Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
May 11, 2025, 6:37 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 132-135
Meditation Verses: 135:3-4
Thought
The Lord is worthy of praise for all the good He has done for His people. It proves His love for them, and His power on their behalf. Israel has enjoyed so many great things from the Lord, as the psalmist recounts. But the greatest of these is that He chose Israel to be His own precious possession to begin with! All other blessings flow from this one. When the Lord desires to bless, there is no limit. But to continue to enjoy His favor, His people must respond with humility and faithfulness to His decrees.
May 10, 2025, 9:18 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 128-131
Meditation Verses: 131:1-3
Thought
This is the path of peace, meaning freedom from worry and fear. To leave off trying to understand things that are too far beyond my grasp, to leave big things alone, to let them go. They are in the hands of God and He will take care of me and of them. I don't have to understand everything, I just need to trust in the Lord.
May 9, 2025, 6:40 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 124-127
Meditation Verses: 125:3-5
Thought
The Lord knows how great a test it is for the righteous to be surrounded and even ruled by the wicked. That brings in such temptation to do evil, to turn from righteousness and do wrong. So the Lord allows it, to test the righteous, to see who will remain faithful and who will give in to wickedness. Those who continue to do good will receive good from the Lord, but those who turn to crooked ways will be cast out of the land of the righteous when God overthrows the wicked.
May 8, 2025, 7:06 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 120-123
Meditation Verses: 120:2-4
Thought
The psalmist is distressed because of his neighbors and perhaps even his relatives, those he lives among. They are continually for war while he is for peace. They continually lie while he delights in truthfulness. He asks the Lord to be delivered from them. Why doesn't he move away? He also at least thinks to himself that they will be punished with fire and arrows.
May 7, 2025, 6:59 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 119
Meditation Verse: 119:152
Thought
The psalmist truly loves the Lord and His law. He does not consider it a burden, but a delight to know and walk in obedience to God's commands. Nor does he consider complete obedience to be beyond the grasp of ordinary men who love God! Though he asks for help to remain steadfast in obedience, he never considers it hopeless to keep all God's decrees. And in his pursuit of God's law, he has discovered that these commands are to last forever. Of course!
May 6, 2025, 7:35 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 115-118
Meditation Verses: 115:2-4
Thought
The nations ask, "Where is their God?" because they are looking for some proof or evidence that our God is real. Their gods are idols and can do nothing, either good or bad. The demons behind those idols have power, though limited by the Lord, so they cannot make good on everything they promise or plan. Sometimes an idol worshiper gets what he asks for and sometimes not. So that is no better evidence for the reality of their gods than asking for signs from our God.
May 5, 2025, 6:42 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 111-114
Meditation Verses: 112:5-8
Thought
The righteous and upright man will have no fear when trouble or bad news comes. Because he has so complete a trust in the Lord. He has trained himself to trust in the Lord by giving generously and lending freely. He has trained himself to trust in the Lord by conducting himself and all his affairs justly. He had not feared man, not does he trust that because of his generosity, others will be generous to him in time of need. His heart is secure and steadfast because he trusts fully and only in the Lord.
May 4, 2025, 2:33 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 107-110
Meditation Verses: 110:4-6
Thought
This seems so incongruous: a priest crushing the heads of kings on the day of his wrath! Priests are supposed to intercede, but here it says there will be a day of wrath, and it will be bloody! A priest who is king, and he will heap up the dead in the day he executes judgment. This Priest is not one to be trifled with: He is ruler of all, and all need to bow the knee or pay the ultimate price. This is the Gospel: An offer of peace through this King's own blood, forgiveness if we will surrender to Him and receive Him as Lord.
May 2, 2025, 1:57 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 103-106
Meditation Verses: 105:43-45
Thought
This psalm recounts all the good things the Lord did for Israel in Egypt and before and after, and the last verse gives God's purpose in doing all these things: that they might obey His laws and precepts. All the good things God did for the people was to teach them about Himself and prepare them to walk in His ways! That was His goal all along, to set apart a people in the midst of the earth who would display His wisdom by their obedience, and His goodness by His blessings on them.
May 1, 2025, 1:41 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 99-102
Meditation Verse: 99:1
Thought
Because the Lord reigns, all the nations, all the peoples of the earth should tremble, especially those who do not know or care to know God's ways! This is an aspect of the Gospel: God is righteous and is coming to judge the earth and everyone in it. Anyone who does not love and honor and walk in His ways will be condemned and cast out, so the nations, especially those that don't fear Him should be terrified of Him!
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