Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 9:17-20
Ps 9:17-20
17 The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God. 18 But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish. 19 Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. 20 Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah
Heb 9:26b-28
But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Life has purpose and reason. Multitudes live every day without realizing this and wander aimlessly day after day in states of bewilderment or depression. Teen suicide is one of the major causes of death for those below 25 years old. Far too many look to the things of this world to find purpose but fail in doing so. The wise man used great wisdom, much time, money and effort to find purpose. In the end his conclusion was that as far as this earth is concerned, all is vanity and like chasing after the wind. We live, we die and then another generation follows. The sun rises, it sets and then repeats itself again. The more we have of anything, the more we want to have. But then he introduces God into our existence.
He then concludes that the purpose of man is to fear (respect) God and keep his commandments. But the reason for doing this is found in our Hebrews text above; God is bringing salvation to those who are waiting for him. Jesus once said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. He told his disciples that if they wanted to be great, they should become servants. The beatitudes are filled with ideas that go contrary to our human nature but bring real purpose, peace and joy and they all center around serving God, serving others and putting the interests of others ahead of our own. Someone has said that we cannot out give God.
O Lord God, giver of physical life and all we know as real, thank you for giving eternal life also. Thank you for giving me a glimpse of the unseen world in your word and what I can look forward to when I am done here. Help me keep focused on the things above, on the eternal and on Jesus your Son. Use me to serve others in whatever way you see is needed. Give me wisdom to see the opportunities you provide for me to serve and strength to use them. I need your Spirit to help me know what to say when and how to be quite when that is best. Give comfort to those who are filled with grief. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
