Exodus 38, Proverbs 14, Psalm 86

Read Exodus 38, Proverbs 14, and Psalm 86.

This devotional is about Proverbs 14:2, 16, 26, 27.

Fear is feeling that motivates people to act in ways that other feelings do not. You may love America, for example, but I’ll bet you pay your taxes more because you fear being prosecuted than because of patriotism.

These verses in Proverbs are linked by the concept of the “fear of the Lord.” The first two of them describe about how the fear of the Lord motivates people to do what is right:

  • 14:2: “Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly….”
  • 14:16: “The wise fear the Lord and shun evil….”

We often hear that “fearing the Lord” doesn’t mean being afraid of God but rather having a sense of “reverential awe” toward him. Reverential awe is good but there is more to fearing God than just being in awe of him. Someone who fears God is reverent because of who God is personally but a God-fearing person also respects his role as Lord and judge. Fearing God does not mean we serve him because he’s angry and we’re terrified of being annihilated at any moment for doing or saying the wrong thing. It does mean, however, that we submit to his authority to make the rules and we obey the rules because we believe in him and all that he is, including that he is just. Verses 2 and 16 tell us that this kind of proper fear of the Lord causes someone to do right (“walks uprightly”) and avoid doing wrong (“shun evil”). These are the consequences when someone fears God.

Verses 26 and 27 show us, however, that fearing God is not negative at all; it is positive. Verse 26 says that fearing the Lord provides a person with “a secure fortress” and verse 27 says that it “is a fountain of life.” When you believe in God as the Bible presents him, it brings security (v. 26) and blessings such as joy and purpose to your life (v. 27). Why is that true? Because sin is dangerous! Verse 27 says that the fear of the Lord turns “a person from the snares of death.” Sin kills but fearing God will help you avoid it.

We need God’s grace to fear him and to live obediently because we fear him. That means extending grace, of course, to others who truly fear God but still give into the desires of the sinful nature within. But, please understand, we do ourselves and our loved ones no favors at all when we act like sin is no big deal because God’s grace in Christ covers it all anyway. Sin is a big deal! The wages of it “is death” (Rom 6:23). When we rebuke someone who is sinning because we fear God, we are not trying to cut them down personally; we’re trying to save them from the destructive effects of sin. If you’ve ever had a loving friend step in and help you avoid or extricate yourself from sin, you know what a blessing that is. Until we are fully redeemed by God (at death or Christ’s return), we are vulnerable to the deceptive lives of our sin nature, the world, and the devil. But if we fear God and his discipline in our lives, it will help us avoid sin and find the fountain of life Solomon described in v. 27.

Exodus 16, Job 34, Psalm 64

Read Exodus 16, Job 34, and Psalm 64.

This devotional is about Psalm 64.

David had a lot of enemies. Saul was his enemy, the Philistines and other pagan nations were his enemies, even some his own sons became his enemies. In all these cases, these enemies battled him physically and their goal was to kill him.

Here in Psalm 64, David speaks of his enemy (v. 1) but the weapon that he feared was not a literal weapon but the warfare of words. Look at how frequently words come up in this psalm:

  • v. 2: “conspiracy” and “plots” are formed in conversation using words.
  • v. 3a: “They sharpen their tongues like swords”
  • v. 3b: they “aim cruel words like deadly arrows.”
  • v. 5: “They encourage each other in evil plans… they talk…. they say….”
  • v. 6: “they plot injustice and say….”

Words are not as dangerous as swords or guns or other instruments of war. But they are dangerous in their own way. People use words to overthrow rulers, to damage reputations, to wound emotions, to separate friends, to end careers, to create problems in families, and more.

David was confident that God would win anyway, despite the words of evildoers. In verse 7, he envisioned God riding in like the cavalry to save the day. In verse 8, he was more specific about how God would save him, “He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin.” We can use words to cause a lot of damage to others but, if you do that enough, eventually people will figure you out. They won’t trust what you say and won’t even want to listen to what you say. In the end, “all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.”

A better way for us to use words is described in verse 9: people “will proclaim the works of God.”

Are you careful about the words you use when talking with others or to others? The Bible commands us to watch what we say because we love God; this passage also tells us that our words will eventually catch up with us and be our undoing. If you have a problem with destructive, uncontrolled speech, ask God for help and memorize some verses from his Word about the power of speech.

If you’ve been the victim of someone else’s destructive speech, let verse 10 give you comfort and hope: “The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will glory in him!” God knows if you’ve been unjustly and unkindly wounded by the words of others. Trust him to come to your aid and vindicate you.

Genesis 48, Job 14, Psalm 46

Read Genesis 48, Job 14, and Psalm 46.

This devotional is about Psalm 46.

The world is a dangerous place. The same natural environment that nurtures us with air, water, and food can drown us, poison us, strike us with lightning, and kill us in any number of other ways.

The people who live in this world can be dangerous, too. Although most people have no intent to harm, there are plenty who want to rob, rape, and even kill. Some of these people become world leaders which enables them to marshal resources to kill on a massive scale through warfare. There are nations in this world, today, are at war or preparing for war. Innocent people will die because they were conscripted against their will into some man’s army or because that army will attack them and destroy their homes.

This is the world we live in. We feel secure most of the time, but that security is an illusion. If we paid attention to all the ways we could die, it would greatly increase our fears.

Psalm 46 invites us to contemplate a different world. It calls us to trust in God as “our refuge and strength” the one who is “ever-present” to help us in time of trouble (v. 1). This kind of faith gives us confidence, not fear, no matter what disasters happen around us (vv. 2-3).

But the world that the Psalmist envisions here in Psalm 46 is not a present reality yet. When God dwells in Jerusalem on earth (vv. 4-6), then we will see him protect us (vv. 7, 11), stop the natural disasters that kill (v. 8) and the wars that claim so many lives (v. 9). Instead, he will command the nations, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (v. 10).

The vision of life presented in this song won’t happen until Jesus reigns on earth in his kingdom. When his kingdom has superseded all the kingdoms of this earth, when he has defeated his enemies, then there will be peace, prosperity, joy, and eternal life. But better than all of those benefits is the opportunity to know God (v. 10a). Everyone will know him and we will all worship him in his kingdom (“I will be exalted, ” v. 10).

This is the hope that God’s word sets before us believers while we live on this earth. We are citizens of that kingdom but in exile for now until he fully establishes that kingdom on earth. While we wait, Jesus gave us to the gospel to call people all over the world to know the Lord, worship the Lord, and wait for that coming kingdom with us.

If you are harassed, feeling helpless, discouraged by the problems of this world and wondering why life has to be so hard, be encouraged. Things are a mess because the rebellion against the true Lord of this earth has not been defeated yet. But, when that kingdom comes, the joys and pleasures of worshipping the Lord in it will far outweigh the problems we lived through to get there. So don’t give up your faith; it will be rewarded when the king comes.

Genesis 47, Job 13, Psalm 45

Read Genesis 47, Job 13, and Psalm 45.

This devotional is about Psalm 45.

This beautiful song bears the superscription, “A wedding song.” Those superscriptions are (probably) not part of the original text. We don’t really know if they are original or not, because we don’t have the originals, but scholars feel they are accurate, if not inspired. That superscription tells us the setting for this song, but we do not know if this song was written for Solomon or one of his descendants.

Regardless of which Davidic king had this written for his wedding, the Psalmist who wrote it looked beyond that human king. Verses 6-7 are quoted in Hebrews 1:8-9. There the author of Hebrews recognized that they applied to Jesus. Jesus is the only king in David’s line about whom it could accurately be written, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever…. therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions.”

So, there it is, hundreds of years before Jesus was born, a prophecy of his eternal kingdom that reco that Israel’s true king would be God but also be distinct from the person of God that we would call the Father. These two verses suggest the deity of Christ, his coming as the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, and that there are distinct persons of the Godhead.

This Psalm also suggests the idea of looking at God’s people as the bride of Christ. Like the human bride of whichever Israelite king this was written for, we as the bride of Christ must “honor him, for he is your lord” (v. 11b). But honoring Jesus is not degrading or burdensome to us; instead, when we honor Christ, love him, and are joined with him, it will mean “joy and gladness” for all of us.

Genesis 23, Nehemiah 12, Psalm 22

Read Genesis 23, Nehemiah 12, Psalm 22.

This devotional is about Nehemiah 12, particularly verses 27-47.

God was doing something in Jerusalem. Compared to the growth and expansion of the kingdom that David and Solomon saw, what Nehemiah and his countrymen were doing was small. But, compared to the ruin that Jerusalem had been for 70 years and the powerlessness and exile that God’s people had experienced for a generation, the days of Nehemiah and Ezra were amazing. They were more hopeful than successful, like a sprout from the ground on a farm that hadn’t produced anything in years. A sprout is not the same as an acre of corn ready to be harvested, but it is a reason to be hopeful. Every acre of corn began with a spout, after all.

So, these were not Judah’s greatest days politically or economically. But spiritually, they were powerful. God was moving in his people and for his people again. He was working in the hearts of pagan kings and governors to protect and provide for his people. The people were expressing repentance for their disobedience to his word and were publicly recommitting themselves to obey his covenant. And what was result of all of this work God was doing in Jerusalem? Singing!

The wall around Jerusalem was a defense mechanism. It had no real spiritual purpose, like the altar and the temple did. It was there to protect the inhabitants of the city from enemy attacks.

Nehemiah saw the repair and rebuilding of this wall as a spiritual act, however, because Jerusalem was God’s city. It was the place where his temple was, where his name would live, and, eventually, where his Messiah would reign. So, when the wall was finished, Nehemiah organized a ceremony to dedicate it (v. 27). And, one of the key features of that dedication ceremony was singing. “Two large choirs” (v. 31) were organized “that gave thanks” (vv. 31), by singing during this ceremony (v. 40). They were joined by “musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God” (v. 36). The two choirs stood on top of the wall to give thanks, then they came together to continue that singing in the temple (v. 40). The result of all of this music was joy. Look at how verse 43 described it: “And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.”

The music offered to God on that day had such a powerful affect that people wanted it to continue. People brought provisions to the temple (v. 44) to provide for musicians and singers (vv. 46-47). This shows what a key, important role music has in the worship of God’s people. When God is working in people’s lives, they want to praise him in song. Music lifts our hearts when they are wounded and it gives us a way to express our joy when we are glad and thankful for what God has done.

This can be part of your walk with God as well. Not only can we be thankful for Nick Slayton and all the worship team members who lead us in worship each Sunday, we in this age have the gift of recorded music to help us worship in our private devotional times, to encourage us when we are down, and to help set our hearts to thankfulness and praise as we go to work each day. Why not pick an uplifting song of praise to listen to on your way to work today? Sing along and let the Lord use this gift to help you start the week off in dedication and praise to him.

2 Chronicles 35 and Revelation 21

Read 2 Chronicles 35 and Revelation 21.

This devotional is about Revelation 21.

This is it; the chapter that describes what everyone who loves God is waiting for. As beautiful as this earth is, as joyful and loving as this life can be at times, we all know that something big is amiss. This world is fundamentally broken and that is because the most important piece is missing—God.

He’s not missing in the sense that he is absent, for we believe that God is omnipresent—everywhere present in the fullness of his being. No, God is missing from this life in the sense that he is not the center of our worship, the source of our joy, our reason for living, our hope for the future. When Adam and Eve chose to sin, God graciously let them live and decreed for the human race to continue, but we have never experienced the kind of fellowship they had with him. We do not know what it means to “walk with God” without trying to hide ourselves with fig leaves. 

But, when Christ returns and the events that end this age are over, there will be “a new heaven and a new earth” (v. 1) and God’s dwelling place will be “now among the people” (v. 3). The pain and sorrow and death that pollute the joys and love of this life will be over (v. 4). We will have a joyous welcome into God’s kingdom that rivals any joy we can have in this life; the closest we can come is our wedding day, which this passage uses to try to describe for us what it will be like (vv. 9-14). 

And who gets in? “Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Not all the people who claim to be great in this life. The only people who get in are those who have been rescued from sin and the punishment we deserve for it by the sacrificial death of our Savior, Jesus Christ, for us. Here is hope and encouragement for you this morning; it will be perfect someday, if you’re in Him. No matter how badly this life treats you, there is a perfect hope of eternity in Christ.

1 Chronicles 29, Psalms 133-135

Read 1 Chronicles 29 and Psalms 133-135.

This devotional is about 1 Chronicles 29.

The large number of commands and rules in Moses’ law can make us feel like serving God is merely a matter of “dos” and “don’ts.” If people did everything the Lord commanded them to do and didn’t do what he commanded them to avoid, they may have thought that God was pleased with them. And, when they sinned, if they merely “did” the offering God commanded, all would be well again. The Pharisees seemed to believe this to be true and possibly many Christians do as well. 

But 1 Chronicles 29 argues against such an objective, works-based approach to God. David spoke to the assembly of God’s people in 1 Chronicles 29 and described for them the wealth that he had provided for the materials in the temple Solomon would build (vv. 1-5a). David then invited the leaders of Israel’s tribes to contribute to the Lord’s work in the temple as well (v. 5b).

The people responded well to his invitation and gave generously to the stockpile of materials that a magnificent temple required (vv. 6-8). All this was done with joy–“the people rejoiced”, “they had given freely and wholeheartedly” and “David the king also rejoiced greatly” (v. 9). Then David prayed a magnificent prayer of praise in verses 10-19 and led the people to praise the Lord with him (v. 20). David’s prayer took no credit for the abundance of the Lord’s provision but instead marveled at how God’s abundant provision for them enabled them to give so much wealth to him (v. 12a, 14-16).

Then David focused on the heart: “I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity” (v. 17a). It is not our performance of giving or righteous good works or religious ceremonies that God wants; it is a heart that desires him, is devoted to him, and obeys and gives and serves him out of awe and worship and thanks and love. All of these things would have come naturally to us if sin had not entered the world, but we did sin. Therefore, selfishness and wicked desires invaded the space God created in us to be devoted to him.

David recognized that it was only God’s gracious work in the heart that enabled true devotion to Him so he prayed that God would do this work in the people (“keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you”) and in Solomon (“give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees”). As believers in Jesus, we’ve received a new nature that leads us toward a holy life. But we need God’s continual work to “keep these desires and thoughts” (v. 18), just as David prayed, because of the constant battle we do with sin. 

Your obedience to the Lord may be spot on today in the sense that you’ve been consistently doing the Lord’s commands and have avoided sinful choices as far as you know. But what is the state of your heart? Habitual obedience is good but it only pleases the Lord when it comes from within. May God purge our hearts of our sinful desires, open our eyes to our spiritual blindspots, and give us a heart that is increasingly devoted to him.

2 Samuel 11, Daniel 1, Psalms 111-113

Read 2 Samuel 11, Daniel 1, Psalms 111-113.

This devotional is about Psalm 111.

At times we can look at God’s word as a burden. It is filled with commands and obligations and we are commanded to obey it all. The scripture warns of great judgement for those who refuse to obey God’s word and, even when we find forgiveness in Christ for our disobedience to God, we often still suffer sorrowful affects of our sin. These things can make God’s word feel heavy to us and cause us to be fearful whenever we open the scripture.

What we need to remember, though, is that God’s commands are not burdensome. They are not tedious, meaningless regulations like sitting at stoplight when there is absolutely no traffic coming from any direction but you have to sit there because it is the law. That’s not what God’s commands are like. In fact, according to Psalm 111, the commands of God’s words are a great blessing to us. They are given to us to make us happy, not burden us.

Verse 6 of Psalm 111 says, “all his precepts are trustworthy. They are established for ever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.” That is something to be happy about because God’s commands give us something solid on which we can build our lives. One of the scariest things about life is the uncertainty of it. There is no guarantee that the plans you make in life will succeed. There is no certainty that the market will want your product. Even if people want it today, something better might come along tomorrow. Even though you may feel completely healthy, things can change.

If our plans, our jobs, our health, and many other things are uncertain, then how can we ever really feel joy and contentment? The answer is by building our lives on what is certain rather than hoping in things that are very uncertain. What is certain are God’s precepts–his commands and teachings. Verse 8 says, “They are established for ever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.” You might lose everything, but if your life is built on God’s commands, they will uphold you when everything else falls apart.

Without Christ, we cannot build our lives on God’s faithful commands because each of us has an unfaithful heart that leads us astray. But, in Christ we have a new heart that desires to obey God’s word and the Holy Spirit who leads us to walk in his ways. These are great blessings to God’s people for, as verse 10 says, “all who follow his precepts have good understanding.” It is only when God turns on the lights in our hearts through regeneration that we understand how wise it is to follow God’s commands in obedience.

But when we obey God and experience a stable life because of his commands, we can’t take credit. Verse 10 ends the Psalm by saying, “To him belongs eternal praise.” This is why I wrote earlier that, “according to Psalm 111, the commands of God’s words are a great blessing to us.” It is God’s word that gives us insight on which we can build a stable life so all glory and praise go to him for his revelation and the blessed life that results from being built on it.

1 Samuel 21-22, Ezekiel 32, Philippians 4

Read 1 Samuel 21-22, Ezekiel 32, and Philippians 4.

This devotional is about Philippians 4.

Paul experienced many difficulties and stressors during his ministry. So, it must have been incredibly encouraging to have the Philippians as his friends. While they had some interpersonal problems (cf. 2:3-4 with 4:2-3), they were loved deeply by the apostle and they returned that love, even sending Epaphroditus to help personally (2:25) as well as financial aid (4:10-18).

There is so much joy in this letter that it is easy to forget that Paul was in prison when he wrote it (cf. 1:12, 17). The Philippians’ friendship and Paul’s imprisonment form the background out of which he wrote the chapter we read today. His imprisonment, particularly, was the circumstance he lived in when he wrote verses 6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Undoubtedly Paul was a man who had practiced these commands in his own life repeatedly. His command to the Philippians to deal with their fears that way rose out of his own experience as well as from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

In verses 8-9 he commanded them to discipline their thoughts toward good and godly things instead of focusing on their problems, complaints or fears.

Many of our negative emotions rise out of undisciplined thinking. We attach meaning to things that happen, then tell ourselves negative stories about the meaning we’ve made up.

It is easy to do and we’ve all done it, at least at certain times in our lives or with certain events of our lives. God’s word, however, gives us a different story–a truthful one–to tell ourselves about anything and everything that happens in life. A sovereign God has ordered the events of your life for his glory and your good. There will be problems, pains, stresses, heartbreak, sorrow, and grief in this life. That’s because this life and this world have been broken by sin, not because God doesn’t love you.

The solution to the problems of life is to trust God’s promise and put your hope in his future kingdom. When it comes, the pains of this life will be forgotten and the perfect life that you and I want will be real; it can never be real until then.

When life tempts you to think thoughts of despair, replace those thoughts with truth: God loves you and redeemed you from the guilt of your sin and the punishment you deserve for it. He is preparing a perfect, eternal kingdom for you and is re-making you into a perfect person by his grace.

While we have much less to fear than the martyrdom that ultimately took Paul’s life, his teaching reminds us that, no matter how little or much we fear, the Lord is waiting to hear our prayers and give us peace as we look to him.

Deuteronomy 31, Jeremiah 23, 2 Corinthians 7

Read Deuteronomy 31, Jeremiah 23, and 2 Corinthians 7.

This devotional is about Deuteronomy 31.

God had made extraordinary promises to his people and he had given them the complex gift of his law. I call his law “complex” because it should have been a blessing to Israel but it was, in fact, a curse. It could have been a blessing; if they had followed God’s laws, they would have been blessed in every way—spiritually, militarily, financially, and more. However, without a new nature, sinful people trying to live by God’s laws are always destined to fail. And, the Israelites did fail! Not only did they never get all the land God promised to them, they never had the financial prosperity or the spiritual power and joy that God promised to them. 

One reason why they failed to keep God’s law is that they did not know God’s law. Verses 12-13 describe the need for all the people to hear the law of God. This passage mandates that God’s law be read to his people, aloud, every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles (v. 10). The purpose of this reading was not only so that they would know God’s law but so that they would “learn to fear the Lord your God…” (v. 12b). Likewise, their children would hear it and “learn to fear the Lord your God…” (v. 13b).

Fearing God is an Old Testament way of expressing true belief in God; it is similar to the concept of the new birth (or regeneration) in the New Testament. A person who feared God was one who received God’s law not just as a way to regulate behavior but rather as an expression of the character of the living God. He would hear all that God required of him and would be convicted of all the ways he had failed to live up to God’s laws already. He would also be struck with his own inability to keep these laws in the days ahead of his life. Knowing what God required of him and also how weak and sinful his own heart was, he would fall before the Lord looking for mercy for his past sins and grace to walk with God in the days ahead. If Israel had treasured God’s laws for the revelation that they were, God would have done great spiritual work within them and among them for “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom 10:17).

But there is little evidence that God’s people even read God’s word once every seven years as this passage commanded them. The ignorance of his revelation is one of the main reasons why they never became the nation God promised them they could become.

This should remind us to treasure God’s word—read it, hear it, and obey it in our lives. You’re off to a good start today by reading these passages and this devotional. Now, be in church ready to hear God’s word on Sunday. Join a small group and soak up the reading and discussion of God’s word. God’s word is the blood that oxygenates a Christian’s spiritual life. Let that blood pump through your life and see what God does.

Deuteronomy 16, Jeremiah 8, 1 Corinthians 12

Read Deuteronomy 16, Jeremiah 8, and 1 Corinthians 12.

This devotional is about Deuteronomy 16.

Here in Deuteronomy 16, Moses explained three annual festivals that Israel was required to observe. The first was the Passover feast which Israel was required to “celebrate” (v. 1). First they were required to eat unleavened bread (“the bread of affliction,” v. 3) for seven days. That was to remind them of their affliction in Egypt. On the evening that began the seventh day of the feast, they were to sacrifice to the Lord in his designated place (vv. 5-6), then worship the Lord and refrain from work on the seventh day, eating the meat that was roasted the night before as part of their passover sacrifice (vv. 7-8).

The second festival described in this chapter happened seven weeks after they began to harvest their crops (vv. 9-12). This feast consisted of giving a “freewill offering” (v. 10) and that offering was to be in proportion to how much God had blessed them. They were to take the offering to the tabernacle/temple (v. 11) and “rejoice before the Lord” there. Like the Passover, this feast was to “remember that you were slaves in Egypt.” They were to celebrate this festival because, now as freed people, they could profit from their work instead of working hard as slaves and watching their masters prosper instead.

Finally, the third feast they were commanded to observe was the Feast of Tabernacles. This festival reminded them of their wanderings in the desert so that they would be grateful for a land of their own. This festival happened “for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.” In other words, it marked the end of harvest time.

Being required to do something sometimes causes people to lose their desire to do that thing. But God did not require these festivals in order to impose a burden on people; he did it so that they could enjoy themselves. Look at the words of joy in these passages: “celebrate” (v. 1, 10, 13, 15), “rejoice” (v. 11), “be joyful” (v. 14), and “your joy will be complete” (v. 15). Instead of filling up everyday with back-breaking work, fearing that they were on the edge of starvation, God commanded his people to work hard for six days and enjoy a day off to worship him. Instead of working from daylight to dusk from spring through fall with only one day off a week, God mandated these festivals so that his people could rest, rejoice, and reflect on all that God had done for them.

The New Testament does not command believers to observe any kind of Sabbath nor does it require us to celebrate any festivals. But the weekly Sabbath and annual festivals like these teach us the importance of rest and rejoicing. If we do nothing but work all the time, we’ll look up someday and find ourselves old, our lives having passed us by, and our children having grown and gone out on their own.

Choosing to worship and rest on Sunday gives us time to worship the Lord, learn from his word, fellowship with other believers, enjoy time with our families, rest for the work week ahead, and rejoice in all that God has given us in Christ and through the faithful work of our hands. Nothing in the New Testament requires us to do this, but doesn’t show the compassion of God for tired, beleaguered people? Wouldn’t we be wise to pause for rest and reflection regularly?

Deuteronomy 6, Isaiah 65, Psalms 66-68

Today read Deuteronomy 6, Isaiah 65, and Psalms 66-68.

This devotional is about Psalm 66.

Psalm 66 opens in verses 1-7 by calling us to worship God based on what he has done. “All the earth” (v. 1) is commanded to do this worship, so every created person and thing is meant.

The content of our worship is focused on what God has done. As verse 3 put it: “Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!’”

But what are those “deeds”? Some of them are described in the verses that follow. Namely,

  • God’s miraculous works in the past for his people (v. 6)
  • His present sovereign administration over the nations of humanity (v. 7).

But then the focus turns in verses 8-12 to reminding us of the Lord’s discipline. While we don’t usually think of God’s discipline as gracious, it is gracious because God uses discipline to refine us morally in holiness and purge out sins from our lives (v. 10).

In verses 13-15 the Psalmist stated his resolve to keep the vows he has made to worship the Lord in his temple. These vows were made when the Lord’s discipline was on him for, according to verse 14b they were made “… when I was in trouble.”

The Psalmist then testified to the grace of God in verses 16-20. Having promised his worship and obedience to God when he was under discipline, the Psalmist calls for all who “fear God” (v. 16a) to listen to the Psalmist’s story of how the Lord heard his prayer and rescued him when he repented (vv. 17-18).

Have you recently or currently experienced the painful consequences of sin in your life? Has it ever occurred to you that this may be God’s loving discipline, preventing you from wasting your life in disobedience and calling you to turn to him in repentance?

When we come before the Lord, turning from our sins and bringing him the worship he desires and deserves, we will find joy again in our worship (v. 20). Follow the example of the Psalmist and turn to God in repentance so that you can experience the joy of praising him.