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
Apr 17, 2024, 3:09 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 67-70
Meditation Verses: 69:6-9
Thought
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 his own family. They think him bizarre, insane perhaps. Even his family mocks him. So he fears that others who seek the Lord may be put off by his zeal and the reproach it brings.
Apr 16, 2024, 3:10 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 63-66
Meditation Verses: 63:1-4
Thought
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 of his being. He has seen the Lord in all His glory in the sanctuary, and he is in awe of the Lord's glory and might. The Lord is also so good to him; he would do anything, give up anything in order to enjoy the Lord's lovingkindness.
Apr 15, 2024, 3:12 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 59-62
Meditation Verses: 59:3-5
Thought
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 David. But the Scriptures tell us that it was because of Saul's jealousy, because Saul failed to serve the Lord with his whole heart, so God chose David to be king after Saul. David understood what God had in mind, that it wasn't his place to rebel against Saul and overthrow him, but to wait until the Lord removed Saul.
Apr 14, 2024, 1:43 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 55-58
Meditation Verses: 58:6-11
Thought
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 ultimate desire is that men see it and say surely there is a reward for the righteous and a God who judges on earth. His desire is for vengeance and justice in this life. And he saw it.
Apr 13, 2024, 1:44 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 51-54
Meditation Verses: 54:4-7
Thought
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 to come and kill him. The previous verses he speaks in future tense: the Lord will recompense his enemies, He will destroy them. David has great faith, though he gets discouraged from time to time.
Apr 12, 2024, 1:45 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 47-50
Meditation Verses: 50:21-23
Thought
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 warning that He will tear them to pieces if they don't repent, if they continue to forget Him, if they don't give thanks to honor Him and order they ways after His.
Apr 11, 2024, 1:47 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 43-46
Meditation Verses: 44:17-22
Thought
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 of believers, that we are continually being given over to death for Christ's sake, yet we cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ. For the Lord's sake and for the sake of those who have yet to believe, we are driven out of our homes and comfortable places in order to proclaim the excellencies of God to peoples who have yet to hear.
Apr 10, 2024, 1:48 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 39-42
Meditation Verses: 39:4-7
Thought
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 (in the presence of the wicked?) and asked God to help him see how brief was his life on earth, and every man's life, and how pointless was the amassing of wealth. Instead, he looked to the Lord and waited for Him. He understood that the Lord loves righteousness and disciplines the man who sins.
Apr 9, 2024, 1:49 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 35-38
Meditation Verses: 38:17-20
Thought
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 on him. He is often overwhelmed by the wicked who hate him without cause. Their only reason is because he does what is good. David is committed to doing what is pleasing to the Lord, he is committed to seeking the way of the Lord and doing it.
Apr 8, 2024, 1:51 AM
Passage Read: Psalm 31-34
Meditation Verse: 34:1
Thought
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 the madman, he is the one who thought to feign madness! But he credits God with his deliverance. Abimelech could have captured and killed him or imprisoned him, but instead, he wanted nothing to do with another madman.