Experiment




Before you read the Psalm for this devotional, take a moment to think about your emotional state. Are you tired, scared, worried, or joyful? What situations loom over you or take up your emotional and intellectual energy? What is robbing you of peace in the night or satisfaction with your life? If you can’t think of anything, think harder.

Now – read this psalm. Just take in the words and let them work on you. After you’ve read this psalm, read it again – twice.


Psalm 63
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. [We don’t really know why David was in the wilderness. Perhaps it was when he was running from his son, Absalom. Or perhaps he was simply remembering when he had to run from King Saul.]
1O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.
3Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.
4So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift up my hands.
5My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips,
6when I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the watches of the night;
7for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy.
8My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.
9But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals.
11But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by Him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Now take stock of your emotional state. Did God’s word have any effect on your spirit? Was there peace in the reading of these words for you? Which verses stand out and grab your attention? Read them again and think about them in reference to your own life.

We all have times of wandering in a figurative desert. But as you can see, David uses that bleak place as an object lesson for his soul. God is right there, providing all that David needs to support his life and grant him peace. These words should have the same effect on your spirit. Those worrisome circumstances cannot stand up to the God of the Universe. Those dry and weary places are no match for God’s mercy and grace. His comfort is yours – always.

I know this post is different from the ones of the past. But these words are like healing ointment for the weary soul. If you are still restless, read them again and again until God’s peace is restored. God’s Word has that power and when you finally find peace, rejoice in the fact that you have just experienced your own personal miracle. God’s good like that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more