Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 27:1-6
Ps 27:1-6
The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Why did God allow Saul to remain as king of Israel, even after he had rejected him and had Samuel anoint a new king? Saul was wicked, so why did God allow him to spend years hunting David and trying to take his life? What was fair about David having to live in caves as an outlaw and fugitive for all those years, while Saul lived in his palace in splendor? So why does God allow all the evil around us?
“Who has known the mind of the Lord, that we should instruct him?” God is love. God is holy. God is righteousness. God is filled with compassion so that he lets wicked people have time to learn what is right and to repent. It took all of his trials and then facing God for Job to realize that he had no business questioning God or the ways of God. All of his questions, all of his doubts, all of his reasoning, came to nothing in the face of the reality of God and his supremacy.
God uses trials to build our faith. God uses hardships to punish. God uses our sin and our weakness to make us stronger. God uses the problems of everyday life to get us ready for bigger and better things in his service. He can use all that we face to prepare us to help someone else face the things in their life. When we love him and we trust him, he has promised to use “all things” for our good. So we are told to give thanks for “all things” and worry about nothing. It is ok for us to admit that we do not know why, as long as we trust God to carry out his will in us.
O Lord, you are my shepherd and you lead me in paths of righteousness. You give me all I need in life and you deliver me from my trials. Help me focus on what I can learn from each trial and how I can use it to your glory, instead of how bad it is or trying to figure out why it is happening. Lord, many of my friends and even my family are faced with very difficult times in their lives, so I ask you to give them your comfort, your healing, both physically and emotionally, give them your peace and fill their hearts with your joy. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
