Today's Readings: New Testament -
John 5:1-15
2 Corinthians 12:11-21
Old Testament -
Psalms 108
2 Samuel 3-4
Click on Text Links to Read Online
Focus Verses: Psalm 108:1-4
1 My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul. 2 Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 3 I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Insight:
This song is a cry for help in a time of need with David describing God as having rejected them and refusing to help their armies. It's a song of humility with David acknowledging that human strength is not enough and that their only hope is in the Lord.
It's interesting that David would begin this song with words of praise and faith, not words of request. Though he felt rejected and abandoned and had an urgent request, his expression of faith and his words praise for God came first. Rather than withholding praise until his life was victorious and blessed, David put faith and worship before his own needs.
It doesn't take much faith to offer praise after God's blessings have been received. David, on the other hand, demonstrates his faith by praising God before he is blessed. True faith and worship are not merely the response to God's blessing, but rather the foundation for a life God can bless.
Response & Action:
God is worthy of my praise regardless of my circumstances or feelings. Even when life is difficult and overwhelming, I will trust God to ultimately redeem and save me. I will worship God as an expression of my faith, not just a response to God's blessing. My praise will precede my petitions for help. I will express my worship before I express my worry and woes. I will declare God's goodness before I ask him to show his goodness to me. My awe will come before my asking.
O God, give me a steadfast heart. Give me a faith that is bigger than my circumstances. Give me a mouth that is quicker to offer praise than to ask for blessing. Help me to awaken the dawn each day with worship, and to sing of your love with all my soul. Help me to live by faith, and to demonstrate this faith through a life that puts praise before need. Through Christ, Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: 1 John 4:7,19
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. - - - 19 We love because he first loved us.
Resources:
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
by Eugene Peterson
