Scripture

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Observation/ Application

Sometimes we get concerned about the way the corrupt and the wicked seem to flourish. Bank executives who charge fees to dead people, rapists, and murderers seem to get away with their deeds too often.

These people will soon fade away. It is up to God to judge them, not us.

Instead we should focus on doing good and on trusting the Lord. Then we will prosper in the land He has given us.

“Delight yourself in the Lord” means to put God first. I celebrate my salvation and rejoice that God is my Father. When I seek His good will, then I know He will meet every need in my heart.

I don’t have to fret about tomorrow because He has promised to support, comfort, and prosper me.

If I obey God today, then the cares of tomorrow will be dealt with, because God is good.

“Be still in the presence of the Lord.” A life of worship and humble prayer is what God required. If I still my heart in God’s presence, then the stillness and the presence go with me.

There is no battle that God cannot be victorious in. So when I seek God’s will and His presence, I will overcome.

People who do not know Jesus have to walk in their own strength and wisdom. They strive for every little thing. But in God I know peace because the battle is His.

Prayer

Hallelujah! The battle belongs to the Lord. Please help me to delight in you and to trust you in all things. Amen.

Scripture

They delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.

Observation & Application

Those who refuse to walk with the wicked or with sinners are blessed. They meditate on God’s word day and night and prosper like a tree that bears fruit in every season. They are the tree of life for the nations and prosper in all they do.

God’s word is life-giving. It brings us to salvation and shows us how to live in God’s ways. The Scriptures correct us when we are wrong and equip us to shine the light of God’s glory in every situation,

We should meditate on God’s word day and night, delighting in His ways.

So many christians give scant attention to God’s word, and wonder why they can’t hear God or find His direction.

Studying the Bible is the foundation of every christian discipline. We pray because God tells us to and we find out how to do it through the examples of people in the Bible. We fast because God tells us to do so in His word.

To love God is to seek His ways.. To love God means that we want to know more about Him. We do this primarily through reading and meditating on the Scripture.

People often think to meditate we need to empty our minds of all thought. Biblical meditation means filling our mind with Him. We savour the word of God, letting key thoughts, words and phrases go around in our head until they become a part of who we are.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for your holy word. Help me to be faithful and diligent in reading it day and night. Amen.

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+23

Scripture

The Lord is my shepherd

I have all that I need

Prayer

You, O God, are my shepherd.

I used to be a lone ranger sheep, not even knowing I was a sheep. I thought I was God, or at least, the shepherd of my own soul.

I would go where I wanted, pursuing the green meadows and fresh water myself. I made my soul sick on the excesses of the world. It would have killed me.

But then you came into my life. Now Lord you lead me in the right paths.

You are my shepherd Lord. You lead me to the best places. Sometimes it feels like I am in a desert place, but you are always there, right beside me, pointing out the green shoots.

Because of you Lord I have everything I need.

I don’t have a yacht or a plane or a fancy house. Sometimes the bank balance gets low. But Lord I do have everything I need- family and friends who love me, a purpose for my life, food on the table and a promise of eternal life.

I lack no good thing.

You are my provider, my abundance. In you there is no lack and no shortage, as long as I follow you and walk in the path you set for me.

When I wander away from you, it is into the place of danger. When I stay with you, it is joy and provision.

So Lord I will walk with you all the days of my life, knowing that you are the good shepherd.

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms+100

Scripture

Shout with joy to the Lord all the earth!

Observation

Rejoice in the Lord! We, the followers of Jesus, must rejoice- even when life seems bad.

Habakkuk said, “Even if the fig trees haven’t blossomed and there are no grapes on the vine and no oxen in my field, I will still rejoice in the Lord.”

Joy is not an emotion. It is a determination of the heart that looks above the problems of this dark age to the salvation that is ours in Christ.

This isn’t just “Don’t worry, be happy” for no good reason. This is choosing to remember that I belong to God.

“For the Lord is good and His unfailing love lasts for ever, His faithfulness to each generation.”

There is much to lament in this world, and there are times when we must lament for the sin and brokenness in creation. For the follower of Jesus there is even more reason to rejoice.

God loves me. I will rejoice.

Christ in me, the hope of glory. I will rejoice.

Emmanuel, God is with us. I will rejoice.

Heaven bound. I will rejoice.

I have so much to be thankful for. How can I do anything but sing with joy to the world?

Prayer

Lord, I will rejoice in you today. Please remind me, when I am tempted to despair or anger, to instead rejoice in you. Amen.

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+13

Scripture

How long O Lord?

Will you forget me forever?

How long

will you hide your face from me?

Application

Sometimes as we walk through life, God seems so distant. When we are going through trials and troubles, through grief and despair, all we can see is the unending black tunnel.

“How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever?”

Even when we know God is there, and that we are safe in His hands, sometimes we find it hard to sense His presence.

There are people who find that God speaks loudest in their times of pain. Others say that He seems to have fled from them at their time of greatest need. A person may move between these two extremes from day to day.

Later in the psalm we read the words:

“I trusted in your steadfast love,

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”

This is the response of faith. In the present darkness, we remind ourselves of our decision to trust in Christ, and then look forward to rejoicing again in Him.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for the knowledge that even when my life seems out of control, you are here with me. Help me to face trials with confidence in you. Amen.

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms+137

In the exile of my grief

How can I sing the Lord’s song

“Cheer up and sing,” they say

“Rejoice in the Lord,” they urge

How can I rejoice and sing

When my loss if so strong?

Where are you Lord?

Where are your promises

Of grace and mercy?

Can’t you see we are hurting,

Pained by the sting of your judgement?

 

Lift your hand, Lord

Lessen the sting of your discipline

For the glory of your name

Redeem us, set us free.