Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 31:9-14
Ps 31:9-14
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul, and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends--those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."
2 Cor 1:8-11
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.
The wise man said that if we rescue our kids from their folly, it will be repeated until we allow them to suffer the consequences of their ways. We often hear people say that someone needs some “tough love” or that a person needs to hit the bottom before they will change their behavior. When we hit the bottom in our lives (regardless, if it is because of our mistakes or if it is beyond our control) we learn to really trust in God to provide and to take care of us.
David learned this lesson the hard way. Paul learned it the same way. The truth is that most people never learn to truly trust God until they are forced to do so. The scriptures are given to us so that we can learn. As we study the characters of the Bible, we can learn to trust God even more, because of their faith. Some call them “heroes of faith” but Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Ruth, Rahab, David, Paul, Peter, and the rest of them were all just normal people like you and me. But they put their trust in God and let him lead them and take care of them. We can too.
O Lord God, faithful and true, compassionate and loving, merciful and full of grace, it is such a blessing to be able to serve you and to know that I can trust you in every situation in my life. You have done so much for me and provided for me when I did not know how it was possible. You have taken things that I thought I needed, only to find what you gave me instead was far better. Help me use every trial in my life to make me stronger so I can help others in their afflictions. Use me to help someone who cannot help themselves. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
