Ps 36:5-9 "Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. 7 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light." NIV
The love of God is past finding out! The Love of God is altogether above our understanding. It is all encompassing, powerful in its great strength and yet perfectly balanced with the other attributes of God’s character and nature. God is love, and yet he holds this love in perfect balance with his faithfulness, righteousness and justice. He never violates one aspect of His character for the sake of another. This is what makes God a sure foundation. Age to age for all eternity I can know that the ways of God are sure, that He will not compromise nor fail, and that He will do all things towards me from a heart of love and wisdom.
David has grasped this principle in this portion of Psalm 36. Oh, the love of God “reaches to the heavens.” This revelation is reflected in two of the apostolic prayers of Paul that he prayed over the churches. Phil 1:9 “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” Paul understood the power of an abounding love. Where a true comprehension of the love of God exists there is great insight into the knowledge of God and His ways. If we do not understand God’s great love for us then we will misinterpret many of His dealings with us. Every time a circumstance touches us that is difficult or painful we must begin our interpretation of those events with the foundational truth that God is dealing with me from a heart of love. Ro. 8:28 enlarges this understanding by stating that God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him. He is at work even when it hurts. He is not necessarily the cause of your trial but He will work through every trial to produce good fruit in the lives of those who love Him.
The second prayer of Paul found in Eph 3:17-19 develops this principle even more completely. “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Paul’s cry is for the church to be rooted and established in love. When something has roots it is firm and hard to move. Often trials have a way of applying pressure to our convictions and our convictions and beliefs come under a time of testing. This is the reason for Paul’s prayer. God give the church an immovable conviction that they are loved with such faithfulness that we share the conviction of Paul who proclaimed confidently, Rom 8:38 – 39 “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The person who has this confidence will stand strong in the face of pressure!
The language that David chooses to develop his reflection on the love of God is filled with such passion. “How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” Everything that David chooses to describe the love of God is the language of experience. David presents a love that appeals to all classes of people, a love that has no end and is beyond placing a value on. Consider with me these phrases for just a moment. Do you know the love of God as “feasting on the abundance of His house?” When you consider your meditations of Him is it, “drinking from the river of His delights?” Is the Lord to you a “fountain of life?” He can be. He wants to be! Experience begins with the faith that something is possible. Reach into God’s heart today until the heavens open and your experience of God is transformed. What I know to be true is that if we will wait, if we will seek, He will come!
Friday
Psalm 36:1-2 April 17, 2009
Ps 36:1-2 "An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin." NIV
Have you ever been grieved by the moral decline of the culture around you? This is David’s burden at the time of this psalm. It is prophetic look at the ways of the Lord as well but this portions is primarily focused on the pain he feels over the general absence of the fear of the Lord in so many of the people that surround him. It is a powerful glimpse into the heart of David the intercessor! David is carrying pain over the condition of the nation and it is being reflected in this lament. It is ultimately a cry for the fear of the Lord to be restored to the nation. The absence of a holy fear in the heart of a man leaves him open to all forms of decay into a life of sin. The greatest moral boundary that exists to regulate the heart of man is not the laws of a city or a nation but the knowledge of God’s law and the acknowledgement that He sees all things done both in secret and in public and even more He sees the heart and the life or death that lies within it.
The reality of God, all present and all knowing, is the foundation of one of Jesus’ most vital teachings. In Matthew 5 & 6 Jesus taught the principle of living accountable for the inward movements of your heart not just your outward actions. He showed his disciples that to be angry is as bad as being a murderer, to look with lust is no different than being an adulterer, and he taught them to do the good deeds that we do as worship before God not for the sake of gaining the praise of men. At its core the message of Jesus is that whatever is in our heart is who we really are. The Lord sees all the movements of your heart whether they are movements towards Him in whispers of worship or meditations of the works of the flesh and sin. The path to a deeper encounter with God is one of living from the heart, living in the real and constant awareness that God is with us and is concerned about the things that we think, say and do. This is what it is to live in the fear of the Lord:
To live knowing that God sees all of these things, that He cares that our ways are pleasing to Him and His justice will not let the deeds of men for good or evil go unnoticed, nor unrewarded.
When a man lives in the fear of the Lord he is sensitive to the voice of conscience and the impressions of the Holy Spirit guiding Him in his personal choices, directing him in the path that is pleasing to God. When a man chooses to harden his heart towards the Lord then he is now subject to the evil inclinations of the heart without a voice of inner warning that protects both him and those who will be touched by his actions. In this psalm David identifies one of the key tendencies or flaws that this type of person is subject to. “in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.” This is one of the foundational flaws of a heart that does not fear God. When a person does not respect and fear God often there is an inflated sense of self as a result of this. If God is not the cause and source of blessing, then it is only natural to assume that I am! This deception leaves us blind to the depth of sin in our hearts. When we think to highly of ourselves we seldom see the reality of our need clearly. Lord open our eyes to see just how deep the darkness is within our hearts if you are not there to bring your light!
Have you ever been grieved by the moral decline of the culture around you? This is David’s burden at the time of this psalm. It is prophetic look at the ways of the Lord as well but this portions is primarily focused on the pain he feels over the general absence of the fear of the Lord in so many of the people that surround him. It is a powerful glimpse into the heart of David the intercessor! David is carrying pain over the condition of the nation and it is being reflected in this lament. It is ultimately a cry for the fear of the Lord to be restored to the nation. The absence of a holy fear in the heart of a man leaves him open to all forms of decay into a life of sin. The greatest moral boundary that exists to regulate the heart of man is not the laws of a city or a nation but the knowledge of God’s law and the acknowledgement that He sees all things done both in secret and in public and even more He sees the heart and the life or death that lies within it.
The reality of God, all present and all knowing, is the foundation of one of Jesus’ most vital teachings. In Matthew 5 & 6 Jesus taught the principle of living accountable for the inward movements of your heart not just your outward actions. He showed his disciples that to be angry is as bad as being a murderer, to look with lust is no different than being an adulterer, and he taught them to do the good deeds that we do as worship before God not for the sake of gaining the praise of men. At its core the message of Jesus is that whatever is in our heart is who we really are. The Lord sees all the movements of your heart whether they are movements towards Him in whispers of worship or meditations of the works of the flesh and sin. The path to a deeper encounter with God is one of living from the heart, living in the real and constant awareness that God is with us and is concerned about the things that we think, say and do. This is what it is to live in the fear of the Lord:
To live knowing that God sees all of these things, that He cares that our ways are pleasing to Him and His justice will not let the deeds of men for good or evil go unnoticed, nor unrewarded.
When a man lives in the fear of the Lord he is sensitive to the voice of conscience and the impressions of the Holy Spirit guiding Him in his personal choices, directing him in the path that is pleasing to God. When a man chooses to harden his heart towards the Lord then he is now subject to the evil inclinations of the heart without a voice of inner warning that protects both him and those who will be touched by his actions. In this psalm David identifies one of the key tendencies or flaws that this type of person is subject to. “in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.” This is one of the foundational flaws of a heart that does not fear God. When a person does not respect and fear God often there is an inflated sense of self as a result of this. If God is not the cause and source of blessing, then it is only natural to assume that I am! This deception leaves us blind to the depth of sin in our hearts. When we think to highly of ourselves we seldom see the reality of our need clearly. Lord open our eyes to see just how deep the darkness is within our hearts if you are not there to bring your light!
Thursday
Psalm 35:1 - April 16, 2009
Ps 35:1 Of David. "Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me." NIV
Throughout the course of David’s life he has learned a valuable lesson. When your enemy is rising up against you, do not look at your enemy, look at the Lord. All of Psalm 35 is a cry of dependence upon the Lord for victory. It is a powerful example of prayer for the victory of the Lord to come into a situation, a demonstration of what it means to lean on the Lord’s strength and not our own. David presents his need before the Lord and looks to Him for vindication. It is also important to recognize that he prays with a very clear sense of detail. He does not stop his cry with a simple prayer of “help me!” That is a good prayer but David demonstrates that there is a time and place where much more is needed.
The pages of scripture of filled with the record of conflict, intervention and resolution on both a personal and national level. Throughout this history a clear paradox emerges in regard to the nature of the victories that God brings. In some instances the Father chooses to give either permission or strategy (or both) for gaining the victory and then in other passages the Lord simply tells his servants to stand back and watch what He is about to do. In both of these scenarios there is a common thread. Both outcomes flow through a life of dependence upon the Lord. David makes a simple statement in Ps 144:1 “Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.” How much easier the victory comes when we learn to wait upon the Lord.
In the construction world there is a well known saying, “Work smarter, not harder.” This is the essence of this biblical principle that we are considering. Too often we struggle and stress over the conflicts that we find ourselves facing. When we do that all that the fruit is usually fairly poor. Our need is to learn the place of prayer under pressure. Times of conflict are usually times of great stress and our human inclination is to try and resolve these conflicts as quickly and efficiently as possible. The problem is that this is not always the Lords way and by stepping into a situation without His wisdom we succeed in prolonging the struggle. The Lord calls us to quiet ourselves before Him and learn to listen to the sound of His voice. One clear sentence from God can resolve matters that hours and hours or even days and days of human effort cannot resolve. The issue is, “where do we want to fight our battle?” If we take our situation into the presence of the Lord then the Lord will come with what is needed.
For Jehoshaphat II Ch. 20:22 it was divine guidance and the Lord’s intervention as the people worshipped. For King David in II Sa. 5:24 it was the revelation of a divine strategy to camouflage the sound of their presence behind the noise of the tree leaves. For Moses it was the ten plagues and the sea closing over his enemies. What is certain from these and other examples is that the victory of the Lord is not a method it is a relationship. All of the battles that the Lord brings in the Word of God are expressed out of relationship with His people. This is the foundational lesson for us. Instead of spending our time fighting against obstacles in the realms of the flesh we must learn the lesson of II Co. 10:3-5 that our battle is not against earthly forces and that our victory is ultimately won in the presence of the Lord. In every biblical account of battle where the people had the Lord’s word to stand upon the victory was won in the private place of prayer and simply “walked out” in the natural on the battle field. We too must remember that our victories are won in the presence of the Lord not in the face of our need..
Throughout the course of David’s life he has learned a valuable lesson. When your enemy is rising up against you, do not look at your enemy, look at the Lord. All of Psalm 35 is a cry of dependence upon the Lord for victory. It is a powerful example of prayer for the victory of the Lord to come into a situation, a demonstration of what it means to lean on the Lord’s strength and not our own. David presents his need before the Lord and looks to Him for vindication. It is also important to recognize that he prays with a very clear sense of detail. He does not stop his cry with a simple prayer of “help me!” That is a good prayer but David demonstrates that there is a time and place where much more is needed.
The pages of scripture of filled with the record of conflict, intervention and resolution on both a personal and national level. Throughout this history a clear paradox emerges in regard to the nature of the victories that God brings. In some instances the Father chooses to give either permission or strategy (or both) for gaining the victory and then in other passages the Lord simply tells his servants to stand back and watch what He is about to do. In both of these scenarios there is a common thread. Both outcomes flow through a life of dependence upon the Lord. David makes a simple statement in Ps 144:1 “Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.” How much easier the victory comes when we learn to wait upon the Lord.
In the construction world there is a well known saying, “Work smarter, not harder.” This is the essence of this biblical principle that we are considering. Too often we struggle and stress over the conflicts that we find ourselves facing. When we do that all that the fruit is usually fairly poor. Our need is to learn the place of prayer under pressure. Times of conflict are usually times of great stress and our human inclination is to try and resolve these conflicts as quickly and efficiently as possible. The problem is that this is not always the Lords way and by stepping into a situation without His wisdom we succeed in prolonging the struggle. The Lord calls us to quiet ourselves before Him and learn to listen to the sound of His voice. One clear sentence from God can resolve matters that hours and hours or even days and days of human effort cannot resolve. The issue is, “where do we want to fight our battle?” If we take our situation into the presence of the Lord then the Lord will come with what is needed.
For Jehoshaphat II Ch. 20:22 it was divine guidance and the Lord’s intervention as the people worshipped. For King David in II Sa. 5:24 it was the revelation of a divine strategy to camouflage the sound of their presence behind the noise of the tree leaves. For Moses it was the ten plagues and the sea closing over his enemies. What is certain from these and other examples is that the victory of the Lord is not a method it is a relationship. All of the battles that the Lord brings in the Word of God are expressed out of relationship with His people. This is the foundational lesson for us. Instead of spending our time fighting against obstacles in the realms of the flesh we must learn the lesson of II Co. 10:3-5 that our battle is not against earthly forces and that our victory is ultimately won in the presence of the Lord. In every biblical account of battle where the people had the Lord’s word to stand upon the victory was won in the private place of prayer and simply “walked out” in the natural on the battle field. We too must remember that our victories are won in the presence of the Lord not in the face of our need..
Wednesday
Psalm 34:18-20 April 15, 2009
Ps. 34:18 - 20 "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken." NIV
Have you ever asked the Lord in a time of great pain or confusion, “Where are you God?” Obviously David Had. During this time in his life he is running from Saul. He has been a faithful servant of the Lord and of Saul and yet Saul has so oppressed him, so persecuted him that he has had to abandon his wife and run to safety. He is in a foreign land and pretending insanity. It is no wonder that he is talking about being brokenhearted and crushed in spirit. Imagine the pain of being so betrayed by a jealous leader perhaps you even know this pain. Imagine the very kingdom that you have given your life to serve and protect becoming the place that you must abandon because a host of people from within that country are seeking to destroy your life. David too must have cried out during this intense season, saying “where are you God?”
This psalm is written at the end of this season, after deliverance has come. It is a time of reflection as David considers the outcome of this trial. “The Lord is close… the Lord will save!” David knows what it feels like to be brokenhearted and he knows the pain of a crushed spirit, but looking back he can now proclaim, “The Lord didn’t abandon me even though everyone else did. The Lord was close by all the time.” David can say “Though my spirit was broken and fading I know that it was the Lord who saved me in that struggle.” Just like Peter losing sight of the Lord because of the waves as he sought to walk on the water with Jesus, we too at times lose sight of the Lord and our hearts begin to sink into the mire
of our circumstances.
What I so appreciate about David is that he does not deny the reality of his pain he does not present a life of faith that never has a problem and walks in absolute perfection. David’s testimony is one of human weakness, trials and opposition and divine help to endure and overcome with a humble spirit. David’s humanity is a reflection of pain and personal struggles with temptation. His testimony in this psalm is “A righteous man may have many troubles.” David’s walk with God comes with an expectation that life will have its challenges. What makes David special is that even though he has walked through trial he is not bitter but maintains a positive confession and a positive interpretation of the Lord’s dealings with him. He states confidently concerning these trials, “but the LORD delivers him from them all!” Let this be your confidence today. Though your trial may seem greater than you can bear, remember these two things: “The Lord is close to you even now, and he will deliver you!”
Have you ever asked the Lord in a time of great pain or confusion, “Where are you God?” Obviously David Had. During this time in his life he is running from Saul. He has been a faithful servant of the Lord and of Saul and yet Saul has so oppressed him, so persecuted him that he has had to abandon his wife and run to safety. He is in a foreign land and pretending insanity. It is no wonder that he is talking about being brokenhearted and crushed in spirit. Imagine the pain of being so betrayed by a jealous leader perhaps you even know this pain. Imagine the very kingdom that you have given your life to serve and protect becoming the place that you must abandon because a host of people from within that country are seeking to destroy your life. David too must have cried out during this intense season, saying “where are you God?”
This psalm is written at the end of this season, after deliverance has come. It is a time of reflection as David considers the outcome of this trial. “The Lord is close… the Lord will save!” David knows what it feels like to be brokenhearted and he knows the pain of a crushed spirit, but looking back he can now proclaim, “The Lord didn’t abandon me even though everyone else did. The Lord was close by all the time.” David can say “Though my spirit was broken and fading I know that it was the Lord who saved me in that struggle.” Just like Peter losing sight of the Lord because of the waves as he sought to walk on the water with Jesus, we too at times lose sight of the Lord and our hearts begin to sink into the mire
of our circumstances.
What I so appreciate about David is that he does not deny the reality of his pain he does not present a life of faith that never has a problem and walks in absolute perfection. David’s testimony is one of human weakness, trials and opposition and divine help to endure and overcome with a humble spirit. David’s humanity is a reflection of pain and personal struggles with temptation. His testimony in this psalm is “A righteous man may have many troubles.” David’s walk with God comes with an expectation that life will have its challenges. What makes David special is that even though he has walked through trial he is not bitter but maintains a positive confession and a positive interpretation of the Lord’s dealings with him. He states confidently concerning these trials, “but the LORD delivers him from them all!” Let this be your confidence today. Though your trial may seem greater than you can bear, remember these two things: “The Lord is close to you even now, and he will deliver you!”
Tuesday
Monday
Happy Easter!!!
Happy Easter everyone!
Due to the holiday the Daily Devotional for today will be resumed tomorrow!!!
Enjoy your day and be blessed.
Due to the holiday the Daily Devotional for today will be resumed tomorrow!!!
Enjoy your day and be blessed.
Sunday
Psalm 34:17 April 12, 2009
Ps 34:17 "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles." NIV
Does the Lord here our prayers? Can anything keep our prayers from reaching the heart of God and receiving his gracious reply? The scriptures give us great hope of a God who hears the cries of His people and we joyfully receive such news with a heart of faith, but do we ever consider the conditions that the Word of God attaches to answered prayers. This portion of Psalm 34 points us to God’s deliverance but includes the standard of righteousness as one of the qualifications of answered prayer. So many people ask God for His intervention in time of need but neglect to consider the context in which God commits to hear our cries. If we pray and do not see the moving of God’s hand, perhaps we should examine our ways to see if we are honoring God’s standard. If we remove the hindrances to favor with God then perhaps the consistency of our prayer testimony will be greatly increased.
How is your marriage? 1 Peter 3:7 tells us “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” Is your pride showing? 1 Peter 5:5 "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Do you believe when you pray? Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Are you asking the Father in Jesus Name? It matters. John 14:13 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” John 16:23 “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” Are you consistent in your life before God and is the Word consistent in you? John 15:7 “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” These are just a few of the standards that impact God’s response to our prayers. Perhaps our testimony regarding prayer will be greatly changed if we will examine our ways in regard to prayer.
The word is clear that God delights to hear the cries of his people but we must not forget that he also has a standard that He upholds in regard to us. Yes our righteousness comes as a gift from the Lord, but God does not merely give us a gift and then leave us to enjoy all that He has provided. Instead, He offers us the free gift of righteousness through the blood of Christ and then He calls us to rise up, wearing that righteousness as a cloak of transformation, and challenges walk in empowered by that righteousness to live our lives according to His Word. The cross was not a replacement for the standard of life God expects, providing an excuse for failure, it was an empowering provision so that we can fulfill that high standard through grace.
Does the Lord here our prayers? Can anything keep our prayers from reaching the heart of God and receiving his gracious reply? The scriptures give us great hope of a God who hears the cries of His people and we joyfully receive such news with a heart of faith, but do we ever consider the conditions that the Word of God attaches to answered prayers. This portion of Psalm 34 points us to God’s deliverance but includes the standard of righteousness as one of the qualifications of answered prayer. So many people ask God for His intervention in time of need but neglect to consider the context in which God commits to hear our cries. If we pray and do not see the moving of God’s hand, perhaps we should examine our ways to see if we are honoring God’s standard. If we remove the hindrances to favor with God then perhaps the consistency of our prayer testimony will be greatly increased.
How is your marriage? 1 Peter 3:7 tells us “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” Is your pride showing? 1 Peter 5:5 "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Do you believe when you pray? Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Are you asking the Father in Jesus Name? It matters. John 14:13 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” John 16:23 “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” Are you consistent in your life before God and is the Word consistent in you? John 15:7 “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” These are just a few of the standards that impact God’s response to our prayers. Perhaps our testimony regarding prayer will be greatly changed if we will examine our ways in regard to prayer.
The word is clear that God delights to hear the cries of his people but we must not forget that he also has a standard that He upholds in regard to us. Yes our righteousness comes as a gift from the Lord, but God does not merely give us a gift and then leave us to enjoy all that He has provided. Instead, He offers us the free gift of righteousness through the blood of Christ and then He calls us to rise up, wearing that righteousness as a cloak of transformation, and challenges walk in empowered by that righteousness to live our lives according to His Word. The cross was not a replacement for the standard of life God expects, providing an excuse for failure, it was an empowering provision so that we can fulfill that high standard through grace.
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