Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 18:31-35
Ps 18:31-35
For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? — the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.
Phil 4:12-13
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Do you remember when God revealed himself to the prophet in a small gentle wind? Gentleness is a quality of true and absolute strength. With this strength, one does not have to show it off or prove it to anyone. When we rely on his strength in us, we do not have to prove it, we just trust him to accomplish his will in us. In Philippians 2, Paul says that God works in us, both to will and work for his good pleasure. Our job is to work out what he works in us.
Whatever our circumstances in life, we trust God. When things are going really great and we are on top of the world, we must trust him because he is the one who got us there. When the bottom falls out and our whole world crashes in around us, we trust him because he will lift us up. The idea is that we trust him no matter what we face in life because in Christ Jesus, we can do all things.
While the Psalmist is writing of physical battles he faced as a warrior and then later as the king, the same God who gave him the victory will give it to us in our spiritual battles today. There is nothing that we face in life that he will not give us the wisdom to see and then to do the right thing, when we trust him.
O Lord God, give me wisdom to know the right from wrong, no matter what I face in life. Give me strength to do what is right. In it all, increase my faith. It is so easy for me to try to do everything for myself instead of trusting you. Keep me from doing this. Thank you for being a shield around me as I go through life. Please be with your people who are struggling, hurting, grieving, and facing difficult times, and give them your strength and your peace. Thank you for loving me. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus, my Lord, my Savior, my friend, and my brother.
Robert
