Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 101:5-8
Ps 101:5-8
5 Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure. 6 My eyes will be on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me. 7 No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. 8 Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.
Phil 4:8-9
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
We spoke yesterday about the influence of examples in our lives. When we are around wicked people we find ourselves thinking and eventually acting like them but we also find that as we live godly lives, we can lead others to Christ by our example. In fact, Peter urges wives who are married to unbelievers to be faithful to the Lord and by their godliness will lead their husbands to the Lord “without a word.” So we see influence can work both ways; for good or for evil.
We also find that the more we practice godly living and set our minds on serving God, the less we enjoy being with those who are wicked in speech and action. We find ourselves being uncomfortable with their talk and their lives. The Psalmist was finding this to be true in our passage above and wanted to silence them and their wickedness. He also found an urge to encourage the righteous in heart.
It was for these reasons that the Psalmist asked that God create in him a pure heart and a clean spirit. We allow God to do this in our hearts when we think about things that are right, wholesome and godly. As our hearts are right with God, our lives begin to conform to his will also. Jesus said this is because our speech and our living comes from our heart that is within us.
Lord God, I ask that you create in me a pure heart and a clean spirit as I seek to keep my eyes focused on you, on Jesus and on the things above. Help me dwell on things that are right, pure and wholesome and not think about those things that are evil and would lead me from you. Lord, I know I cannot change the entire world but help me change the small world around me where I live every day. Use me to help others want to live for you as I show them Jesus living in me. I am so thankful for all you have done for me and all you give me every day. Help me use all I have to your glory. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus my Lord.
Robert
