Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 144:5-10
Ps 144:5-10
Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. Send forth lightning and scatter the enemies; shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful. I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, to the one who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword.
1 Peter 4:14-16
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
One of the things that stands out to me when reading the Psalms is that God is on a very personal level with the writers. This is especially true in the songs written by David where he says: “my God will…”, or “the Lord is my shepherd”, or “reach down and deliver me”, and many other similar phrases. Certainly God is the God of the universe, he is the God of his people, he is the only true God of all the ages, but he is your God and my God, he is your Father and my Father.
Earlier in this same Psalm, the question was asked about God: “who is man that you are mindful of him?” The same God who created all things and who puts every person of authority in place and the God who creates nations and who brings them down, knows you as an individual and he knows you by name.
It was God who determined that, out of all the ages, you and I would live in this time in history. He is the one who decided that I would live in the U.S. and be born in the state of Alabama. He gave me as a baby to my parents, in the birth order of their children. So he sees when I rejoice and he knows when (and why) I am hurting at times. He sent Jesus to be able to understand my struggles and yours as we face them. God does not want anyone to perish in eternity but for all of us to turn to him and live with him in heaven forever, without time.
Heavenly Father it is so comforting to know that you know me, my struggles, my moments of depression and my times of great joy. You see my successes and you see my failures and you use all of them in my life to draw me closer to you and to make me better prepared to help others around me. In fact, it is you who gives me success when I achieve it, and it is you who even guides my failures to move me in the right direction, to my growth and to your honor. Thank you for taking care of me. Help all your children to feel your presence. In Jesus name I pray.
Robert
