Daily Devotionals

Psalm 30

When questioned by a self-righteous Pharisee, why a woman known only as a sinner was allowed to touch him and anoint his feet with ointment, Jesus replied with a story that showed that those who have been forgiven most have the greatest love for Jesus. ^{Luke 7.36-50}  Her thanksgiving and love were expressed through kissing and washing Jesus’ feet with tears, drying them with her hair and anointing them.  We should never be shy about our thanksgiving, praise and love for God.

After a series of laments from David when he was in the midst of troubles, in Psalm 30 we have a celebration of praise and thanksgiving for salvation from troubles.  However, this psalm recognizes that life’s challenges do not stop and we have continuing need for the Lord’s mercy.  The psalm opens with an exclamation of praise, ‘I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and not let my foes rejoice over me.’ ^v1  Do we reflect on times when we have known the relief of the Lord’s victory in our life and praised him for it?  It may be when we first knew his salvation, possibly when he gave us victory over a particular sin, when we were raised from a serious sickness, protected or removed from the threat of harm.  Then we can join in with the thanksgiving, ‘O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you healed me.  O Lord you have brought up my soul from Sheol (death); you restored me to life.’ ^vv2,3

David considered such times as discipline from God but without them he could not experience the joy of God’s subsequent blessing. ^vv4,5  Going through such experiences has increased David’s resilience and he praises God for it, ‘By your favour, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong.’ ^v7  Despite this David still experiences despair when he feels remote from God ^v7  David appeals to God for mercy on the basis that we are made to praise God. ^v8,9  David praises God with his whole being dancing, singing and gladness.  Charismatic worship is no new phenomena.  If we have experienced God’s victory in our life let us join in with David and say, ‘O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.’ ^v12

I will sing of the goodness of God.

Psalm 29

How do we envision God and what impact does that have on us?  Our experiences both enable and limit our imagination.  Consider the authors of the three major prophetic books.  Isaiah saw, ‘the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne.’ He cried, ‘Woe is me!’  He knew he was too unclean to speak the word of God until a Seraphim put a burning coal to his lips taking away his guilt. ^{Isaiah chp6}  Jeremiah experienced God’s hand touching his mouth so he could speak and then God gave him a sequence of visions concerning his judgements. ^{Jeremiah chp1}  Out of a storm Exekiel saw four spectacular living creatures, ‘Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.’  Above them a figure like a man of awesome appearance revealing the glory of the Lord, and Exekiel fell down. ^{Exekiel chp1}  Each by understanding the greatness of God, his holiness and power was equipped to boldly speak the word of God.

David was raised to praise God’s glory, power and holiness through the experience of an awesome storm that swept in from the Mediterranean into northern Canaan (now Lebanon) and south to the Desert of Kadesh, sweeping over Jerusalem.  If this is God’s creation, how much more powerful is the Creator?  Grasping the awesomeness of God draws one into worshipping his holiness. ^v3  There are times when envisioning the greatness and holiness of God can lead one into simply repeating his name.  Eighteen times David repeats the name of the Lord (Yahweh) in this short psalm and seven times he refers to the power of the voice of the Lord.  This is a psalm to be read aloud declaring the glory of the Lord.  ‘And in his temple all cry, Glory’ ^v9 

From this psalm we are to take confidence that, ‘The Lord is enthroned forever. The Lord gives strength to his people.  The Lord blesses his people with peace.’ ^{vv 10,11}

In the words of the Anglican liturgy, ‘Go forth and serve the Lord.’

Ascribe to the Lord

Psalm 28

If like me you are safe and comfortable in your home and nobody is threatening your life or the life of the people you love, you may wonder if Psalm 28 has any relevance today.  However, this morning I received a message from someone I know who is seeking asylum in the UK and the opening sentence was, ‘For the past three years we have witnessed and had to cope and deal with death, destruction of property, looting, kidnappings, massive arrests, chaos and fear in my country.’^*  The setting is a country where the ethnic groups in power are trying to impose their will upon minority groups through the armed forces.  Oppression on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, political persuasion and organised crime are widespread.  A 2019 UK government report found that approximately 1 in 3 people suffer from religious persecution and that in parts of the world persecution of Christians is at near genocidal levels.  The latest UNHCR report (2018) shows world record levels of displaced persons at 70.8 million worldwide.  There are 37,000 new displacements every day.

In Psalm 28 David pleads with God to, ‘Save your people and bless your heritage!’ ^v9  In verses 1 to 7 David speaks as an individual threatened by the wicked and evil doers but he does so as the King and therefore is speaking on behalf of all his people.  He goes on to assert that the Lord is the people’s saving refuge. ‘The Lord is the strength of his people, he is the saving refuge of his anointed.’ ^v8

I am repeatedly impressed at the readiness of people who have experienced extreme suffering at the hands of oppressors, political, religious and criminal to turn to God rather than reject faith in disillusionment. They echo David, ‘To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me.’ ^v1  Verse 3 speaks of powers that pretend peace whilst practising such things as human rights violations.  ‘Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbours while evil is in their hearts.’

David looks forward to God’s righteous judgement, ‘Because they do not regard the works of the Lord or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more.’ ^v5

In the mean time when we see God’s hand in protecting and saving people it is good to join the celebration of his mercy.  ‘The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.’ ^v7

Build your kingdom here – Rend Collective

Psalm 27

When we face turmoil in our life what symptoms do we display?  Does our mind go into overdrive?  Do we lose focus on what our priorities should be?  Perhaps we have physical reactions such as headaches, feeling sick or becoming overtaken by tiredness.  We could find that we have a spiritual reaction, it may be difficult to pray, we want to withdraw from worship, we start self-blaming.  One of the bible teachers I find particularly helpful, in both his writing and talks placed on Youtube, is Tim Keller.  He uses the phrase ordering the desires of our heart.^*  This is a conscious act, in Psalm 27 David goes through this process.

In a time of darkness he sees the Lord as his light. ‘The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear?’ ^v1  It is easy to get lost in darkness but to him the Lord is light and draws him towards it and that gives him confidence. ^v3 

David has learnt that spiritually he needs to remain in the presence of the Lord and if that seems distant he must seek after it.  ‘One thing I ask from the Lord, and this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.’ ^v4  Jesus made this promise to his disciples about remaining in the intimate presence of God, ‘As my Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.’ ^{John 15.9}  While in the presence of the Lord, David can worship and seek understanding. ^v5

David has learnt the power of praise when surrounded by difficulties.  ‘I will sing and make melody to the Lord.’ ^v6  Paul and Silas grasped this when they were in prison having been flogged and their feet placed in stocks, they volubly prayed and praised God, and then an earthquake freed them from their bonds. ^{Acts 26.26,27} 

As David remains in the presence of God his desire turns to learning from God as this will guide him. ^{vv 7-12} 

Waiting on the Lord ^v14 is not a passive resignation, it is an active expression of confident hope.  The word translated ‘wait’ in the ESV in psalm 25 is translated ‘hope’ in the NIV.  Putting the two words together conveys a positive action in the same way Paul urged Titus to, ‘wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.’ ^{Titus 2,13}

David then, ordered his desires: he turned to the light of the Lord and chose to remain in his presence.  There he offered a sacrifice of praise and learnt from him placing his hope in God his Saviour.

Great is the darkness: (Come Lord Jesus)

Psalm 26

Being unfairly accused of wrong doing is very stressful but an experience common to many.  It can impact on many things, our relationships, our public standing, our future capacity to continue in a role or earn income, where we are welcome and to what extent we are trusted.  How we react in those circumstances is a test of character.  If we hold a particularly prominent position these things can be heightened further.  David prays Psalm 26 as King.

David’s circumstances at the time of writing are not known.  He considers his accusers to be plotting against him, prepared to bribe others to achieve their goal of taking his life. ^vv9,10  Their false accusations relate to his lifestyle, ^v3 his friends ^v4 and the sincerity of his religious practice. ^{vv 6-8}

David’s response is to come to God and plead that he is blameless in these circumstances.  ‘Vindicate me, Lord, for I have led a blameless life.’ ^v1David is not claiming a sinless life as is clear in many other psalms, but of these accusations he is not guilty.  David then prays a prayer of a sincere seeker after God.  ‘Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.’ ^{vv 3,3}  To David the judgement of God is more important that the judgement of people even though his standing as King in the eyes of the nation is of great significance.

Our private integrity with God is the cornerstone of our life.  It is entirely reasonable to then pray with David, ‘Deliver me and be merciful to me.’ ^v11  It provides a stable place to stand and then we can in good conscience publically praise God.  ‘My feet stand on level ground; in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.’ ^v12

Does this mean we have to self justify ourselves to God?  No it does not.  Our standing with God relies on trusting in his unfailing love ^v3 expressed through Jesus’ sacrifice.  ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.’ ^{Ephesians 2.4,5}

Faithful one – Robin Mark