Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 135:8-14
Ps 135:8-14
He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn of men and animals. He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. He struck down many nations and killed mighty kings — Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan and all the kings of Canaan — and he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to his people Israel. Your name, O Lord, endures forever, your renown, O Lord, through all generations. For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.
1 Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Egypt was one of the top world powers when Moses freed the Hebrews from slavery and led them out to become the nation of Israel. He did this without an army and without any battles. Yet, in the process, God destroyed Egypt as much as if they had been bombed for years and had been invaded by an army of tanks. By strategically using the plagues, God destroyed their agriculture, their economy, and then by killing the oldest son in every family of Egypt. Israel plundered them, by taking their gold and treasures, but not by force, but by the bidding of God.
God then took this crowd of over a million people, led them across the Red Sea on dry land, and then eventually into the Promised Land of Canaan. When they got there, this untrained army defeated some of the most powerful kings on earth and took their lands, their cities, and their towns. God was and is in control.
Over 400 years prior to all of this, God had told Abraham that he would make a great nation of his son, who was yet unborn, and would give his descendants the land of Canaan as their own possession. We are told that God kept all of his promises to Abraham. The last of these was that his seed that would become a king and would rule the world. Jesus is that King and his kingdom is forever. By faith, we are heirs of the promise to Abraham, we are his children, and we are spiritual Israel. We are the people of God through Jesus Christ.
O Lord God, I know that you can use some really wicked people to carry out your will on earth. You have used wicked rulers all through the ages, and then in your time and in your way, you have destroyed them as punishment for their sins. I also know that you have blessed nations with good men who served you faithfully. We need leaders in our country that respect you as God, who acknowledge Jesus as Lord and who will follow your wisdom. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
