleansed of the sin, cleansed so that it doesn't come back. There…

Passage Read: Psalm 55-58 Meditation Verses: 56:4-6 What can the wicked do to me? They can pervert my words and say I said something I didn't say. They can watch me continually, looking for when I slip up, so that they can point it out…

Passage Read: Psalm 59-62 Meditation Verses: 59:11-13 It is interesting that David asks God to show no mercy to his enemies, to anyone plotting evil. Yet he does not want them wiped from the face of the earth, but humbled and broken, caught in their…

Passage Read: Psalm 63-66 Meditation Verses: 63:1-3 David wrote this while hiding from Saul in the wilderness of Judah. He was under continual threat, and there was no temple yet, only the Tabernacle, which he couldn't visit during this time. Yet he saw the Lord…

Passage Read: Psalm 67-70 Meditation Verses: 67:1-2 Lord, there are a variety of views on this campus about what everyone needs for growth and encouragement, and I am the least and newest of those voices. Is this a case where wisdom is proved right by…

Passage Read: Psalm 47-50 Meditation Verses: 50:16-20 There are those who think they belong to the Lord, because they speak His Word over themselves. They know some of His sayings and claim His promises for themselves. But they care nothing for His commands, they hear…