Category: Devotions

SATURDAY 6^th

Psalm 28

NIV (v9) – ‘Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.’

ESV (v) – ‘Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.’

Yet another psalm in which David is in distress! And we have only got to the 28th psalm! But at least he knew where to turn and who to turn to, and he knows the LORD has heard him saying in verses 6-7 ‘Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults . . .’ and as he considers what the LORD has done for him he continues ‘. . . and with my song I give thanks to him.’

In verse 6 he says, ‘The LORD is my strength . . .’ and in verse 8 ‘The LORD is the strength of his people . . .’

We have already seen how God has been David’s strength, and the strength of his people the children of Israel, he has continually come to their aid overpowering the enemy and empowering them in the midst of conflict.

But I want to just turn to the last line in this psalm, ‘Be their shepherd and carry them forever.’ I don’t know what kind of picture this conjures up in your mind, but I suppose being a farmer’s son and I can look back to the 23 years I lived on the farm and recall the many times I have watched my dad picking up the sheep, in particular the lambs and carrying them, and I myself having also done it so many times. Picking them up to take them to a place of safety, security, warmth and if needed to reunite them with their mother if lost or to seek to introduce them to another ewe if they have been orphaned.

It seems in this psalm that David in considering the nation of Israel could see that for some reason they always needed to be carried, and he knew that the LORD God was a good shepherd and that he would pick them up and he would carry them in his arms.

Our Shepherd, the Lord is also a good Shepherd, we read this in John 10:11 and as a good Shepherd he knows when we need picking up and he is willing to pick us up and carry us when we are finding the journey difficult, when circumstances and situations perplex us, when we are feeling lost and hopeless, he picks us up and cradles us in his loving arms. I know I have mentioned this before, but it is worth repeating, the picture found in  Isaiah 40:11 ‘He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.’ Times are tough at this moment for us all, in so many different ways during this pandemic, but I just want to encourage you that in the midst of it all the good Shepherd is with us, and he is willing to pick us up and to carry us in his arms. Today if you are struggling, with anxiety, worry or care, turn to the Shepherd call out to him and allow him to embrace you with his arms and to lift you up and carry you through. Just as David realised that the LORD was his strength, just as the children of Israel knew the LORD was also their strength, so he is ours as well. And he is so strong he can scoop us all up into his arms and carry us through.

When our children were growing up sometimes one of them would stand a distance away and then I would stoop down with my arms wide open and they would run toward me, into my arms and I would lift them up, today the Lord our Shepherd is standing, stooping with his arms wide open, take a run into his arms, let him lift you up.

FRIDAY 5^th

Psalm 27

NIV (v14) – ‘Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.’

ESV (v14) – ‘Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!’

This is one of those psalms that I can recall being read on a very regular basis while growing up in the local Church as a child, teenager. Notice a link to yesterday’s chapter about the habitation of the house of the LORD and that David also expresses the same desire in this chapter, v4 ‘One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.’ It is not my intention to continue the same theme today, but to go to the final verse, v14. (see above)

There are 3 instructions here:

Wait for the LORD. (Two times)

Be strong.

Let your heart take courage.

In verse 13 David had declared that he believed that he would look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! He was in a situation which was life threatening in that his enemies were coming against him, perhaps in the circumstances everything looked hopeless, no way out, death a certainty, but he had a confident trust in the LORD God that he would survive the crisis and see the goodness of God again. Notice what he says in this psalm, ‘The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?’ here the LORD was not only his light and salvation spiritually, but also his light and salvation from his enemies, for he continues in verses 2 ‘The LORD is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?’ the enemy looked strong, but his LORD was stronger, he was going to be David’s strength against the enemy, therefore why be afraid? He was so confident in his trust in the LORD coming to deliver him that he states in verse 3 that when the enemy comes to destroy him, it is they themselves who will be destroyed. And he makes the declaration that he believed that he would look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living, he was confident that God would come through for him and to use a modern phrase he would live to see another day. But how long would it be before God would rescue him, how far through this trial would God allow him to go before stepping in in a miraculous way? And he speaks to himself, ‘Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage: wait for the LORD!’

We as God’s people will go through many different circumstances, ofttimes they may be difficult circumstances or even dangerous circumstances, maybe even what we may consider to be dark circumstances, things that cause us to waver, fear, and even question ‘where is God in all of this’ and the longer the trial or difficulty, the more we begin to struggle or debate as to what is going on, why do I need to be going through this, and does God even care. And if at these times we have been already trusting God in the ordinary, we will need to have the same confidence and trust in God in those things which we will call extra-ordinary. For the God who is with us when we are on the mountain top is also with us when we are down in the valley, he is alongside us when we are rejoicing and also when we are in despair, and although God is able to stop things from happening, or able to come to our aid quickly as it were, sometimes he needs to allow us to go through them because he has something deeper than what we understand at the time, a purpose behind it, for we can be confident that God always works for the good of those he has called. And sometimes that good is to be found because of a circumstance that we have gone through. This is where David’s advice to himself is good advice for us also. ‘Wait for the LORD, be strong, let your heart take courage, wait for the LORD’ – God will come through.

‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.’ Joshua 1:9

‘Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.’ Psalm 33:20–22

‘I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.’ Psalm 130:5–6

THURSDAY 4^th

Psalm 26

NIV (v8) – ‘LORD, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells.’

ESV (v8) – ‘O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.’

In this psalm before us today we see that David is summing up his relationship with the LORD thus far. In yesterday’s psalm he was asking to be forgiven and to be shown the ways of the LORD, in today he has been living out of that forgiveness and walking along the ways he had been shown. He had walked in integrity and he had trusted in the LORD without wavering.

It is important that we understand that David was not perfect, he had failed many times, he had sinned and done wrong, but he had sought the LORD with genuine repentance and the LORD had granted him pardon and a fresh start. We see something of his confession, repentance, and acceptance by God in Psalm 51.

And for each one of us, we are not perfect, we all fail in so many ways and even though we might not like to admit it, we falter and fail, we sin, whether in thought or deed, willingly or unknowingly, but thank God because we have an advocate with the Father, the man Christ Jesus, as we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And David continues to say that he has sought to avoid all appearance of evil by keeping away from anything that could cause him to fall. (vv4-5) there is a challenge for us all in this, that we should do our very best to avoid the places of falsehood, hypocrisy, evildoers and wickedness, we will remember that in the very first psalm, David had stated very clearly that the ‘blessed way’ is by ensuring that we do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 ‘Abstain from all appearances of evil.’ The NET puts it this way, ‘Stay away from every form of evil.’

But finally, in this chapter (in the middle v8 ) David says, ‘O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.’ He knew that rather than to be in the places where evil was to be found, there was a far better place to be, the place where the glory of God was to found, in the house of God. In another psalm David says, ‘How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs for the courts of the LORD; . . .’ he continues later with these words, ‘For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.’ (Psalm 84:1, 10)

In our immediate context today, going through this pandemic, I wonder how much do we long for the dwelling place, the house of God? But aside from the present situation, I wonder where we desire to be the most, do we desire to be found in the house of the Lord, do we desire to be in fellowship with brothers and sisters, do we desire to meet with God in the sanctuary.

The words of a hymn come to mind, ‘We love the place, O God, wherein thy honour dwells’. There is something valuable and precious about a place, which has been built for and dedicated to the honour and glory of the name of the Lord our God, a phrase I have heard so often during this pandemic is, ‘the building is not important, it is us who are the Church, and we can be Church without being together’. That is only partly true, yes we are the Church but God has specifically chosen to meet with his people, whether it was in the tabernacle, the tent, the temple, a house or a church building, and although God is with us and can meet us anywhere, he chooses  especially to meet us in the place that has been built for his glory, the place where we can come together to fellowship together, to worship together, to seek his face and to proclaim his word, the place where life transforming business with God can be done, the place where his glory will fall and the place from which we enter with praise and thanksgiving and we leave having been fed, encouraged and renewed afresh as we walk through this world as pilgrims till we enter his eternal dwelling place and gather around his throne for eternity.

WEDNESDAY 3^rd

Psalm 25

NIV (v4) – ‘Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths.’

ESV (v4) – ‘Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.’

I wonder how many can recall the song that became popular back in the 1970’s / 1980’s based on the words of this psalm? ‘Unto you O Lord, do I lift up my soul . . . Yea that none that wait on you be ashamed . . . Show me your ways, you ways O Lord . . . Remember not the sins of my youth . . . O my God I trust in thee, let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.’ My earliest recollection of it comes from a time when I spent a week at a youth camp in St Athans, South Wales in the 1970’s and it had a lasting impression on me, I was in my late teens, I had already made a commitment of my life to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I wanted to live for him.

In this psalm, it seems that David is making a recommitment of his life to the LORD God, he declares his trust in the LORD God, he wants to know the ways of the LORD so that he can walk in them, and he wants that God will not remember the sins of his youth. In the statement ‘let me not be ashamed’ it is as if he is aware of things in his past that if brought up would shame him, even disgrace him, and he wants that this will not happen, he is wanting a new and a fresh start. He acknowledges his guilt and asks that the LORD will pardon him and forget his sin.

We all have a past, in fact the Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God but thank God we can all know the wonderful Saviour and his name is Jesus. He came into this world to save sinners, he came into this world to bring redemption which includes forgiveness or pardon and a brand-new start, and thus we too can make the prayer of David our prayer.

To change the order around, we can acknowledge our guilt before the LORD God and ask him to pardon us (v11), we can ask that the sins of our youth be remembered no more, (v7) in fact we can have confidence that once it is forgiven God will not remember it any more, (Isaiah 43:25) and then we can ask that the LORD God will make known his ways to us and teach us and lead us on his paths,(vv4, 7, 8, 9, 10) which we have discovered before are paths of righteousness, this takes on a further meaning in that within this is the pathway of his will for our lives. For choosing Jesus also demands that we give him our wholehearted allegiance and follow his will, we learn to trust him explicitly, in all areas of our life. (v2)

Thinking back to the youth camp, having already committed my life to the Lord Jesus, a few years earlier, at that time I was at a critical stage (I was 18) in deciding where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing, and I can remember that deep in my heart I wanted nothing else other than to be doing what God wanted me to do. There is a verse of Scripture that says, ‘In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths’ (Proverbs 3:6 KJV) this links in to the psalm today and the words of the song that came out from the psalm, ‘show me thy ways, your ways O Lord’.  It is perhaps in the words of Jesus we discover one of the secrets of finding his ways, found firstly in the beginning of his sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:6 and secondly in the middle of his sermon in Matthew 6:33 and then finally as he concluded the sermon in Matthew 7:24-27. To find his ways and to walk in his ways, we have to have a desire to seek the kingdom of God, that is to allow his rule and reign in our hearts, we need to seek after righteousness, for his path is a path of righteousness, this speaks of living lives of holiness and purity and Christlikeness and we need to be ensuring we have a good foundation.

Today’s devotion is one of those in which I feel I need to leave a challenge, to the younger generation in particular, in seeking to plan for your future, don’t exclude God from the decision making, make the words from this psalm and song your prayer, ‘Show me your way, your way O Lord’, seek his will, seek his pathway, in all your ways, which includes your decision making processes, acknowledge HIM and he WILL direct your path.

‘Lord, I pray today for the young people in our fellowship, as they are at the point of needing to make critical decisions for the future that you will bring them help, light and direction, that you will lead them on the pathway of your choice, which will be the pathway of blessing. Thank you for each one of them and protect them I pray. in Jesus Name.’

TUESDAY 2^nd

Psalm 24

NIV (v10) – ‘Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory.’

ESV (v10) – ‘Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!’

This is a great little Psalm, it starts by reminding us who the earth belongs to, and why it belongs to him, the earth is the LORDS, because he founded it. (vv1-2) It then continues with a verse similar to the one we covered in Psalm 15:1 ‘Who shall ascend to the hill of the LORD? . . .’ the answer being found in verse 4 ‘He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.’ The question is followed by a clear and direct answer, the one who can ascend to the hill of the LORD must be righteous in all his ways.

In its immediate context it is a Psalm that brings a challenge to those who were around as David composed this psalm, it is a challenge that should anyone wish to ascend to the presence of God then his heart, his life, his motives, his actions need to be pure. God cannot accept anything that is unholy into his presence, and without spending too much time going over what I shared previously, it would seem that it is going to be impossible for anyone to ascend the hill of the LORD for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, there is none that is righteous. But God made a way, initially in the Old Testament it was by the means of an individual living by faith, living in a way that pleased God, as an example we have a question and answer in Psalm 119:9, when we come to the New Testament it is by means of the Cross, and in what Christ has accomplished in going to Calvary, we depend by faith upon what he has done, making us righteous, justified so that we can be considered to be having clean hands and a pure heart.

But there is so much more in this short Psalm, for it also speaks prophetically of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, that moment when he re-entered heaven after he had completed the mission for which he had come, and he had lived purely, he had remained holy, he had not lifted his soul to anything that was false, he lived in complete obedience to his Fathers will, and thus on that ascension day, the cry would have gone out, ‘Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors. That the King of glory may come in.’ Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle!  . . . Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.’

The Lord Jesus had been mighty in battle, he had fought the enemy and conquered victoriously and as a result we can be made righteous.

Today just dwell on the wonder of Christ’s victory and what it means for us who love him, the many benefits we have received, and the joy of all that is yet to come as one day because he has conquered, because he has gone on before us, we too will ascend into his eternal presence. He has entered through those gates and ancient door, and one day he will stand again at the ancient door and welcome us in.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 1^st

Psalm 23

NIV (v1) – ‘The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.’

ESV (v1) – ‘The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.’

Way back in devotion 31 which was April 21^st 2020 we looked at Psalm 23 and a short statement I said then was ‘The Psalm covers our pilgrimage as we walk with the Shepherd through life from our getting to know him, our walk with him in the present, and his being with us as we pass through death and into eternity’ on that particular occasion I took the main of my thoughts from verse 4.

The psalmist starts by affirming who the Shepherd is that he is referring to in this psalm, ‘The LORD is my Shepherd’ The name LORD in capital letters denotes the Shepherd is the LORD God himself. Jehovah, here Jehovah ROHI. (See January 19^th)

For us as believers we refer to the Lord Jesus as our Shepherd, for he himself said that he was the good Shepherd, but we hold behind this the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and thus as God he is our Shepherd. And he is a genuine Shepherd, all others who come under the guise of being shepherds are but hirelings who do not really care for sheep, they will let the wolves come and allow them to kill and to destroy. (John 10:12) And what is said about Israel in the Old Testament can also be said about the Church, they were the sheep of God’s pasture and we the Church have also become the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:3)

We learn from this Psalm about the pastoral care of the Shepherd toward us. I will highlight the points with additional references for you to refer to.

The provision of the Shepherd, ‘I shall not want’, he continually leads us in green pastures. Green pastures speak of lushness, plentiful supply, and at the same time there are still waters. (Psalm 34:9-10)

The pathway of the Shepherd, ‘He leads me in paths of righteousness’. So long as we are willing to follow the lead of the Shepherd we will always be on the right pathway, the pathway of righteousness which leads to the eternal home he is preparing. (Psalm 5:8, Isaiah 40:11)

The protection from this Shepherd, ‘I will fear no evil for you are with me’. In John 10 we read of Jesus being the good Shepherd, he also refers to himself as the gate or the door, and as the gate he blocks the way to stop the enemy coming to attack us, and as the gate he opens up the way into heaven for us, and he leads in safety through the valley of the shadow of death. (Psalm 118:6, Psalm 138:7)

The preparation of the Shepherd, ‘you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies’. (Psalm 31:19)

The perpetual presence of the Shepherd, ‘you are with me’ and ‘I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever’. (Isaiah 43:2, Psalm 27:2)

What a Shepherd, I end with the words of a hymn, I have a Shepherd. RH457 MM443

I have a Shepherd, One I love so well;

How He has blessed me tongue can never tell;

On the cross He suffered, shed His blood and died,

That I might ever in His love confide.

Following Jesus, ever day by day,

Nothing can harm me when He leads the way;

Darkness or sunshine, whate’er befall-

Jesus, the Shepherd, is my All in All.

Pastures abundant doth His hand provide,

Still waters flowing ever at my side,

Goodness and mercy follow on my track,

With such a Shepherd nothing can I lack.

When I would wander from the path astray,

Then He will draw me back into the way;

In the darkest valley I need fear no ill,

For He, my Shepherd, will be with me still.

When labour’s ended and the journey done,

Then he will lead me safely to my home;

There I shall dwell in rapture sure and sweet

With all the loved ones gathered round his feet.

SUNDAY 31st

Psalm 22

NIV (v1) – ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?’

ESV (v1) – ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?’

The first verse of this Psalm, is very well known to us for it was quoted by the Lord Jesus as he hung on the cross, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34) thus we find it is another of those psalms that speaks of David’s present situation, but also has a prophetic edge to it as well.

The whole tenor of the psalm is of an individual who is suffering, but ends with a note of victory, this often seemed to be the case with David, but in a prophetical sense it is so true concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, he suffered and we cannot even begin to comprehend how much he suffered, and yet it ended in triumphant victory.

I think that although David is going through personal conflict, it is amazing how he always seems to manage to get the focus turned from himself toward the LORD God, and out of whatever he is going through attention toward the one who really matters. And in this psalm, he is going through the mill once again and yet he ends the psalm by ensuring the glory goes to the LORD God who although he questions God in verse 2 (‘O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.’) he is also confident he will hear him and save him.

The ending of the psalm looks further forward than just the suffering of the Saviour, it looks also toward his exaltation, for in verses 27-28 we have verses that remind us that kingship belongs to the LORD, he rules over the nations. David had been called and anointed to be the King of Israel, his rule was limited and temporal, but there would be one who would come, who would take his place, and his rule and reign would not be limited to just Israel but to the whole of the world, and his reign would not be limited in time although he will sit on the throne in Jerusalem for a 1000 years he will reign throughout eternity. For now he reigns as King in the hearts of all who have come to know him by faith, but one day every eye will see him as he returns to this earth in majesty and power, John had a vision of this moment in the book of Revelation, chapter 19, where it records for us the moment that the Lord Jesus will ride out from heaven upon a horse and will come to bring judgement upon the nations, and verse 16 says ‘On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of lords.’

King Jesus is coming, are we ready? The one who suffered, was the one who became the Saviour, and he will come as Sovereign, but we do not need to wait for that day, we can today allow him to come and to rule in our hearts and lives, allow him to be King. ‘King of my life I crown thee now, thine shall the glory be, lest I forget thy thorn crowned brow, lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane, lest I forget thine agony, lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary.’

It is far better to willingly come to Calvary and own him as Lord and King now, than to wait till that day, when it will be too late, and under compulsion every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Finally, this first verse was David’s expression in the midst of his own personal suffering, it was also prophetical of the Lord’s suffering as he became the sacrifice for our sins, but it may also have a present and personal application in your life! You may be reading this devotion and at the same time you are going through a  traumatic time, troubles may be besetting, you, your circumstances may be such that you too feel that at this moment you are being forsaken by God, you have feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, you cannot even begin to think about tomorrow for the trouble for today is sufficient, well, can I bring a suggestion, take the prayer of David in verse 19 ‘But you, O LORD, do not be afar off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the . . .’ and as you look at what David lists in verses 20-21, begin to replace them with the things that are besetting you at this time, and allow the LORD God to come to your rescue, allow him to deliver you, allow him to bring you to a place of victory.

Jesus himself said, ‘Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yolk upon you, and learn of me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matthew 11:28-30) and Peter in his epistle encourages us, ‘. . . .casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.’ (1 Peter 5:7) and a final word from David, ‘As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!’ (Psalm 40:17)

‘What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer . . .’

SATURDAY 30^th

Psalm 21

NIV (v13) – ‘Be exalted in your strength, LORD; we will sing and praise your might.’

ESV (v13) – ‘Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.’

I almost linked this Psalm with the previous one, as it would link with it easily, for in Psalm 20 David extols the name of the LORD and here in Psalm 21 he extols the LORDS strength (v1). He is proclaiming loud and clear that the LORD is a strong and mighty God, he will not only deliver from the enemy, but he will also deal with the enemy (vv8-12). That is good news and something to extol.

He ends this short Psalm with the words, ‘Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.’

One of my favourite choruses is by Twila Paris, ‘He is exalted, the King is exalted on high; I will praise him. He is exalted for ever exalted and I will praise his name! He is the Lord; for ever his truth shall reign. Heaven and earth rejoice in his holy name. He is exalted, the King is exalted on high.’

When it comes to the good news of gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we find that in coming to this world, Jesus came to do battle and as a result he has also both dealt with the enemy and delivers us from the enemy. Our enemy is the devil and the sin which had brought ruin to our lives as result of the fall way back in the Garden of Eden, but Jesus came, and in going to Calvary he bore our sin, he did battle with our enemy and won victoriously and the letter of Paul to Colossians says ‘And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.’ (2:13-15) He dealt with the enemy and he delivers us from the enemy, and as a result we have the amazing declaration in Philippians 2 that says ‘Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (vv9-11) Hebrews also says ‘Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.’ (Hebrews 2:14-15) That’s the reason why I like the chorus ‘He is exalted’ for it is a declaration of Scripture, a declaration of wonderful truth that Christ came to the world that was in darkness, Christ challenged the prince who was at work in the darkness and Christ conquered over the powers of darkness and as a result God has exalted him and given him a name above every other name, and the wonder is that Christ calls us out of the domain of darkness and in coming to know him as Lord and Saviour I am benefiting from his victory, my enemy has been defeated, my sin has been forgiven, and I have been brought into fellowship with God the Father, therefore I want to exalt Jesus, I want to worship him, I want to give to him the praise and adoration that he is due, and like David we can say ‘Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.’

Let us end this devotion with further Scriptures that remind us of Christ’s victory.

‘. . . “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’  (1 Corinthians 15:55–57)

‘No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’  (Romans 8:37–39)

‘To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.’ (Revelation 1:5–6)

‘“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”’ (Revelation  1:17–18)

FRIDAY 29^th

Psalm 20

NIV (v1) – ‘May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.’

ESV (v1) – ‘May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!’

I have taken this verse today for although we will have touched on this in some of the devotions already, I want us to consider again the fact that the LORD is our protector. The psalmist says, ‘May the name of the God of Jacob protect you’. Later in the same psalm the psalmist says, ‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God’. This is another of David psalms, and he is speaking from out of personal experience, for example you will remember that in 1 Samuel 17 the children of Israel were in battle against the Philistines, and they were afraid to continue in battle because of one person, sounds a bit pathetic until you discover who he was, it was the giant Goliath, the notes in one of the Bibles I use state that he was probably around 6’ 9” tall, but once in his armoury he would have appeared around 9’ 9” tall, not quite so pathetic now! Not only was he tall but his armour was of a magnificent size, (see verses 4-7)

Who would lead them into battle, who was either stupid enough or brave enough? And the battle was going to be on a one man versus one man, wherever were the Israelites going to find anyone to even begin to match the enemy in size, let alone with a similar armoury.

And David turns up on the scene. Remember he was described as ruddy, and handsome in appearance, with beautiful eyes, (1 Samuel 16:12) he didn’t look like fighting material, he is either being stupid or incredibly brave for when he hears what is going on he says that he will fight the giant. And what is more when they tried the king’s armour on him it hangs off him, useless, he could not even walk in it. He takes it off and walks towards the giant with a confident stride, and makes an incredibly bold statement to the mocking giant, he starts with ‘You come against me with a sword and with a spear, and with a javelin . . .’ I can imagine Goliath thinking ‘it’s in the bag, I am going to wipe the smile off his little face in an instant, he is so puny, even if he turns and runs it is going to be a case of three steps for him against one step for me, and I will grab him by the scruff of his neck and squash him under my foot’, but then David continues, ‘I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.’ And we know the story, it was in the bag, not Goliath’s bag but David’s and he puts his hand in his little bag hanging to his side and pulls out a little stone, places it in a sling and swings it around faster than Goliath could bat an eyelid and the stone went rushing through the air and bang on target it hits the giant between the eyes and he tumbles face down to the floor. The one with beautiful eyes hits the enemy between the eyes!  And David ran up and stood over the giant, and he took the giant’s sword and cut off his head, killing the enemy and bringing victory to the children of Israel.

What was the deciding factor in it all, the armour, the spear, the javelin, the shield bearer, the strength of the giant, the height of the giant, the sword, the bag, the stone, the sling, the handsome looks, the beautiful eyes, no, it was the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel. He was the protector of Israel, he was the one in whom David had placed his trust, David knew without a shadow of doubt that without the name of the LORD of Hosts he would become food for the birds of the air, but God was with him, God was his protector and so he could say in this Psalm today, ‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.’ The beautiful eyes saw something that the giant did not see, the beautiful eyes looked beyond the giant and beyond his threats and saw the God of Israel. ‘I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.’ Psalm 121:1-2.

Who are we trusting in today, with whom or what do we place our hope and our confidence, there is one who has been given a name which is above every name, and his name is Jesus, he is the Lord and he reigns on high, some trust in chariots some trust in horses, some trust in politicians, some trust in wealth and the banking system, some trust in luck or just chance or fate, but we trust in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, he is the same yesterday, today and forever, his promises stand firm and true, and he has promised to be with us even to the end of the age. The name of the LORD of hosts is with us, I close with the words of Jesus himself in the prayer he prayed before his going to Calvary, ‘Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.’ John 17:11

It is wonderful to know that Jesus prayed that we would be kept in his Father’s name, he is our strong tower, he is our protector.

THURSDAY 28^th

Psalm 19

NIV (v14) – ‘May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.’

ESV (v14) – ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.’

I mentioned this Psalm back on January 20^th and in a way, it also links to yesterday’s devotion where we read that ‘the LORD’s word is flawless’.

In verses 7-11 the psalmist makes some statements about the Law of the LORD, and it is easier to just place these verses here, ‘The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.’

The words we have here describing the word of the LORD are perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, desirable, sweet, and the keeping of it brings reward. What more could we want from a book, and this book is none other than the precious word of God which we are able to have, to read, to cherish, to absorb, to meditate upon, to learn from, to be encouraged, to be equipped with, to be disciplined, to grow, mature and to be the people that God has called us to be. I wonder how much we treasure this precious book? I know we can have its content in so many ways, we can have it on our smartphones or I-pads, we can have it played out through MP3 file or CD, we can have so many different translations of it, it is so accessible, but how much is it read or listened to? How much do we truly value it especially if we really believe it is God’s word speaking to us, directing us, and enabling us to navigate through this world as his children? I have said it before that I am so appreciative of the fact that we can have it in so many different forms of media, but there is still nothing like holding it in a printed form and to turn the pages back and for, discovering and rediscovering its truth, receiving its promises and absorbing its message of hope.

It is a book which has continually been attacked, from both the secular world and the ecclesiastical world, I am in the process of reading a book^* at the moment which is about ‘progressive Christianity’ and it is shocking to see how the truth of the word of God is being diluted to make what the Bible says to be more palatable for the evil days in which we are living, it is as if there is a stream within Christianity that is taking a pick and mix approach, or a take it or leave it approach, if it suits you to believe certain parts then fine, if it suits you more to not believe certain parts then that is also fine. But we need to remind ourselves that God’s word is a sure word, it is a certain word and its message is an unchanging message, the truth it portrayed back when its pages were penned still stands today, for truth can never evolve into something else, truth can never become an untruth, it is eternal. When society changes, when the culture in which we live changes, God’s word remains steadfast and true, in fact it stands not only for time but also for eternity. We hear so much of the need to be culturally relevant, God’s word is relevant to every culture, it does not need to be adapted to suit a culture, culture does not and should not define truth, it has already been settled in heaven.  

I have digressed a little! I will end today’s devotion with a quick reference to the verse I highlighted as our text for today, ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.’ I always link this verse to another in Psalm 119:18 ‘Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.’ May we treasure the word of God so much that we will never deviate from its truth and truthfulness, may we never diminish its meaning to suit our own personal opinion or agenda, may what we declare from the word of God and about the word of God always be acceptable in HIS sight, and may we continue to open it up to behold the wonder of all that it has to say to us.

^{* Another Gospel? Alisa Childers. Tyndale}