Category: Devotions

FRIDAY 23^rd

Psalm 59

NIV (vv9-10) – ‘You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.’

ESV (vv9-10) – ‘O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress. My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.’

I have returned to the same verses as yesterday, as one phrase caught my attention in verse 9 ‘I will watch for you’ (ESV) I want to bring an application from this for today, remember in yesterday’s devotion that Saul was seeking to kill David, his aim was to get rid of him, get him off the scene, to frustrate the will of God. There is a sense in which our enemy, the devil, is also acting in the same way, trying to get rid of the believer, we see it in the areas of the world where our brothers and sisters are being persecuted and hounded for their faith, and for them the cry of their hearts would be the same as David, for God to come to their aid, and we too who have a relatively easier time here in the west can pray that prayer for them, I have mentioned it before in the devotions that we should have a prayerful concern for the persecuted Church and we thank God for those organisations who are working on their behalf. Even here in the west, what we stand for and what we believe regarding our Christian faith is being challenged and attacked and we need to pray that God will come to the aid of the Church in the west.

But there is another aspect I want to bring out from this is, and it is that we can be sure that as the days are getting darker, it is a sure sign that the end must be near, a reminder that Jesus is coming again, and he will come to ultimately bring about an eternal deliverance for his people from this dark and evil world in which we are living. And we take the words from verse 9, ‘I will watch for you’ and make it our declaration, ‘I will watch for you’, keep our eyes focused on Jesus and upon heaven from where he will come a second time to take us to be with himself. Hebrews 9:28 says, ‘so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.’ Are we eagerly waiting for him, or perhaps we have become so caught up with the trappings and the pleasures of this world that we have lost our focus, our attention is elsewhere? Jesus said that when we see certain things happening that we need to lift up our heads, in other words be ready, for our redemption is near. May we keep our focus on Jesus, may we ensure in our hearts and by our actions that we are ready for that day when he comes to take us to be with himself. That day when he comes to deliver us from this dark and evil world. ‘I will watch for you.’

THURSDAY 22^nd

Psalm 59

NIV (vv9-10) – ‘You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.’

ESV (vv9-10) – ‘O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress. My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.’

This psalm is like many of the psalms in that the psalmist is in a spot of bother, the heading in the Bible I am using has this ‘A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.’

David’s life was at risk, if Saul had his own way, David’s death was going to arrive sooner rather than later and David cries out to God to deliver him, to protect him from those who were rising against him (v1). It seems that they would plot and fail, plot, and fail, for they would keep returning each evening to carry out their murderous acts (v6, 14-15), But David had a confidence in his God that he would come to his aid and that he would soon be able to triumph over his enemies (v10). In verse 16 he says that ‘I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a refuge in the day of my distress.’ Notice the enemy comes howling like a dog in the evening, and David is going to sing aloud in the morning, such was his confidence that the schemes of Saul would fail because God was in control of his situation. What a confidence in his God, what a demonstration of trust in the faithfulness of God. He had this confidence because he knew that God had a plan and a purpose for his life and as he trusted in God, he knew that God’s plans for him would not be thwarted.

We too can have confidence in God that as we commit our way to him, he will direct our paths, and if and when the enemy comes to thwart those plans we have to stand firm and strong in our faith and in our confidence in God who was not only the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not only the God of the Children of Israel, and of the other patriarchs and prophets, not only the God of the New Testament apostles, but is also our God. As he led and directed them of old, so he leads and directs us today, he has saved us, he has called us, he has purpose for us, and we can trust him to carry it through. Two verses we know so well are found in Romans 8:28 and in Philippians 1:6, they are, ‘And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.’ and ‘And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.’

Whatever your situation today, renew your confidence in God alone, he is also your refuge and your fortress, as he came to David’s aid, so as you call out to him, he will come to your aid, and take confidence in the words that Job declared, ‘“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted . . “’ Job 42:2.

WEDNESDAY 21^st

Psalm 58

NIV (v6) – ‘Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions!’

ESV (v6) – ‘‘O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!’

I almost ended yesterday’s devotion by saying that what the devil who is going around as a roaring lion needs is a good old kick in the teeth! But I didn’t and then I read the psalm for today and saw verse 6 ‘O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!’ David is referring to everything that comes from the wicked, (v2) and he asks that God would come and destroy them. ‘Break the teeth’! (See Psalm 3:7)

I want to suggest today that God did come and break the teeth of the devil and he did it at Calvary! When Jesus went to the Cross he was going as our representative, our substitute, he was dying an atoning death for our sin, and when he went into the grave, he was going to deal a decisive blow to the devil, to kick him in the teeth as it were for, we read in Revelation that Jesus declared, ‘I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forever more, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.’ (Revelation 1:17-18) In 1 Corinthians 15 we read, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The answer comes ‘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.’ (vv 54-57) The devil’s teeth lie broken on the floor of the empty grave for Christ has delivered the master strike that has gotten the victory!

The empty grave is a sure sign that Christ has gotten the victory, he has triumphed over death, he has removed the sting of death, he has conquered and as a result he is able to grant eternal life to all who will believe.

Yes, the devil does roar like a devouring lion, seeking whom he may devour, it is important that we don’t make the devil less than what he is, he is the evil one, the adversary, the wicked one but also not to make him more than what he is, he is defeated, remember he hasn’t got all his teeth! There is One who is on our side who has kept all his bones, not one of them was broken, (Psalm 34:20, John 19:36) and his name is Jesus, and as we keep close to him, as we continually abide in him, the devil cannot harm us, we are safe, we are kept by God’s power.

If you feel that the devil is hounding you, resist him, firm in the faith, and stand up against him in the power that is found in both the mention of the blood and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Jesus is Lord, and it is at his name alone that every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

TUESDAY 20^th

Psalm 57

NIV (v6) – ‘They spread a net for my feet—I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves.’

ESV (v6) – ‘They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves.’ Selah

In our psalm yesterday we saw that it commenced with the author crying out for mercy, he commences this psalm in the same way, David is crying out for help the heading says as he was fleeing from Saul. He continues to say that the ungodly had set traps for him, but because of the help that God gave to him, they themselves fell into the trap, David is delivered, and he burst forth in song, ‘I will sing and make melody! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.’ (vv7,9)

In verse 6 David says, ‘They set a net for my steps’, those who hated him and were on Saul’s side were doing all they could to capture David, a net was laid, a pit was dug, hopefully they would ensnare him in the net or trap him in the pit, but God rescued him.

The devil would love to get hold of the children of God, and he does all he can in setting a net to capture them or to dig a pit to trap them, he does it through subtle ways, placing temptation in the way and things that on the surface look good and okay as bait, and once the bait is taken, he persist with all means possible to trap and to ensnare further. He masquerades as an angel of light, while all the while he is a demon of darkness. Remember how subtle he was with Adam and Eve, making what was forbidden look good and pleasant and rewarding, till in the end they gave way to his subtilty and fell into the temptation and disobeyed God. Let us be aware of his subtility and be aware of anything he may seek to do to hinder us in our walk and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Taking the Scriptures that I closed with yesterday, as we continue to delight in the way of the Lord, he will order our steps and keep us from falling.

But there is another aspect I want us to consider today, and it is this, the devil would love to get hold of the children of the children of God, that’s right, our own children, our own young ones, those who are babes, infants, children and youth in our household of faith, and he will use any and every means possible to trap them and to ensnare them, we who are Christian parents and we who are members of the household of God, in particular in our local Church fellowship need to be upholding the young people and children in our prayer, we need to be upholding the young families in our prayers, but at the same time parents should be doing all they can to ensure that they are not allowing their children to be exposed to so much of what the enemy is using as bait today, and so much of it comes through the medium of television. If you watch many programmes today, they all portray immorality as the norm, the whole concept of what proper marriage and relationships are all about and meant to be by God’s design is gone out through the window, our children unless they are taught will never know that which is right from wrong, the devil has laid the traps, the devil has dug the pits, we have a responsibility to pray for their souls, so that the One who came to the aid of David and delivered him, will also come to the aid of our children and youth and prevent them from falling as prey to the wiles of the devil. As we have been concentrating on prayer in our prayer meetings recently for the children and the youth, may we continue, praying fervently.

We need more than ever to be alert – the devil not only works in subtle ways, but he also goes around like a roaring lion, seeking who he can devour, resist him firm in the faith. Resist him by praying fervently.

V11 ‘Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!’

Be exalted, O God, let your glory be seen in our Church family.

MONDAY 19^th

Psalm 56

NIV (v13) – ‘For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.’

ESV (v13) – ‘For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.’

The NIV & KJV commences this psalm with the words ‘be merciful to me, O God’ (ESV ‘Be gracious) it is a cry from the heart of an individual that needs to be rescued from those who are attacking him, oppressing him, he continues to make it known that he trusts in God, he can see all the work of his enemies on the one hand, but on the other hand he sees the provision of God, his protection and his deliverance. He is aware that in all of that which is going on, God is watching, and God is keeping a record, he states in v11 ‘. . . in God I trust: I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ He has already said, ‘What can flesh do to me?’ (v4) He is aware that man can only do what God will allow him to do, therefore he will trust God. He places his confident hope in God.

In verses 12 the psalmist says that ‘I must perform my vows to you, O God.’ That is that sometime during this experience and possibly through other experiences he had made promises to God, perhaps like an unbeliever today (even us who are believers) might go through an experience and during it they may cry out something like this, ‘God if you are real and you help me, I promise . . . .’ Now, some may fulfil whatever they promised, but others will just pass it by, and the writer of this psalm had sometime made a vow to God, and he was going to fulfil that vow. It is imperative to us who have made the decision to follow Jesus that we fulfil any vows that we may make, therefore it is also important that we do not glibly make a promise, we can for example sing many songs or even make a declaration that is found in the word of God and in doing so we are making a vow, a promise, and yet too often we fail to keep it. One of the hymns we will probably all remember, as it was a popular hymn in school assemblies is O Jesus I have promised, to serve you to the end . . .’ now, at school it was just a hymn we sang, but for many who later came to know Jesus as Saviour it is a promise we will have made to ‘serve him till the end’ and yet sadly so many fall back on that promise, and we can all fall back on that promise to easily if we are not careful, we can allow other things, activities etc, that come between us and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, that yes, we are still saved, (unless we have backslidden) but as to how much we are willing to serve him and give up for him till the end is questionable.

Now I only know of the vows that I personally have made before God, and it is my responsibility to be found in the same place as the psalmist and to say, ‘I must perform my vows to you, O God.’ That is, to be determined to fulfil all that I have vowed to do regarding my personal walk with God, it may require me to make amendments, it may require me to change course, it may mean several different things, but what is important is that I fulfil what I have promised to do. You know your heart, you know where you stand in the fulfilling of any vows you may have made, my prayer is that we will all be willing to allow the Spirit of God to search our hearts and to put us back on track as we seek to fulfil those vows we may have made.

The psalmist ends with the verse which I have highlighted as our text, v13, ‘For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life’ and in coming to Jesus, God has delivered our souls from death, he does keep our feet from falling, and he has done so, so that we may walk before God in the light of life. ‘The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;  though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.’ Psalm 37:23–24 ‘Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.’ Jude 24–25

FRIDAY 16^th

Psalm 54

NIV (v4) – ‘Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.’

ESV (v4) – ‘Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.’

Yesterday we looked at the psalm that says that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God, a phrase that is so apt for the day in which we are living in, and as a result we will find that we as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, as those who use God’s word as a foundation on which to build our lives will be continually attacked and ostracized. There is no doubt that it is the enemy of the soul attacking humanity and seeking to destroy the moral fabric of society and to attack  the Church of Jesus Christ, to discredit what we believe and who we are in Christ Jesus, but firstly we can be assured that however ferocious his attack will be toward the Church and the individual believer, he will not prevail, for we have the promise of Jesus ‘that I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it’ and we stand on the assurance that God’s promises will never fail, and as the enemy has sought to attack the Church over its two thousand year history, the Church is still growing and being built as the message of the gospel is being preached all over the world and many are still yet coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, we have the continual promises found throughout Scripture that we have the Lord God as our helper, he is our strength, he is our shield, he is our protector, and our verse says today, something that we can apply to ourselves, ‘Behold, God is my helper, the LORD is the upholder of my life (or as the NIV puts it) the one who sustains me.’

One of the ways in which the LORD God helps us is by giving us an armour, an armour we can put on to protect ourselves against the attack of the enemy, we read of it in Ephesians 6, and I remind us of it here by showing the verses ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints . . .’ (Ephesians 6:10–18)

May we ensure that we take up and put on this armour, we need it, we need to stand tall, stand firm and stand strong, we are God’s army and we do battle in the name of the Lord. Let us take all that God has made available to help us as we live for him, his word, the fellowship of the saints, the power of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and his righteousness.

THURSDAY 15^th

Psalm 53

NIV (v1) – ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.’

ESV (v1) – ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.’

If ever there was a psalm that is so apt for the day and generation in which we are living it is this one, notice it says, ‘the fool says in his heart’, he doesn’t necessarily speak it out, but by the very way mankind is behaving it is an expression of what is going on in the heart. There is no God, so who cares, as a result morality no longer matters, integrity is no longer important, if there is no God, then there are no consequences for our actions. We live as we like, and we do as we like. Obviously if we believe that there is no God, then we do not have to fear God.

But as I have said before, denying the existence of God does not mean he ceases to exist, saying there is no God does not mean he is not there, or make him vanish away, in fact to say there is no God is foolish, this is the message of this psalm.

If I were to point to a parallel kind of passage in the New Testament, I would go to Romans chapter 1 and verses 18-32, where it describes mankind living without any thought for God, Paul could so easily have been describing the generation in which we are living today.

The fool has no fear of God, because he doesn’t believe he exists, but sadly is it also possible that there are many who claim to believe in God and yet do not fear God, they too have moved away from that which is the moral framework that God has fitted into society, there are many things that a generation or so ago would have been considered as unacceptable behaviour and unhealthy actions for the child of God which today some no longer seem to bat an eyelid at, there has been an acceptance to go the same way as the world, and to follow suit, so much so that if you stand for so much of what is morally and Biblically right today you are considered to be a bigot – even within the so called Church! Somehow, we are no longer expected to believe that what God has ordained is the right way in which we should live our lives, modelled upon his word, his standard is what matters.

I said at the beginning, it is as if mankind thinks that there are no consequences for wrongful action or wrongful behaviour, and yet the principle is that we will reap that which we sow, and sometime in the future there will be a harvest of unrighteousness, in fact the harvest is already being reaped, but even more so there will be the day when all will have to stand before God and give an account, and that includes those who say there is no God, and those who claim to believe in God, but live as if he doesn’t exist, ‘And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’ (Hebrews 4:13) Sadly the one who says that there is no God, also thinks that the message of the Cross is foolishness, they fail to see that it is the power of God at work, working to bring redemption and salvation to all who will believe. For us who do believe may we be bold to continue to declare the message that the world is rejecting and spurning, so that the eyes of those who fail to see will be opened, that hearts that have become hardened will be softened, that before it is too late, many will yet come and respond, and believe the message of hope that we share. There is a way out of this mess that mankind has made for himself, and it is the way of the Cross, it is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

WEDNESDAY 14^th

Psalm 52

NIV (v9) – ‘For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.’

ESV (v9) – ‘I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.’

In this psalm today, the composer looks at the ungodly and the way in which they conduct themselves, boasting, plotting, lying and full of deceit, with a warning that the day will come when God will deal with them, it is a picture of pending judgment and destruction, it is a contrast with those who have been made righteous because they have made God their refuge, they have become like a green olive tree—a picture of life, fruitfulness and steadfastness.

Our text verse today says, ‘I will praise you forever’, such a contrast to the ungodly, for, there end is eternal destruction, while the future for the godly is that of being in God’s presence, eternally thanking, praising him. Something that we have already started doing here as we come together as God’s people.

Trees are often mentioned in Scripture, here it is a green olive tree, (v8) there is a similarity here in Psalm 52 to the first psalm which says that the way of the ungodly is that they will perish, they will be like the chaff that the wind blows away, but the way of the godly or righteous is that they shall be like trees planted by streams of water, rooted, fruitful, flourishing, and prospering. Jesus paints a picture for us in John 15 of the vine and the branches, and it is as we are connected to Christ, firstly through new birth and secondly with our on-going relationship and fellowship with him, that we will be fruitful. Our fruitfulness is a comparison to what seems to be prosperity among the wicked, the ungodly, they seem to prosper, they may have their wealth, but it will not do them any good as far as eternity is concerned, the prosperity that matters is that that comes through the gospel, and it is not about financial wealth but about fruitfulness, bearing spiritual fruit that will last into eternity, for at the end of the day that is what matters and what counts

It is imperative that we remain in fellowship, in connection to the Vine, and in doing so to grow and to mature as believers. The Bible often refers to our growing and maturing, Paul says that we are to attain mature manhood and to grow up in every way into him who is the head, even Christ. (Ephesians 4) We planted some small trees in the garden when we started to work it, and it has been good to see them growing and to bear some blossom and to come into full leaf, hopefully next year they will produce some fruit as they mature and become well rooted in the ground, and  so it should be in our lives as we are rooted in Christ. We can learn from this short psalm that it is far better to be rooted in the things of God, and to be growing and maturing spiritually than to be enjoying the pleasures of this fleeting world, for they will come to an end and in themselves will only lead to destruction for they have no ability to offer eternal hope, but being united to Christ, living for him, growing in him and remaining in fellowship with him, causes us to be like green olives trees who will enjoy being in the house of the Lord forever.

TUESDAY 13^th

Psalm 51

NIV (v7) – ‘Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.’

ESV (v7) – ‘Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.’

This psalm is a psalm of David, and it is a psalm in which he recognises he has sinned, and he comes to God in repentance, he comes for cleansing, he comes in brokenness knowing that God can and will forgive him, God can and will wash him clean and God can and will make him whole again.

Spend some time reading and mediating upon this whole psalm today, I know that predominantly this devotion is written for those who attend our Church fellowship, but it is also available and read by others on the internet and I challenge each one to consider their own life in light of what this psalm is all about, for no matter who we are, we are all born in sin, we are all guilty before a righteous God, but One came to take our place and to bring us back into a right relationship with God, that One is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And as David acknowledged his sin before God, we too need to acknowledge we are sinners, we need to confess our sin and we need to believe by faith that what Christ has done at calvary is sufficient to wash us and to cleanse us and to make us anew, to make us into new creations, (2 Corinthians 5:17) to allow us to have a fresh start. In verse 7 of this psalm,  David prays, ‘Purge me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.’ In Isaiah 1:18, God gives the invitation, ‘“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”’ It matters not who we are or what we may have done, God still offers the same invitation, he invites you to come to the Cross, the place where his Son shed his precious blood, blood that has the power to cleanse and to make whole. I have included a hymn in this devotion, a hymn which you can use as a prayer, a prayer of coming to God in repentance, of acknowledging your need to be made anew. If you make a commitment of your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, as it says in the final verse it is a life-long commitment and to help you continue it is good to find a healthy Church to attend where you can have Christian fellowship and help to disciple you as a new believer.

Maybe someone is reading this who sometime in the past made the choice to follow Jesus, but over the last years or months you may have lapsed in that relationship, you have distanced yourself from the Lord Jesus Christ, you may have fallen back into the manner of your old sinful nature, in verse 12, David cries out, ‘Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.’ Make this your prayer as you come back to the Lord Jesus Christ, allow him to restore your relationship with him and the joy that comes in living for him.

Wash me, O Lamb of God,

Wash me from sin;

By thine atoning blood,

Oh, make me clean;

Purge me from ev’ry stain,

Let me thine image gain,

In love and mercy reign

O’er all within.

Wash me, O Lamb of God,

Wash me from sin;

I long to be like thee,

All pure within;

Now let the crimson tide,

Shed from thy wounded side,

Be to my heart applied,

And make me clean.

Wash me, O Lamb of God,

Wash me from sin;

I will not, cannot rest

Till pure within;

All human skill is vain,

But thou canst cleanse each stain

Till not a spot remain,

Made wholly clean.

Wash me, O Lamb of God,

Wash me from sin;

By faith thy cleansing blood

Now makes me clean;

So near thou art to me,

So sweet my rest in thee,

Oh, blessed purity!

Saved, saved from sin.

Wash me, O Lamb of God,

Wash me from sin;

Thou, while I trust in thee,

Wilt keep me clean;

Each day to thee I bring

Heart, life, yea, ev’rything;

Saved while to thee I cling,

Saved from all sin.

MONDAY 12^th

Psalm 50

NIV (v6) – ‘And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice.’

ESV (v6) – ‘The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah’

In the psalm on Friday it was the composer himself who called the whole world to listen, in todays psalm it is God himself, ‘The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth . . . “hear, O my people, and I will speak . . .”’ (v1, 7) In verse 4 we see the reason, ‘He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people.’ (v4) ‘The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge!’ (v6)

We can so easily take pleasure in the fact that God is a loving God and a merciful God, but we also need to be reminded as those who received this psalm needed to be, that God is also a righteous God (Psalm 7:11) and he is the one who will ultimately be the judge of all the earth. He is a righteous judge, therefore in his judgments he will always do what is right and his verdict will be just and final.

There are some other verses in the psalms that speak of God as judge, for example, ‘Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”’ (Psalm 58:11) ‘. . . but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.’ (Psalm 75:7)

In Psalm 98 we have some verses that invites the sea to roar, the rivers to clap, the hills to sing before the LORD, for he cometh to judge the earth. It continues to say that he will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity (truth).

Judgment day will come, and it behoves us all to make sure that we are in a right and proper relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, for once we have responded to the message of the gospel by faith, our sin will have already been dealt with, the verdict given, not guilty, justified by faith, For those who have refused to believe the future judgment day will be an awful day, a terrible day, when the verdict will be made ‘Guilty, depart from me’ and the command will be given to take all that are guilty from the presence of God and to be thrown along with the devil and all his fallen angels into the Eternal Lake of Fire.

It is far better to come today to the foot of the Cross, to the one who hung on the Cross in our place and to receive the forgiveness and cleansing he offers and  know that when the Judge of all the earth looks at those who have been cleansed in the precious blood, he sees Jesus and he sees us as standing in clothes of righteousness. Sadly so many in this world reject what Christ has done on their behalf, please if you are one of them, take notice, the Judge will one day pronounce his judgement, and it will be a perfect judgement, come today, before it is too late to the One who was willing to take the punishment for your sin at Calvary, choose Jesus, choose life, choose the way that leads to life everlasting.

Finally in this chapter, God talks about the various sacrifices the people were making, he says that he does not rebuke them for bringing them, but continues to say, ‘I already own everything, all that you sacrifice already belongs to me, instead, bring to me a sacrifice of thanksgiving.’

The psalm ends with these words, first a warning to those who reject God, for us today it is all who refuse to see what he has done in Christ at Calvary, ‘Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!’ (v22) On judgment day we will have no defence if we have neglected to remember God and to accept what he has provided, it will be like a tearing apart, and there will be no help from anyone, it then continues, ‘The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me: to the one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!’ (v23)

‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death’ ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!’ (Proverbs 16:25 & Psalm 139: 23-24)

‘”Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”’ (Genesis 18:25)