“so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 5:21 CSB
Eternal life is not just for our life in heaven, but it is today when we begin to know God and His Son, Jesus! We have the ability to know Him intimately today. Sins power is strong, but God’s grace is greater!!!
“Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,”
Psalms 114:7 CSB
We should tremble when we consider God, He has the power to do anything. He has created unfathomably large universes, and destroyed entire nations. It is crazy to think that He puts up with us when we reject Him and follow our own path…He doesn’t have to, but He chooses to…that is why we should tremble, because His grace is so much greater than our foolishness.
Lord, help me to live in awe of you! You have done incredible things in my life, and I don’t deserve that. Your patience is incomprehensible in light of your power and justice…Lord help me to love You enough to never take Your grace for granted, increase my obedience to choose You at every opportunity. I pray that my life is a reminder to those around me to be in awe of You and to follow You always!
“Hallelujah! Give praise, servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be blessed both now and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting, let the name of the Lord be praised. Who is like the Lord our God — the one enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”
Psalms 113:1-3, 5-6 CSB
What an incredible image…the almighty God of everything who takes time to stop, bends down to peer into my life. He desires to know the mundane details of my life, not just the major problems. I don’t deserve the attention, yet He gives it anyway.
Lord, I pray that I would be remembering to praise You, bless You and be in awe of You! Don’t allow me to forget all that You are doing, and have done…or worse give credit to circumstances or luck…what an insult to Your mighty power.
“Hallelujah! Happy is the person who fears the Lord, taking great delight in his commands. His descendants will be powerful in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light shines in the darkness for the upright. He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous. Good will come to the one who lends generously and conducts his business fairly. He will never be shaken. The righteous one will be remembered forever. He will not fear bad news; his heart is confident, trusting in the Lord. His heart is assured; he will not fear. In the end he will look in triumph on his foes. He distributes freely to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted in honor. The wicked one will see it and be angry; he will gnash his teeth in despair. The desire of the wicked leads to ruin.”
Psalms 112:1-10 CSB
I love this psalm, it so clearly lays out the blessings of Following Jesus. I want to experience those blessings, so I follow Jesus and get way more than is talked about.
Lord, I pray that those around me would see the blessings in my life and see how they relate to following You! Thank you for loving me and giving me the ability to follow You. Bless those around me if they turn to You!
“Hallelujah! I will praise the Lord with all my heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The Lord’s works are great, studied by all who delight in them. All that he does is splendid and majestic; his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and compassionate. The works of his hands are truth and justice; all his instructions are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, enacted in truth and in uprightness. He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awe-inspiring. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.”
Psalms 111:1-4, 7-10 CSB
Lord help me to delight in your works! You have done amazing things in my life yet sometimes I am frustrated because I don’t see the results. I am too focused on what is happening today…So, Lord strengthen my faith to trust in the end result of what You are doing! You have always been so good to me, and Your love never fails…
“This is the declaration of the Lord to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.””
Psalms 110:1 CSB
God is telling king David that He (God) does not need David’s help to fight the battle. Sitting is not an active position, but rather passive and even a sign of relaxation. God has not changed and continues to fight our battles.
It is not that we are off the hook and can spend our time chillin doing whatever we want to do…rather He is asking us to sit under His authority and effort toward surrender to His will. It seems like that would be easy, but it takes a lot of practice.
The biggest factor in my experience is believing and trusting that God only wants what is best for me. This includes hard things, disappointment, sadness and pain…not because the experience is a delight, but because the results are priceless. It is always about the results for God. He is single minded in making me more like Jesus. And that is what I want too…
“Help me, Lord my God; save me according to your faithful love so they may know that this is your hand and that you, Lord, have done it. I will fervently thank the Lord with my mouth; I will praise him in the presence of many. For he stands at the right hand of the needy to save him from those who would condemn him.”
Psalms 109:26-27, 30-31 CSB
Gods faithful love has been the repeated topic for many of the more recent psalms. It comes up over and over for one reason: it is an accurate description of Gods character. Love is who God is and the continuation of that love is His faithfulness. We are so blessed to know God because He infinitely loves us, even when we fall into sin. Lord, help me to be in awe of You!
“My heart is confident, God; I will sing; I will sing praises with the whole of my being. I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your faithful love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. God, be exalted above the heavens, and let your glory be over the whole earth. Save with your right hand and answer me so that those you love may be rescued. Give us aid against the foe, for human help is worthless. With God we will perform valiantly; he will trample our foes.”
Psalms 108:1, 3-6, 12-13 CSB
We love getting help from family and friends. It is a huge blessing, especially when we are in a bind. Yet Gods help is so much better (because it is perfect!) that in comparison human help is worthless.
“because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the counsel of the Most High. He broke their spirits with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and gloom and broke their chains apart. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love and his wondrous works for all humanity. For he has broken down the bronze gates and cut through the iron bars.
Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things and consider the Lord’s acts of faithful love.”
Psalms 107:11-16, 43 CSB
Lord, help me to delight in following you so that I don’t need to be broken by you. I know what you have called me to do, help me to obey with joy and experience Your delight. Because you are faithful and loving in all Your ways, even when drawing us back to Yourself.
“Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever. Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts or proclaim all the praise due him? How happy are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times…
They soon forgot his works and would not wait for his counsel. They were seized with craving in the wilderness and tested God in the desert. He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.”
Psalms 106:1-3, 13-15 CSB
Lord, keep my mind fixed on You so that I don’t forget all the incredible things You have done in my life. Give me patience to wait on You in every decision, no matter how slow You are moving. Following You is more blessed by any measure, than getting what I want and suffering the consequences.
“Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and no one among his tribes stumbled. Egypt was glad when they left, for the dread of Israel had fallen on them. He spread a cloud as a covering and gave a fire to light up the night. They asked, and he brought quail and satisfied them with bread from heaven. He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a stream in the desert. For he remembered his holy promise to Abraham his servant. He brought his people out with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy. All this happened so that they might keep his statutes and obey his instructions. Hallelujah!”
Psalms 105:37-43,45 CSB
God does the impossible over and over in this psalm of recap. The final verse tells us why God repeatedly follows through on His promises: so that His chosen people would obey Him. That must be something important to God because it comes up hundreds of times throughout scripture.
Lord, You have repeatedly done the impossible in my life as well. You turn terrible circumstances into unimaginable blessings…and You walk along side me all along the way. You are so good!
Help me to love to follow You and give me great joy and satisfaction in my obedience!
“I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him; I will rejoice in the Lord.”
Psalms 104:33-34 CSB
The things that we sing are burned deeply into our hearts and minds. The music, rhythm and repetition make a permanent imprint that changes how I think, feel and act. There are old hymns that I have not heard in 35yrs that I know the melody of and can sing along with…I remember almost nothing from last week let alone 30+yrs ago…except songs!
Lord, thank you for creating song and music that we can praise You. It is a blessing to see and remember all that You are doing in me. Let my meditation be on the blessings You provide and the infinite ways You save me!
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love. He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. But from eternity to eternity the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear him, and his righteousness toward the grandchildren of those who keep his covenant, who remember to observe his precepts.”
Psalms 103:8, 10-13, 17-18 CSB
Gods faithfulness is incomparable to any that we have experienced in our life…any human comparison falls short of the reality. That is hard to understand for us.
This passage brings
“Lord, hear my prayer; let my cry for help come before you. Do not hide your face from me in my day of trouble. Listen closely to me; answer me quickly when I call.”
Psalms 102:1-2 CSB
This psalm starts out with these desperate and fearful words. You can tell the author is feeling like Go has not been listening and not paying attention. I have felt like this before, and it is so frustrating. The thought that there is no help on its way and that I will have to endure this all alone seems devastating. Yet God is always there, He is watching, He is listening and He is actively helping me in those very moments…we don’t always get to see what He is working on.
It is after times like these that God is so present, as if I could reach out and touch Him. He shows up every time, but it is always on His perfect timing!
Lord, help me to have faith to remember Your faithfulness and how You show up to help every time without fail. You are a great God and I am blessed by You in every way!
“I will sing of faithful love and justice; I will sing praise to you, Lord. I will pay attention to the way of integrity. When will you come to me? I will live with a heart of integrity in my house. I will not let anything worthless guide me. I hate the practice of transgression; it will not cling to me. A devious heart will be far from me; I will not be involved with evil.”
Psalms 101:1-4 CSB
Integrity is such a lost character quality. It seems like today, everyone is much more concerned about the way other people feel than about what is true. It seems easier to tell others a “white lie” than take responsibility for what actually happened. It seems like this is so widespread that there is no problem with lying, if it make other (or myself) look/feel better.
Lord, help me to buck this trend and be a man of integrity at every turn. Even when that makes me look foolish or dumb. I need You and Your approval over anything else!
“Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.”
Psalms 100:1-5 CSB
How incredible it is that God is faithful...I feel like that is the opposite of humanity. Even when we have the best intentions, we got off track or we find ourselves on a sketchy road, like us driving last night. It was supposed to be a shortcut, but ended up taking an extra 90 minutes of hazard filled, slow progress, with visibility getting less and confidence in a way out waning. But God is the opposite of that! He goes the right way every time...even if it takes longer, he confidently moves toward the destination without fail.
Lord, help me to rejoice in following you, because you know the best way and will faithfully lead us there every time!
“Moses and Aaron were among his priests; Samuel also was among those calling on his name. They called to the Lord and he answered them. He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees and the statutes he gave them. Lord our God, you answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their sinful actions.”
Psalms 99:6-8 CSB
How amazing is it that God, the God responsible for creation, answers their prayers. It may be tempting to think that God only answers the “super Christian” but this psalm reminds us that God answers anyone who calls to Him. We don’t deserve that!
The last verse is sobering…God is forgiving but also just! Justice requires that He fairly punish people for their sin. Yet He doesn’t punish those who have faith in Jesus work on the cross…and He remains fair, because he put that penalty on Jesus, rather than on them. What an incredible God that would make a plan like that at His own expense, then give it to believers as a gift! I am in awe…
“Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has performed wonders; his right hand and holy arm have won him victory. The Lord has made his victory known; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory. Let the whole earth shout to the Lord; be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.”
Psalms 98:1-4 CSB
This Psalm has all the flavor of prophesy…it is talking about the reality of the day it was written, but hints at something much more spectacular. I wonder if it was pointing to the cross!?! That is the ultimate demonstration of Gods victory…and the whole earth has reason to rejoice…to celebrate!
If we understand salvation rightly, we will respond the same way, in utter elation! Imagine…every bad thing you have ever thought, done or said…in the past, today or in the future…instantly removed. We no longer bear the shame, embarrassment, fear, sadness or penalty of those things! When we trust Jesus, he takes all of that on Himself and gives us His perfect record of good. From that point on, when God sees us, all He sees is the good record that was freely given to us by Jesus. Even when we sin in the future, that was already part of the package that Jesus traded for!
That is something that should move every one of us to shout in praise to God for His provision of salvation!
“You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his faithful ones; he rescues them from the power of the wicked. Light dawns for the righteous, gladness for the upright in heart. Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, and give thanks to his holy name.”
Psalms 97:10-12 CSB
Lord we are blessed by Your protection and most of the time we don’t even know what you are doing! You protect, rescue and bring gladness and we are unaware…even worse we blame coincidence or luck for Your incredible work.
Lord, allow me to see Your fingerprints all around me and praise You for Your mighty works. It is a blessing to know You and be loved by You!
“Sing a new song to the Lord; let the whole earth sing to the Lord. Sing to the Lord, bless his name; proclaim his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his wondrous works among all peoples. For the Lord is great and is highly praised; he is feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. He judges the peoples fairly.” Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound. Let the fields and everything in them celebrate. Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy before the Lord, for he is coming — for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his faithfulness.”
Psalms 96:1-6, 10-13 CSB
“Come, let’s worship and bow down; let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his care.
Today, if you hear his voice: Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the wilderness where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was disgusted with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray; they do not know my ways.””
Psalms 95:6-10 CSB
We have so many reasons to worship God and hold Him in the highest esteem. He has saved me, protects me continually, loves me and guides my life perfectly. None of those things am I owed. Many times God makes clear to me what it is He wants me to do.
“if you hear his voice: Do not harden your hearts”… we do this by God pointing out how we are sinning and then telling ourselves that we will make changes later, and then start to think about other things, essentially distracting ourselves and then forgetting about what God is saying to us.
“they tried me, though they had seen what I did”…this second phrase is even more disappointing and wrath inducing for God. His people putting God on trial to blame Him for the bad things happening in their life even though they had watched God do the impossible. They had watched Him destroy the Egyptian army and save them from sure destruction. They watched Him provide water in the desert and food from nothing…yet they still blamed Him when things didn’t go the way they wanted. We do the same thing…
Lord, you are the one working in my life, help me to see your work, and trust you to faithfully transform my heart and work all the terrible things for good.
“Lord, how happy is anyone you discipline and teach from your law… But the Lord is my refuge; my God is the rock of my protection.”
Psalms 94:12, 22 CSB
Discipline is a blessing because it helps us to see more clearly and guides us to see things from the right perspective. He will protect us and offer the right way to look at any problem. Lord help me to see as You see!
“The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, enveloped in strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. Your throne has been established from the beginning; you are from eternity. Lord, your testimonies are completely reliable; holiness adorns your house for all the days to come.”
Psalms 93:1-2, 5 CSB
Sometimes we forget who God is and this is a great psalm to remind us of His majesty. To emphasize that He is more than just our friend, protector and father…He is above all things and more powerful than any natural phenomenon, yet He still loves us…
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High, to declare your faithful love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, For you have made me rejoice, Lord, by what you have done; I will shout for joy because of the works of your hands. How magnificent are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!”
Psalms 92:1-2, 4-5 CSB
Having spent so much time in nature, Gods creation, this week has made me think about all the other things that God is doing. His love is unshakable and unending, not because of what we do, but it is because of His character. His blessings are innumerable and His discipline perfect. He knows perfectly what I need to become more like Jesus.
Lord help me to love you and serve you like You deserve!!!
“Because he has his heart set on me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls out to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor.”
Psalms 91:14-15 CSB
What a privilege to know that God is my protector, and that He is watching over me. He doesn’t have to do this or even care about me…but He does. He loves us!
“Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days. Make us rejoice for as many days as you have humbled us, for as many years as we have seen adversity. Let your work be seen by your servants, and your splendor by their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish for us the work of our hands — establish the work of our hands!”
Psalms 90:14-17 CSB
This phrase has been our prayer for the last few months…Lord help us to trust You, even when we don’t see what You are doing. “Let your work be seen by your servants” is such a perfect follow on prayer.
And what a great reminder that God is the only one who can make our efforts matter. I must leave it all in His hands!
“Happy are the people who know the joyful shout; Lord, they walk in the light from your face. They rejoice in your name all day long, and they are exalted by your righteousness. My hand will always be with him, and my arm will strengthen him.
If his sons abandon my instruction and do not live by my ordinances, if they dishonor my statutes and do not keep my commands, then I will call their rebellion to account with the rod, their iniquity with blows. But I will not withdraw my faithful love from him or betray my faithfulness.”
Psalms 89:15-16, 21, 30-33 CSB
This psalm was written about David and the kings of Israel, but since God is unchanging, it tells us how God is toward us too!
Following Jesus leads to joy, peace and blessing…it always has. If we ignore Him, God finds a way to get our attention…sometimes it is with trials, but most often, He allows us to experience the natural consequences of our choices. Emotional suffering, loneliness, frustration, anxiety and depression…that is what the discipline of God often looks like.
Lord, help me to follow You and experience your faithful love. Let my life be flavored by your peace, contentment and delight in You!
“Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out before you day and night. May my prayer reach your presence; listen to my cry. You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit, in the darkest places, in the depths. Your wrath weighs heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah
You have distanced my friends from me; you have made me repulsive to them. I am shut in and cannot go out. My eyes are worn out from crying. Lord, I cry out to you all day long; I spread out my hands to you.”
Psalms 88:1-2, 6-9 CSB
What a sad and heavy psalm…I love how this is in scripture! Feeling so far from God and feeling like He is the one who is causing our pain seems like something that would be hidden, but it is not! It is right out in the open, because sometimes, this is how we feel, and God can handle it.
Thankfully, He doesn’t leave us there…He always restores us to relationship and shows Himself to be present, listening, caring and transforming. He uses even these hard time to shape us into the people He wants us to be. Most of these periods of depression help us to see ourselves more clearly and know Him more deeply.
“Singers and dancers alike will say, “My whole source of joy is in you.””
Psalms 87:7 CSB
This is an interesting psalm, it is talking about Jerusalem and how it is the best city. That sounds really weird to us because cities don’t mean much to us today in America, where they are just a place to live. For Gods people however, Jerusalem (Zion) was the location of God. He chose to have His temple there and expanded the city by making it victorious in so many ways.
What stood out to me however is that the people were rejoicing because they knew God. That is how I feel and I wish everyone could experience the unfashionable joy and delight in knowing God intimately.
“Be gracious to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant’s life, because I appeal to you, Lord. For you, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on you. Lord, hear my prayer; listen to my cries for mercy. I call on you in the day of my distress, for you will answer me. Lord, there is no one like you among the gods, and there are no works like yours. All the nations you have made will come and bow down before you, Lord, and will honor your name. For you are great and perform wonders; you alone are God. Teach me your way, Lord, and I will live by your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear your name. I will praise you with all my heart, Lord my God, and will honor your name forever. For your faithful love for me is great, and you rescue my life from the depths of Sheol. But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth.”
Psalms 86:3-13, 15 CSB
