Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 144:1-4
Ps 144:1-4
Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.
Heb 2:8-10
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.
The writer of the book of Hebrews quotes from this Psalm and applies it to Jesus, who was made lower than the angels when he came to the earth as a man. He gave up the glories of heaven and was made one of us in every way. He lived a life on earth in humility and was abused and killed for our sake. As one of us, he took our sin on himself, and then as one who was guilty of all of the sin of the world, he accepted the punishment of death for that sin. The sinless died for the sinful.
In doing this, he has been exalted to the right hand of God and is now the King of kings and the Lord of lords. As the promised Messiah, he is now reigning from the throne of David over the people of God. As the risen Savior, he has already won the victory over sin, along with its punishment, death. Through him who loved us, we are more than conquerors, and nothing can separate us from his love.
Consider all the multitudes of people who have lived over the ages and then think about the all-powerful God who made us. God in his infinite wisdom, his unlimited power, his eternal nature, and his glory beyond our comprehension, is a God of love. He knows your name and mine and he cares about us, each one individually. So, when we say that Jesus died for the sins of the world, that is true, but it is also true that he died for your personal sins (and mine). If only one of us had sinned and that only one time, his death was still necessary for us to be saved.
O Lord God, thank you for your love for all of mankind, and especially thank you for your love for me, Robert. Lord, I would like to live a perfect life, but I know that I messed that up years ago. Use me from today to do your will and help me be more like Jesus in all I do and all I say, as well as the way I say things. Help me be kind and considerate of others and of their feelings. I want to stand for and speak the truth, but to always do so in a spirit of love. You know just what you want me to accomplish today, so use me in your will. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
