Overview of: PsalmsToday's Reading:
Psalms 45 – 49
SONGBOOK II : Psalms 42 - 72
Focus Verses: Psalm 46:1-6
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
Insight:
God's help and care are always available to me. In times of trouble, I will run to him for refuge and lean on him for strength. No matter how traumatic and hopeless the situation, no matter how deep the grief, no matter how frightening the circumstances, I will look to the Most High.
Response and Action:
What are the threats and fears I am facing today? What troubles in the world depress and overwhelm me? What is breaking my heart and shaking my world? I will not seek death or give up in despair, I will remember that God is present and persevere through him.
O God, be near me when I walk through the valleys of life. Be the light of hope for me when the shadows of death are looming all around me. Be a rock and a refuge to me when the storms rage. Remind me of your goodness and the future hope you have for me. Save me at the break of day and renew me with the river of life that flows from you; make me glad and bring me safely into your presence forever. Calm my every fear. In Jesus' name, Amen.
New Testament for Today: Romans 8:31-39
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For 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.
In Context: Romans 8
Proverb for Today: Prov. 24:10
"If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!"
Recommended Reading:
Be Not Afraid
by David Ivaska
