Tag: faithful love

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Psalms Devotionals 2

Because He is full of grace and truth

Ways of the Lord

Make your ways known to me, Lord;
teach me your paths.

Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
I wait for you all day long. (Psalm 25:4-5)

Every time I read this psalm, those words pull at my heart.

I want David’s heart.

A teachable heart.

A trusting heart.

But it struck me today why he could pray that way.

All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth… (Psalm 25:10)

David truly believed those words. And he wanted to be like his Lord, full of faithful love and truth.

So do I.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace (i.e. faithful love) and truth…

Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:14, 16-17)

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2 Samuel Devotionals

Because we’ve experienced God’s faithful love

2 Samuel

And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness (faithful love) of God to him?” (2 Samuel 9:3)

Those words struck me today, especially as I thought of chapter 7.

God showed his faithful love to David, and David was totally blown away by it.

But his response was not only thanksgiving toward God.

He wanted to be a channel of that love, and so he actively sought someone to whom he could show that faithful love to.

Because of his love for Jonathan and his promises to him (1 Samuel 20:14-15), Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth was a natural choice.

But David didn’t want to simply show his own faithful love to Mephibosheth. He wanted to show God’s faithful love to Mephibosheth. And so he did.

Lord, may I be a channel of your faithful love to those around me. Help me to actively look for people I can do that with, just as David did.

And together, may we be blown away by your faithful love, saying, “Who am I, that you would love me in this way?”

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Psalms Devotionals

Things to meditate on

Psalms

Just looking at this Psalm, here were some observations I made this morning.

In verses 1-2, David simply states as fact,

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. (Psalm 62:1-2, ESV)

But in verses 5-6, he is exhorting and reminding himself,

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken. (ESV)

There are times we simply have to remind ourselves and exhort ourselves to believe what we know is true.

In verse 2, he says, “I shall not be greatly shaken,” almost sounding as if he’s saying, “I may wobble a bit at times, but I will not fall.”

But in verse 6, he exhorts himself, “I will not be shaken at all.”

In verses 1 and 5, he talks about waiting for God silently.

In verse 8, he talks about pouring out our hearts to him.

We need both in prayer. We see David pouring out his heart in verses 3-4, complaining about his enemies.

But in verse 7-8, he confidently waits in silence before God.

In verses 1 and 5, “salvation” and “hope” are used as synonyms. Our hope, our salvation, is from God alone.

Finally, two things to meditate on that bring the whole psalm together.

  1. Power belongs to God.
  2. God is a God of steadfast love.

God is not a God who is loving toward us but powerless to help us.

Neither is he a God who is powerful but doesn’t care two cents for us.

Rather he is a God who is powerful to save.

And he is a God whose faithful love caused him to send his Son for us.

Even if you forget everything else, let’s meditate on those two truths today.

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Psalms Devotionals

His faithful love

Psalms

You’ll have to pardon the direction my thoughts naturally go this week.

As I mentioned yesterday, my pastor and friend passed away this week, and today is the day of his funeral. Thinking about him colors a lot of what I’m reading, and I’m seeing the scriptures in new ways.

More so than ever, the first few lines of this psalm ring in my heart.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.

Let Israel say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”

Let the house of Aaron say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”

Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His faithful love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1-4)

“The Lord is good. His faithful love endures forever.”

That’s the whole reason we have hope, isn’t it? If he were not good, if his love were a fickle thing that comes and goes, we’d have no hope at all.

But now, Jesus through the cross has become our salvation. And so even in the darkest of times, we can cry out with confidence,

 I will not die, but I will live. (17)

And when Jesus comes  to take us home, at heaven’s gates we will sing with joy,

Open the gates of righteousness for me;
I will enter through them
and give thanks to the LORD.

This is the LORD’s gate;
the righteous will enter through it.

I will give thanks to you
because you have answered me
and have become my salvation. (19-21)

So while we’re here on earth, in all we go through, both good and bad, every morning as we wake, let us turn to God and sing,

You are my God, and I will give you thanks.
You are my God; I will exalt you. (28)

And remember always: His faithful love endures forever!

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Psalms Devotionals

Why we have hope

Psalms

Psalm 88 is probably the most depressing psalm in the Bible. And yet as I read it today, I saw something different: I saw Jesus.

This is not what is typically thought of as a Messianic Psalm. And of course, not all of it applies to Jesus. But much of it does, particularly on the cross.

I can easily imagine him singing this psalm in Gethsemane.

Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out before you day and night.

May my prayer reach your presence;
listen to my cry. (Psalm 88:1-2)

Then on the cross, abandoned by his friends, with death drawing near, and God’s full wrath falling upon him, Jesus could have easily lamented,

For I have had enough troubles,
and my life is near Sheol.

I am counted among those going down to the Pit…
Your wrath weighs heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

You have distanced my friends from me;
you have made me repulsive to them…

Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you hide your face from me?

Your wrath sweeps over me;
your terrors destroy me. (3-4, 7-8, 14, 16)

Then while his body was within the tomb, his spirit may have sung,

I am counted among those going down to the Pit.
I am like a man without strength,
abandoned among the dead.

I am like the slain lying in the grave,
whom you no longer remember,
and who are cut off from your care.

You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit,
in the darkest places, in the depths. (4-6)

But the amazing thing is that the answers to the psalmist’s darkest questions are found in Jesus.

Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do departed spirits rise up to praise you?

Will your faithful love be declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Abaddon?

Will your wonders be known in the darkness
or your righteousness in the land of oblivion? (10-12)

For the psalmist, the answers were all negative.

But in Jesus, the answers are all yes.

God worked wonders for the dead, raising Jesus to life. Not only did Jesus’ spirit rise to praise him, his body did as well.

Through Jesus, God’s faithful love and faithfulness were declared by angels at the empty tomb, and his wonders and righteousness proclaimed in a land darkened by sin and death.

And because of that, we have hope. We have hope that no matter how bad things get, God is faithful, and his love never fails. Or to use Jeremiah’s words,

Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for his mercies never end.

They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness! (Lamentations 3:22-23)