Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 78:40-55
Ps 78:40-55
40 How often they rebelled against him in the desert and grieved him in the wasteland! 41 Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy one of Israel. 42 They did not remember his power--the day he redeemed them from the oppressor, 43 the day he displayed his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan. 44 He turned their rivers to blood; they could not drink from their streams. 45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them. 46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust. 47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet. 48 He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning. 49 He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility--a band of destroying angels. 50 He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague. 51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham. 52 But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the desert. 53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies. 54 Thus he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken. 55 He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
I once saw a very big dog playing with a small grasshopper. He would flip it with his paw and watch it jump. The grasshopper did not know it but it was totally at the mercy of that dog. At any time the dog could have squashed it or eaten it but it chose not to do so. In ignorance and pride, the grasshopper was defiant and resisted the antics of the dog.
This reminds me of how we often are toward God. We don’t see his goodness and fail to graciously accept his merciful bidding in our lives. We question, we rebel and we disregard him. This is what Paul meant when he said for us not to grieve the Spirit that lives in us. When we draw near to God, he will draw near to us.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and for working in my life. You have done so much in so many ways that I cannot even know them all. Help me open my heart to you, your word, your Spirit and your bidding in all my life. As I look back over this past year I see so much wasted time and effort and ask for wisdom to use what you have given me in a better way in the year ahead. Help me begin today to be more devoted to you than I have ever been before. Give me wisdom to be a more encouraging person in all of my relationships; in my work, my neighborhood, my family and the church. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
