The Bemenderfers - Mark's Personal Devotions

May 1, 2026

Fri, 01 May 2026 05:22:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 83-86 Meditation Verses: 86:1-4 Thought David has suffered so many things, and yet through it all, he has confidence to plead with God for deliverance and preservation because he is a godly man. He is a godly man because he trusts in You. And despite what he suffers, he doesn't give up his faith in God, but cries out to Him all day long for relief.

April 30, 2026

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 06:31:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 79-82 Meditation Verses: 79:4-6 Thought God is primarily concerned about the godliness of His own people, so we get disciplined for things that the nations do without hesitation! The nations can do all kinds of evil and God does little or nothing about it. Because they are not His people. They don't represent Him.

April 29, 2026

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 05:16:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 75-78 Meditation Verses: 75:4-7 Thought How easy it is to think we are something when we are in fact nothing. It's easy to be impressed by ourselves or others when we only look among men. That one seems great. Another one seems wise. This one is mighty. That one is clever. When we compare man with man, it is easy to become prideful and boast in this one or that one or even in ourselves.

April 28, 2026

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 07:13:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 71-74 Meditation Verse: 71:20 Thought This is the confidence of Job and of every believer. Though the Lord makes us see many troubles and distresses, yet He will revive us again and bring us up from the depths of the grave. This life has its fill of trouble and distress, especially the more we seek and serve the Lord. He does allow us to suffer many hardships.

April 27, 2026

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 06:36:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 67-70 Meditation Verses: 69:6-9 Thought This is David's own experience, yet it also fits Jesus. David's enemies were many, and they had no real cause, but what they accused David of stuck more than the truth, so that even what he did not steal, he had to restore. He was not without fault; God knows all his failings.

April 26, 2026

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 06:19:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 63-66 Meditation Verses: 66:1-4 Thought In this call to praise God, there is this interesting revelation, that because of God's great power, His enemies will give "feigned obedience." The psalmist calls on all those who love the Lord to sing joyfully to Him, to sing of His glory, to declare how awesome are His works, and to sing that all the earth will worship and praise Him!

April 25, 2026

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 06:01:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 59-62 Meditation Verses: 62:9-12 Thought Great men and small, all together are nothing. Success is not with the learned or exalted, nor is it with the small and crafty. Success lies with the Lord. Only He has power to make what is impossible possible, what is unseen seen. Only He has power to make something from nothing. My hope must not be in men, but in God.

April 24, 2026

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:54:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 55-58 Meditation Verses: 56:5-7 Thought In all these psalms where David recounts the cruelty of his enemies, he never turns and attacks them, but calls out to God to deliver him. They publicly humiliate and attack him, but his response is not to fight fire with fire, but to turn to the Lord to save him from those who have made themselves his enemies.

April 23, 2026

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 06:02:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 51-54 Meditation Verses: 52:5-7 Thought The righteous are "weak" before the wicked, they are meek because they trust in the Lord to fight for them. Righteousness does good to those around it; wickedness does whatever it wants because it thinks it can get away with it. Wickedness does not care for the needs or wishes of those around it; it cares only about itself, exalting itself and displaying its power.

April 22, 2026

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:05:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 47-50 Meditation Verses: 50:16-17 Thought The wicked are not just those who know nothing and care nothing about the Lord, but there is also a kind of wicked man who knows the Law and the promises of God well enough to tell them to others. They use them to rebuke others, to teach others, to appear spiritual, but they do not do them.

April 21, 2026

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:18:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 43-46 Meditation Verses: 44:17-19 Thought How often it has been that those who follow after the Lord faithfully suffer for it! It is not always the case, but it seems to be more often than not. The psalmist here is aware of no fault, no error that they have committed, yet it seems the Lord has abandoned them. They suffer at the hands of their enemies, but they do not believe they have done wrong.

April 20, 2026

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:56:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 39-42 Meditation Verses: 39:1-4 Thought In the presence of the wicked, David chooses to be silent so that he will not sin with his mouth. Is he afraid of going too far in his anger at their sin? Instead of rebuking them, he asks God to make him know the end of his ways, make him know how short his life is. He asked for deliverance from his own sin and acknowledged that God chastens a man for his sin and consumes all his precious things.

April 19, 2026

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 07:15:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 35-38 Meditation Verses: 36:1-2 Thought The truly wicked man is one who cannot see his own sin, because wickedness itself flatters him concerning his wrong. He does not fear God because he's too impressed by his own wisdom and schemes and his ability to see his sin as something good and right. He can't imagine that God might hate him. He can't imagine that God has anything to say.

April 18, 2026

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:04:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 31-34 Meditation Verses: 34:21-22 Thought Those who hate the righteous will be condemned. There are indeed those who hate righteousness and the righteous. There are people who give themselves over completely to do evil. There are people who don't care about what is right or wrong but only what suits them. And there are those who are unwilling to submit to the Lord's definition of righteous and instead declare and establish their own standard of righteousness.

April 17, 2026

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 04:56:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 27-30 Meditation Verses: 27:9-12 Thought David has just proclaimed his confidence in the Lord's deliverance, yet here he is pleading to the Lord not to abandon him. His own parents have forsaken him, but he remains hopeful that the Lord will remain with him. And in the midst of his trouble, he asks the Lord to continue to teach him His ways and make his way forward clear and easy, because his enemies are watching, ready to pounce on him for any cause.

April 16, 2026

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:03:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 23-26 Meditation Verses: 26:4-5 Thought Deceivers, pretenders, evildoers and the wicked, David will not spend time with. He hates their gatherings and will not listen to their conversation. It is not just those that plot evil and carry it out, but it is also those who pretend to be good and love God, he wants nothing to do with them.

April 15, 2026

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:10:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 19-22 Meditation Verses: 22:19-22 Thought This is so clearly about Jesus on the cross. He asks for deliverance from the sword, from the dog's power, from the lion's mouth. And we know He doesn't receive deliverance, at least not in the sense we naturally hope for. He doesn't survive the cross, but dies and is buried. But He then rises to life again on the third day, and then He testifies of the Lord's victory and praises Him among His brothers.

April 14, 2026

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 08:32:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 15-18 Meditation Verse: 15:4 Thought The man who is welcome in God's dwelling and may live forever with Him, among other things, hates the reprobate but honors those who fear the Lord. It is not merely that he hates the evil deeds of the wicked man, or loves the righteous deeds of the godly man, but he hates the wicked man himself and loves the righteous man.

April 13, 2026

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:54:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 11-14 Meditation Verses: 11:5-7 Thought The Lord does not judge based on appearances, but He is continually testing both the righteous and the wicked. He is testing and proving who loves Him and walks in His ways and who loves wickedness and walks by his own wisdom. The wisdom of man is not very successful, so of course the wicked must often resort to violence to obtain his desire.

April 12, 2026

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 07:24:00 +0000

Passage Read: Psalm 7-10 Meditation Verse: 7:9 Thought The Lord will judge the wicked, that is sure, but He will not always judge the wicked according to my desired timeline. I would love to live without having to hear about or see or experience wickedness. I would love to see all men living in humility and graciousness toward one another. But that day is not now.