Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 143:1-6
Ps 143:1-6
1 O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. 2 Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. 3 The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead. 4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. 5 I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. 6 I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
When things are going badly it is good to pause and remember all the good things God has done in the past. For Israel as a nation, they could remember how God had delivered them from their bondage in Egypt. They could re-tell the stories of how God fed them, gave them water to drink and defended them on their journey toward Canaan and then their wanderings in the wilderness. For David, he could recount how God had enabled him to kill Goliath and then how God had defended him against other enemies, both from within Israel and those from without. He could think of the times God had forgiven him when he failed to live up to his standards and had sinned.
When things are going badly for us, we need to pause and remember all the good things God has done in our lives. First and foremost, we can remember with praise and thanksgiving how we heard the gospel and responded to it so that we could have our sins forgiven and become children of God. Since that time, we recall how we have failed him and how he has continued to be patient with us and has continued to forgive us. We can recount how he has given us strength when we were weak, peace when our lives were in a storm, healing when we were sick and how he has been our companion when we were all alone.
Sure, we have had our troubles and we have been tempted but we can count it all joy when we face various trials because we know he is using them for our good. He is getting us ready to be with him in eternity as he molds us in his image.
O God, my heavenly Father, I am so thankful for all the wonderful things you have done in my life. I realize you are not through with me so I ask for wisdom to see your way and to follow your bidding. When this life comes to an end, give me courage to face what is physically unknown but is by faith a reality even now. Use me to help others in their struggles. Thank you for giving Jesus to die for my sin so I can live with you in eternity. Help me live in such a way that others can see him living in me. I ask a special prayer for those taking treatments for cancer that they can have healing if it is your will. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
