Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 18:1-6
Ps 18:1-6
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. 4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
2 Cor 1:2-5
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
The Psalmist faced things in his life that most of us cannot imagine. There were those who hunted him as an animal and tried to kill him. His own son revolted against him and led a coup to destroy him and take over his kingdom. Those who had been his friends turned against him and joined with his enemies.
But he trusted in the God of all comforts. As Paul began the introduction to this letter, he prayed for them to have grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. This was not just a formality in greeting but was a genuine prayer from his heart. He too had faced trouble in his life, even to the point of death but had trusted in the God of all comfort who gave him peace.
In another letter, Paul says that we can have a peace from God that transcends all understanding and then refers to God as the God of peace. While we will not always be delivered from facing trials we will always have the God of comfort and the God of peace with us. His peace and his comfort in us will overflow to others who are facing similar trials so that through Christ we can comfort them.
My Father in heaven, fill me with your love for all that is right. Give me strength to be committed to doing your will in all things. Use my life to bring honor and glory to your name. Don’t ever let me forget that I am what I am by your grace and I am saved only because of your forgiveness. Thank you for your great love and your abundant mercy shown to me in giving your Son to die for my sin. Give me a heart of remorse for my sin but a heart filled with joy for your forgiveness. Use me to bring others to you and to encourage them. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
