Seeking God's Heart: A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms

By Frederick Slicker

How can I know God’s will for my life?
How can I feel God’s presence in all that I do?
How can I know God personally and intimately?

Seeking God’s Heart will help you begin to answer these questions in your life. For more than 2,500 years, the Psalms have been a major source of inspiration and meditation for worshipers of God, the Almighty. The Psalms reflect man’s ancient quest to know the characteristics of God, to understand the ways of God and to seek the heart of God. The Psalms inspire us, transform us and help us come face-to-face with God. Through the Psalms, we get to feel His presence, to sense His pleasure and to offer Him our praises and prayers. The Psalms help us come to know God in a personal and intimate way. Seeking God’s Heart is a daily devotional using the Psalms as the Biblical foundation for reflection, meditation and prayer. Daily devotionals are an important act of discipline in experiencing the presence of God. Seeking God’s Heart is intended to be a guide for your personal journey toward a deeper and more intimate relationship with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781942451297

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AUTHOR

PREFACE

David, King of Israel, was a man after the heart of God. He spent his life yearning to know God in a personal and intimate way. David is believed to be the sole author of Psalms 1-41 and the co-author of Psalms 42 through 72, 86 and 101 through 150. The Psalms were written over a period of more than 1,000 years and completed more than 400 years before birth of Jesus, yet the beauty, splendor, power and majesty of the Psalms continue to bless and inspire us today. Even now, the Psalms are quoted more than any other book in the Bible, and the Psalms are the most widely read and most thoroughly studied portion of the Bible.

The Psalms run the gamut of human emotions: fear and anger, anguish and despair, hopelessness and disillusionment, joy and peace, love and grace, hope and thanksgiving. All the time, the Psalms express man’s search to know the characteristics of God, the ways of God, the perfect will of God and the heart of God. It is through the praise and the prayers of the Psalms, the moments of meditation expressed by the Psalms, the cries of anguish and the disbelief and desperation of God’s people found in the Psalms that we find common ground today with man’s ancient quest for God Himself. It is the Psalms that teach us that humility is to be honored above pride and self-satisfaction, that personal surrender is the beginning of really knowing God and that our lack of understanding and our limitations and disabilities are God’s gifts, so that we might celebrate what we have, not what we do not have.

I have written the following devotional, not as a scholar or as a theologian would write, for I am no scholar or theologian, and not as a pastor or priest would write, because I am neither pastor nor priest. Rather, like millions of other men, I am simply a man in search of the heart of God. In writing these materials, I have not cross-referenced any passages, and I have not researched any concordance. Instead, I have simply read the Psalms and reacted to the majesty of the words.

The purpose of this devotional is to help you seek the center of God’s will for your life. It is my hope that these meditations will open you up to a whole new dimension of worship and prayer. May God bless you as you take a daily devotional journey through the Psalms.

Frederick K. Slicker

January 1

WE SHOULD DELIGHT IN THE LORD

Psalm 1:1-2

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his lawhe meditates day and night.

Through meditation, we are able to come to know God better. Through prayer, we can bring our thoughts and desires to God. Through praise, we get to acknowledge who He is and how He fills our lives with joy. Meditation day and night is what the Psalmist seeks, but that is really hard to do, especially when our lives are filled with constant motion. The daily tasks of making a living and trying to lead a life for Him constantly collide with our busy schedules and get in the way of our daily meditations. Through meditation, we are able to delight in the Lord. When we choose to follow God’s will, inevitably we will find great joy in the process.

We are constantly pulled in different directions. We have obligations at work, duties to clients and customers, the needs of our families, the demands of our communities, professional training and service obligations and the pressing needs of our churches and those who need our special help. Each of these demands on our lives deserves our attention and our best efforts. Our personal quest for spiritual depth also deserves our time and attention, but sadly, our quiet time often gets pushed to the background or forgotten altogether.

Meditation with God helps bring balance to these conflicting demands. Meditation brings a sense of purpose and stability to our lives, because in mediating on God and with God, we focus our attention and spend more time with Him. We get to uncover His glory and His presence as it plays out in our daily lives.

Blessings of peace, joy and abundance are what we seek, and blessings beyond belief are what we receive, but only as we delight in obedience to God’s law and only as we meditate daily on God’s will. Despite our good intentions, we continually fall short of daily meditation on God and His law. It is our job to delight in God, to praise His holy name and to seek Him first with all we have, and God will do the rest.

Father, we confess that we do not always delight in You. We often do not seek You at all, and we do not meditate upon Your Word as we should. Forgive us for our lack of discipline, for our misdirected efforts, for our failure to meditate, pray and praise You as You deserve. Hold us close, touch our hearts, speak into our souls, grant us Your grace and bless us with Your peace. We pray in the name of Jesus, Your Son and our Savior. Amen.

January 2

WE SHOULD TAKE REFUGE IN THE LORD

Psalm 2:8,11-12

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession…Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling…Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

We are so preoccupied with acquiring an inheritance and with taking possession of the nations that we often miss the ordinary, day-to-day blessings the Father gives us without our even asking. We spend most of our lives in pursuit of work and acquiring things, making them, selling them, buying them and using them, all in the pursuit of happiness. Our focus on stuff is essentially and fundamentally flawed if we let stuff control and dominate our lives.

The best things in life are not things at all. You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul. We do not get to take things with us into the next life, but love, joy, friendship and peace reside with us forever through the grace of God.

All of us are concerned about our circumstances. We need another degree to get that new job. We need that promotion in order to get more money. We want that big house, so we have room for all the stuff that we have accumulated. We need that retirement fund, so we can play golf or take trips to places we have dreamed to see. These efforts are misdirected. Stuff does not satisfy. Stuff leads to more stuff, but stuff never leads to true peace, joy and happiness.

We need to seek God, not stuff, with all our body, mind, emotions, will, soul and spirit. We need to serve others as we desire to be served. We need to redirect our focus, redefine our goals and reject the constant pursuit of stuff.

Our goal is clear, and our path is straight. We are to seek the Lord first, last and always. We are to ask of Him with trust and humility. We are to serve Him with gratitude, rejoice in Him with awe and wonder and take refuge in His holy grace, and He will give us peace, rest and abundance, even to the ends of the entire earth.

Father, we confess that we spend our lives trying to make a living, when we should be totally devoted to seeking and serving You. Our days are cluttered with meetings, conferences and appointments, all in the pursuit of the mighty dollar, and our nights are troubled with fear and trembling over what tomorrow will bring. Cleanse us of our lack of trust. Choke out of us who we are and make of us the one You created us to be. Expand our desires and opportunities to know You, to serve You and to share You with others. In the name of Jesus, Your only Son. Amen.

January 3

GOD BESTOWS HIS GLORY UPON US

Psalm 3:1, 3

O Lord, how many are my foes!…But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

All of us are faced with those people and those situations that oppose us. Some opposition comes in the form of people we know. They oppose us, so they might be promoted ahead of us. They oppose us, because they are jealous of what abundance God has given us. They oppose us in order to defeat and destroy us. They oppose us, because they believe that they are right and we are not.

We often dwell on the negative, we focus on the challenges and obstacles and we emphasize the forces against us. So often we fail to rely on God’s positive promises. Yet it is the Lord who is our comfort and strength. It is He who created all that is. It is He who fills our cups, He who shields us from our enemies, He who gives us power to engage in the battle and He who casts His peace upon us in all circumstances and situations. God even bestows His glory upon us. His gives us abundance in times of drought and despair. He uses His power for us and on our behalf. But most of all, He surrounds us with His grace and His love.

In every circumstance, in every battle and in every conflict, we are assured of victory when we rest on Him, rely upon Him, trust in Him and believe His Word. In Him, there is no defeat. In Him, there is no disappointment. In Him, there is nothing but victory. He lifts us up when we are weary, and He bestows His glory upon us in the presence of our enemies.

He is the mighty conqueror. He is the glorious victor. He is our shield and our protection. Glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the Lord, for He is worthy, He is holy, He is our source, our strength, our peace and our God.

Father, we thank You and praise You for defeating the enemies in our lives, those who are actual persons and those who are merely circumstances. We give You praise that where we go, You have already been there and prepared the way for us. We thank You that You sent Jesus to be our guide, our help, our friend and our Savior. We are overwhelmed by Your grace, overjoyed by Your presence and in awe that You know us personally. Praise be to God! In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

January 4

HEAR OUR PRAYERS, O LORD

Psalm 4:1, 7-8

Answer me…and hear my prayer…. You have filled my heart with greater joy…for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

We seek safety and security rather than change and unexpected opportunities. We have become comfortable in the ordinary, the usual and the familiar. We are risk averse. Yet God desires that we expand our focus and our lives beyond the boundaries of the known and even beyond the boundaries of our own imagination, beyond the inconceivable expanse of His vision for our lives.

We command the Lord to Hear me!, Fill me!, Use me!, Make me whole!, when it is only His presence that we should desire, only His joy and peace that we should seek, only His grace and His love that are more than sufficient.

Yes, we want our prayers answered, and it is not wrong that we ask God for the desires of our hearts. Yes, we long to have God hear our prayers. It is good and right that we strain to find the greater joy that only God can provide. But instead of asking for our sake, we need to ask for others. Instead of asking for abundance for us, we should be asking for what is necessary and adequate to care for others. Instead of our list of demands required to meet our circumstances, we should seek God first, and His holy and perfect will for us will be given to us. If we seek only Him, God will give us more than we could ever hope for or ever need.

God has unique desires for each of us, but all of those desires can be condensed into two things: First, we need to worship Him first, last and always; and second, we need to serve others in His name.

It is God we need. It is God we seek. It is the Father we most desire. It is the Lord’s pleasure that should be our sole focus. How awesome is His name! How wonderful is His grace! How incredibly sweet is His peace, His joy and His love!

O, Lord, make each of us Your instrument of peace for others. Guide us with a bright, clear path to Your peace and Your pleasure. Direct our thoughts, our prayers, our petitions and our requests, so that what we ask is what You most desire from us. Cast down upon us opportunities to serve You that far exceed our wildest dreams, and grant us the strength, discernment, passion, power and peace that come only from You. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

January 5

MAKE STRAIGHT OUR PATHS TO THE LORD

Psalm 5:1-2, 7-8, 11

Give ear to my words, O Lord…. Listen to my cry for help…. in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple…make straight your way before me…. But let all who take refuge in you beglad; let them ever sing for joy….

"Listen to our cries, O Lord." That is how we approach God, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. We seem to come with a petition, a request, a demand. We treat God as if He were some kind of super 911 emergency service who will bow to our wishes, meet our every need, respond to our hearts’ desires.

We take all the credit when things go as we hoped, and we give God all the blame when things do not come together as we expected. We get the glory, and He gets the complaints. Hear our cries! Listen to our complaints! Solve our messes! And do it right now!

If we simply pray that God’s desire will be done, even if that is not what we want to happen, then His Holy Spirit can invade us, fill us, invade us and use us. If we seek His face, His grace and His love, God will use us for His needs. These prayers are sufficient for every need and every crisis in our lives. They are also more than sufficient for every ordinary moment of our ordinary days.

Oh, how we seek to use God, to bend God to our desires, rather than simply to submit and surrender our will to His. God desires that we come to Him with a humble heart and a yearning for His forgiveness. He allows us to become broken in order for Him to heal us and make us bold. He wants us to know that He calls the shots. It is when we acknowledge our inadequacies and place our dependence upon God that the Lord can make straight our way to Him.

It is when we take refuge in Him and acknowledge our ever-present need for Him that we can begin to sing, we can begin to praise and we can begin to find His joy, His grace, His love and His peace. Not until we surrender completely to Him can we ever really begin to know Him.

Father, we come to You in the name of Your Son, Jesus the Christ. We come not to petition but to praise, not to seek answers but to surrender our wills, not to make requests but to receive Your abiding peace and joy. We want to see Your face, feel Your touch and know Your pleasure. Help us sense Your presence at all times and in all places. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.

January 6

THE FATHER HEARS OUR CRIES

Psalm 6:3-4, 9

My soul is in anguish…. Turn, O Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love…. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.

We desire for God to hear our cries, to know our anguish, to satisfy our doubts, to enter our lives and to answer our prayers. Yet it is not our cries that we need heard, but rather it is the Lord’s will that needs to pervade our circumstances.

It is not our anguish that moves God, but rather it is our simple surrender that touches His heart. It is not our petitions that He needs to hear, but rather it is our acknowledgment that we cannot do this thing called life without Him.

God gave us the power of free choice that we might choose to accept Him. He gave us free will that we might long to be with Him. He allowed us to act, even when we do so without understanding the implications which God knows already. Our souls ache and our bodies reel from our lack of faith. Our minds are confused from our quest for knowledge of God, when it is God Himself who we need, not just knowledge about Him that works its mystery in our lives.

Our souls thirst for the taste of His living water. Our minds search for Him everywhere, but our hearts know that everywhere is where He is. Our bodies strain to come into His presence, knowing and believing that only God can satisfy us and give us peace.

We know that the Lord hears the prayers of those who truly believe in Him. We can trust Him, because He has promised us His blessings. Without Him, we have nothing at all, but with Him we can do miracles beyond our wildest imagination.

Father, we come to You in Jesus’ mighty name, because He said that whatever we ask, believing that it will be so, will in fact be so. We come in His name just to be in Your holy presence, filled with a sense of wonder and awe that You would allow one like us to approach Your holiness. Your majesty and splendor overwhelm us. Take us back to this simple wonder each time we try to do things our way. Accept our prayer only when it encompasses Your perfect will. Quench the fires of our souls and the longings of our hearts, only when to do so makes us more like You. In His holy and mighty name we pray. Amen.

January 7

LET ALL THE PEOPLE ASSEMBLE AROUND THE FATHER

Psalm 7:1-2, 7, 10

O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no oneto rescue me…Let the assembled peoples gather around you…. My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.

The lion prowls, the jackals gather, the vultures circle above us, but it is God who rescues us from them. Friends turn against us, coworkers deceive us and partners elevate themselves at our expense. On a grander scale, individual and collective acts of terrorists bring violence and destruction for no good reason other than to bring us harm.

When all seems dark, lost and hopeless, we need to take refuge in the Lord. In the midst of uncertainty, confusion and bewilderment, it is the Lord that we can turn to for clarity, discernment and wisdom. When we seek deliverance from boredom, depression or despair, the Lord will bring a fresh wind, a new fire and permanent peace.

God is our shield and our hope. He is the beginning and the end. Wisdom, peace, hope and joy are His to give to us, but we must come to Him in order for Him to give us His full abundance. He will save us from those who pursue us, and He will protect us, even when we do not acknowledge His power at work, if we will simply accept who He is.

In the wilderness, in the desert and in the valley, those who pursue us, who seek to defeat us, who want to destroy us and tear us apart will be confronted by the Lord Most High. Before the assembled people, God will bring wholeness, peace and hope, if we simply accept Him.

When our lives are totally out of control, when all seems lost, only God can pull us out of the fires our adversaries have created for us and the messes we have made for ourselves. He is the bright morning star. He is the path to peace. He is our strength and shield. He is the rock upon which we can rest our lives. He is the answer to every trial and every danger. He will make straight the way back to Him, even when darkness seems to prevail, even when evil seems to pervade and even when the evil one seeks to devour all that is good.

Father, we worship You with our prayers. We magnify Your holy name with our thoughts. We praise Your holiness with our voice. We long to serve You. We seek to be in Your perfect will. Expand our opportunities to serve You. Place Your hand upon us and keep us from the evil one. Do not let us cause others harm. Keep our hearts upright, our thoughts pure and our actions consistent and sure for You. In the name of the Father, His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.

January 8

HOW MAJESTIC IS THE NAME OF THE LORD

Psalm 8:1, 4-6

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!…what is man that you are mindful of him…. You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet.

God made man in His own image and gave man incredible power, intellect and will. He created us to be just below His heavenly angels, and He crowned us with His glory and His honor, but we rejected Him. He gave us free will to choose Him, but we choose things, others or ourselves instead of choosing Him. What is wrong with us?

The name of the Lord is majestic, awesome and unbelievable, yet we do not call upon His name unless we are in real trouble. We acknowledge His incredible power, yet we do not honor His name or yield to His will in our daily lives until we have exhausted all the alternatives under our own control and find them wanting.

We are so small in the big picture, yet we see ourselves as big enough to handle every problem, smart enough to find every solution, determined enough to gain every victory, on our own, without Him. Despite our daily rejection of Him, He still seeks us, protects us and comforts us. He reaches out for us, even when we ignore Him.

God is quietly in the background when we leave Him out of our lives. He has made us heirs of His holy Kingdom, if only we choose Him, accept Him and surrender our all to Him. That should be easy, since all we have and all we will ever have were first His. Giving back to God what was first His should be simple, but we let our precious pride get in the way.

We are totally unworthy, even to be in His presence, yet He has made us instruments through which His works are accomplished. How majestic is His holy name indeed! How unbelievable is His way! How awesome is His power!

Father, we come to You seeking the humility which You desire, Your mercy that we do not deserve and Your grace and Your love which we cannot even comprehend. We come, because we are weak without Your strength, lonely without Your companionship and lost without Your presence. We need You to come to us, to fill the void in us and to use the talents You have given us for Your Kingdom’s work. We pray that You will use us in a new and mighty way for Your glory. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

January 9

TELL OTHERS OF GOD’S WONDERS

Psalm 9:1, 9

I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders…The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Pride fills our hearts. Pride pervades our actions, our thoughts and our whole lives. Pride is a roadblock in our path to God. Pride keeps us from receiving the fruit of His Spirit. We do not give God the credit He deserves, because we want to take credit for what we seem to have accomplished in our own power, in our strength and in our knowledge.

We deny God what is rightfully His. In this Psalm, David gives God all the glory and takes comfort in His embrace. God has given us gifts that have allowed us to become successful, yet He wants us to acknowledge Him before others.

God wants us to be dependent upon His power, His insight and His holiness. The victories we have achieved on our own are actually the direct result of His power and His purpose, not ours. He wants us to surrender to His holy and perfect will, to seek His face, to obey His laws and to sing His praises for the wonders He has created through us. He wants us to sing praises to Him with our whole hearts.

When we tell of His wonders in our lives and acknowledge Him before others, we find His peace, joy and wholeness, not because of what we did, but rather because of who He is. God wants us to be wholly humble, since honest humility is evidence of our surrender to Him. Humility is the acknowledg ment to others that all we have, all we do and all we are belong to God.

When we praise Him with all our heart and seek Him first, we come into His holy will. Before fame, power, prestige, honor and wealth, indeed before everything else, we need Him more each day, more than words can say.

Father, we are filled with pride. We seek honors from other men. We seek the prestige of having things as symbols of our success. We spend our lives in pursuit of stuff. Help us turn to You, bow down before You and acknowledge our insignificance and total unworthiness without You. We give You who we are. Take who we are and make us what You envision us to be for Your purposes. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

January 10

LET THE SPIRIT OF PRAISE PERVADE OUR LIVES

Psalm 9:11, 16, 19

Sing praises to the Lord…. proclaim among the nations what he has done…the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands…Arise, O Lord, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence.

If we could continually be in the spirit of praise, our whole lives would be transformed into the light of His presence. Instead of darkness and shadows that we create or that seem to follow us, we would walk in the brilliant light of His glory. We need always and at all times to praise Him, for all that we have, all that we do and all that we are belong to Him.

The spirit and attitude of praise will block out pride, greed, anger, resentment, selfishness and insensitivity to others. Our gratitude for His intervention in our lives, especially when we leave Him out, and our acknowledgment to others that He is God and we are not, make all the difference. When victories come easily, when promotions and prestige come conveniently, when bonuses and abundance are all around, we need to proclaim that He is worthy, that He deserves the glory and that He is the song in our lives.

Despite our praises and proclamations, evil persists. Those who seek to ensnare us in their wicked claws will become entangled in their own deceit, in their own deception and in their own destruction. The wicked ensnare themselves with the lies they tell and the evil they do. They will not prevail against those who love the Lord.

If we praise Him in all that we do, He will be glorified, but we will receive His blessing. If we praise Him and proclaim His holiness before others, He will deliver us the victory every time. You can count on it, because that is what He longs for us to do.

Father, we do sing praises to You, but we also confess that we do so intermittently and not at all times or in all places or with our whole heart. We seek Your help in times of trials, but we do not acknowledge Your presence and power during the good times. Help us to become bold and not bashful for You. Give us confidence so pervasive that we will burst with pleasure in telling others about You. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.

January 11

EVIL PERSISTS, BUT GOD PREVAILS

Psalm 10:1, 4-5, 17-18

Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?…In his pride the wicked does not seek him…. His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him…. You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted…. in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

Where are You, Lord? This is the question that we ask when bad things happen. How can God allow terrible tragedies to occur to us? To the innocent? To believers? Why does He let bad things happen, especially to good people?

This is not a new question. Since the beginning of time, man has tried to understand the mind of God, especially in bad times. Evil forces are at work in this world, and those evil forces oppose God and God’s people. If there were no opposition to us, our victories over evil would be hollow indeed. The race is always won if there are no other contestants. The honors we receive are in direct proportion to the degree to which we are opposed.

We cannot explain natural tragedies, so-called acts of God, the horrors of war or senseless acts of terrorism visited upon the innocent. We cannot explain the unfair results that leave the one who lies, cheats and steals the apparent winner. The wicked often do seem prosperous and victorious. But to those who believe in the Father, in the end, evil never triumphs over good, and Satan never prevails over God.

God will lift up His hand against the wicked, the evil and the deceitful when we stand up for what is holy. God will not betray us or leave us without Him, even when we do not surrender to His majesty and strive to do His mighty will. God will hear the desires of the afflicted and will give glory to those who love Him and follow Him. He is our assurance.

Father, we bow down before You. We worship You. We want to be with You, to be Your instruments, to honor You with all we say and do. While we are mystified by tragedies to the innocent, we also know that suffering brings strength, that fires bring purity and that difficulties produce faith and greater dependence upon You. Cure us of our unbelief. Rid us of our doubts. Cancel our selfish pride. Convert our self-centeredness into self-sacrifice for You and others. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen.

January 12

SEEK GOD’S FACE

Psalm 11:3-4, 6-7

When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne…. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot…. upright men will see his face.

The very foundations of life are family, friends, faith, work and God. There are times when one or more of these pillars seems in danger of cracking or crumpling, in danger of decay or even total destruction. When these times come, we ask: What can I do? Then we remember that the Lord is in His holy sanctuary, inviting us to come on in and share in His inheritance and abundance.

Collectively, the foundations of our nation are the strength, ingenuity and creativity of the people, the freedom to worship, speak, work and move without governmental interference and the principles of individual worth for the collective good.

Recently, these foundations have been shaken, and at times they seem to be vulnerable, even cracking and crumbling. We are God’s chosen people, and He is there to guide us, comfort us, protect us and strengthen us.

We stand secure, individually and as a nation, because God is on His heavenly throne. The darkness cannot cover the Light. The wicked cannot prevail against God.

God has promised to rain down fiery coals and heap burning sulfur on the wicked and all those who oppose or ignore Him. But upright men, men who trust and obey the Father, will see God’s face and defeat the darkness, not in their strength but by God’s almighty grace.

Father, we come in the name of Jesus to praise You and give You glory. We know that You are on Your heavenly throne. You are in control. Even when things seem confusing, unstable and out of control, You are there. We rest comfortably in knowing that You are directly involved in our lives. You desire that we turn aside from the world around us, confess our sins and seek to be closer to You. Thank You, Father, for caring enough to send Your Son to suffer in our place, so that we might be free to choose You. In Jesus’ holy and mighty name we pray. Amen.

January 13

THE WICKED STRUT, BUT GOD PREVAILS

Psalm 12:1, 5, 8

Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men…. Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise, says the Lord…. The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.

There are many times when it seems that men of goodwill, honesty and integrity are no more. In school, many students cheat. In business, competitors seek an unfair advantage. In church, bitterness, strife, anger and pride constantly war against unity, joy and peace. In homes, fathers and mothers argue, sisters and brothers squabble and parents and kids constantly provoke each other. Where indeed have the godly men gone?

Bitterness, anger, strife, self-interest, pride, jealousy, greed and other negative traits need to be replaced with positive and uplifting feelings of happiness, peace, agreement, humility and generosity. The faithful men seem to have vanished. The ungodly seem to prevail. The cheaters seem to continue to win. And the wicked seem to continually triumph over the weak and the oppressed. But God will prevail over evil.

God is present in our midst. God trumps evil every single time and in every place. Evil does not ever prevail against the people who have surrendered unto God. God will not permit the righteous, the obedient, the chosen to be defeated.

God will hear the weak, the groaning and the travail of His people, and He will hear our prayers and give us peace. Then we will know that it is through God that we can find peace, and it is only God’s goodness and grace that secure the victory.

Father, we rejoice in knowing that You are in charge and that we are not, that we can do nothing without You, but we can move mountains in Your holy name. Thank You for Your awesome presence and power. We know that it is Your power, Your strength, Your Spirit and Your compassion that fill us up. We are unworthy, we are weak and we are totally dependent upon You. Thank You for Your overflowing grace and overwhelming love. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

January 14

TRUST IN THE UNFAILING LOVE OF THE FATHER

Psalm 13:1-2, 5

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?…But I trust in your unfailing love; but my heart rejoices in your salvation.

Five times David cries out for God’s companionship, for an intimate relationship with God, for relief from his doubts and fears and from his anguish over the seeming absence of God from his life. But David concludes that despite all his troubles and his travail, God’s love is unfailing. David trusts God, surrenders to God and accepts God’s ways, even though David does not understand.

Our cries continue to be similar to David’s, yet we cry out more than five times. How high must we reach, how low must we fall, how empty must we be to see You, Father? When will You reveal Your will to us? How will we know it is Your will and not the longings of our humanity or the desires of the evil one? What must we do to be with You, to feel Your breath upon our face, to sense Your touch on our lives, to really know that You are there?

These are only some of the questions that consume our thoughts, that divert our journeys and that flood our minds. We often doubt His presence, because things have not gone our way. We equate our way and our desires with God’s. We often reject His will, because His desires are not our desires. We are so impatient with God, but we always fall short of His hopes and desires for us.

We are without merit in the absence of the Father. We are without meaning outside the presence of God. We are without love when the Lord does not reside in our hearts and minds. We are so lonely without God. We are empty shells without Him. But with Him, we can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us. In His presence and through His grace, we trust in His unfailing love. Praise God!

Father, the world is racked with bigotry, anger, bitterness, vengeance and violence, and we confess that we do not understand why. Your love will prevail in the face of such evil. Your peace and grace will defeat the forces of doom and darkness. You will turn darkness into glorious light, and You will make good from evil. While we do not understand why, we trust in Your unfailing grace. In the name of Jesus, our Lord and our Rock, we pray. Amen.

January 15

WHEN WE TURN AWAY FROM GOD, CORRUPTION FOLLOWS

Psalm 14:3, 6

All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one…but the Lord is their refuge.

It is true that no one, not any of us, is good enough, strong enough, smart enough or worthy enough to earn the right to be in the Father’s presence, to be in His thoughts or to be able to talk with Him or pray to Him. All have sinned and turned aside. Corruption and deceit are part of our old nature.

Our humanness corrupts to the core, yet it is because of our desire to please God that we try to do what He wants us to do, thinking that if we do His will, we can earn His grace. It simply does not work that way. Doing is not believing. Doing is not trusting. Doing is never enough, because we have all turned away, we have all rejected Him and we have all failed to include Him in our daily lives.

We cannot earn His grace or ever be worthy of His love. We simply have to surrender who we are, so that He can mold us into who He wants us to be. Giving up our selfish pride is really hard to do, especially since we believe that we can control and solve every problem ourselves, without Him.

Problem solving is a gift God has given some of us. Yet the Father knows that no matter how much we want to do so, we cannot please Him with only our skills or our efforts or our work.

Without acknowledging our frailty, our weakness and our lack of worth, we cannot receive all that He has for us. Nevertheless, He continues to reach out for us. He refuses to give up on us. He longs for us to surrender, so that He can invade our hearts and fill us with His Holy Spirit.

Father, we take refuge in You, for without You there is no peace, there is no rest, there is no grace and there is no hope. We take refuge in You, because You are all that we have to hold onto. Moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, we need Your help. We confess we cannot do this thing called life without You. Help us in our unbelief. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

January 16

SPEAK THE TRUTH EVEN WHEN IT HURTS

Psalm 15:1-2, 4

Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?…He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth…. who keeps his oath, even when it hurts.

This Psalm calls us to walk our talk. It calls us to do what is right, to speak the truth and to keep our word. But even by doing these things, we do not secure a place with God on His holy hill, in His holy sanctuary. Good works, clean living and honest effort are simply not enough.

It is good and right to walk the walk and talk the talk, but we rarely do it completely. It is good to talk with truth as our shield, but we often do not honor it. It is good to keep the faith, especially when doing so really hurts, but keeping our faith in the presence of evil is not enough to earn us a place with God.

We long to dwell with God in His holy sanctuary, but we will get there only by His grace, not by our actions, our goodness or our righteousness. For no one is worthy, no not even one, is worthy to be with God. Yet He has chosen each of us, if we will simply accept His invitation.

Our role is to praise and worship God, to bow down before Him, to give God all the glory and all the credit and to acknowledge our insufficiency, inadequacy and utter dependence upon God. When we do, He will not only embrace us, but He will spread His glory before us.

He has reached out for us. All we have to do is surrender ourselves to Him. Good acts and good deeds will follow our acceptance and our surrender. When we accept Him, we cannot do otherwise. Then He invades our hearts, our souls and our very essence with His Spirit.

Lord, we confess that we are empty vessels spiritually without You. We confess that we are filled with the desires of the flesh, but even so, we still seek Your face. We long to know You. We want to be with You. We want to talk with You and walk with You. We want to be Your people. Make it happen. We pray in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.

January 17

THE WINGS OF GOD PROTECT US

Psalm 16:1-2, 5

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge…apart from you I have no good thing…you have made my lot secure.

It is safety and security that we seek, but it is surrender that we most need. It is a hiding place where we can take refuge from the world that we desire, but it is God and God alone who protects us, hides us and shields us from the onslaught of the world.

It is in the brightness of a new day that we need to acknowledge the Father anew, but it is our pride and our pasts that cover up our frailties, our helplessness and our total dependence upon God.

Apart from God, we can do no good thing, and we have nothing. Indeed, apart from God, there is nothing of value, nothing of truth and nothing of lasting worth. He has secured our lot, He has made us whole and He has given us life.

He has known us before we even breathed, yet He loves us still, in spite of all our inadequacies, despite of all our disobedience, even after all our evil thoughts and deeds and even in the face of our rebellion and rejection of Him.

Safety and security are good things, but the wings of God are the only hiding place which truly shield us from evil, from ourselves and from being lost and alone. Our pride keeps us from total surrender. Our self-centeredness keeps us from complete humility.

Our self-sufficiency and rigid independence keep us from asking for help. But God is our refuge and strength. He is the Answer. All we have to do is ask.

Father, we call upon You when we are at our wits’ end, but we do not call upon You during the normal difficulties of the day. We call upon You when we have messed up, but we seem to ignore You most of the rest of the time. Keep us safe, O God, from our enemies, from our natural desires, from our selfish pride and from ourselves, even though we do not call upon You until it seems too late. Help us surrender to You before we come to the end of the rope. Help us lean on You and trust in You in all things, under all circumstances, always. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.

January 18

CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE TO LIVE IN GOD’S PRESENCE

Psalm 16:8, 11

I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken…You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

We need to live in the conscious presence of the Lord. We need to set His face before us, to acknowledge His presence in our lives, to invite His holiness to graft itself upon us. We need to keep our eyes on Him, our steps toward Him and our focus upon Him. It is God we need. It is His will that we need to follow.

When the Father is our focus, nothing can shake us, nothing can harm us and nothing can bring us down. When God is at our right hand, He will make His path known unto us. He will provide us with a clear way to righteousness, a bright path to holiness and the means to reach His Kingdom. He will fill us up with eternal joy, with everlasting hope and with a grace and peace that passes all human understanding. When we are at His right hand, He will grant us eternal pleasures.

When we stray far from Him, our lives go out of control, we become out of balance and we feel helpless and vulnerable. When we go it alone or when we just do it our own way, we totally lose touch with the needs of others. When we trust in our own power, our own insight and our own strategies, we wander without direction, without hope and without joy.

He is our guide, He is our strength, He is our hope and He is our Lord. We can do all things when we rest under His wings. We must keep Him before us in order for us to experience His joy. When we strive to be in His holy presence, He transforms our ordinary moments into extraordinary events. Then, we find in Him wholeness, happiness, holiness and life.

Father, we acknowledge that we cannot live life without You. We cannot follow Your path, unless You are before us. We cannot find peace without pursuing Your face. Help us know that You are at our right hand, even when we do not admit it, even when we do not know it and even when we may not want it. Help us know that it is only through Your grace and Your love that we are anything. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.

January 19

HIDE IN THE SHADOW OF THE FATHER’S WINGS

Psalm 17:1, 8-9

Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer…. hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.

Sometimes we feel that our problems not only surround us, but they threaten to totally engulf us. We feel underwater, abandoned to our own resources, left to take all the heat, suffer all the abuse and accept all the criticism. Sometimes we cry out only to receive no response, only to hear the echo of our own pleas, only to experience the silence of rejection. In such times, we wonder where God is and why He does not intervene. When we feel alone, without help and without hope, we question if God is really there for us.

Oddly, it is just after those times that we feel closest to God, because it is in those times that all we have left is to cry out for the help of God: Come, be with me, Lord. Why do You not hear me when troubles surround me? Shelter me in Your lap, Lord. "Hide me in the shadow of Your wings, Lord." Keep me safe from my mortal enemies, from those who want to destroy me. Touch me, so that I can know that someone cares.

When we look back over our lives and review our prayers, we come to know that God, the Almighty, the Lord of lords and the King of kings, actually does hear our cries, does know our voices, does understand our individual situations, does protect us through it all and does answer our prayers. He alone will rescue us from the abyss of life itself. We know it, because He says so and because we have chosen to believe in Him.

All of us cry out in times of need and distress. All of us occasionally feel alone and experience times of darkness. All of us are surrounded by demons, either those that are created by our enemies or those that we create ourselves. All of us make wrong choices from time to time, but He provides us with an opportunity to make the right choice by giving us another chance to choose Him. If we do, He will reign in our lives, and He will defeat all the demons and evil itself.

Father, You are there when times are tough and when times are great. You know that we need to hear Your voice, to sense Your presence and to feel Your touch at all times. So, come, we pray; come, we cry out; and come, we surrender. In the name of Jesus, the Messiah, we pray. Amen.

January 20

BY GOD’S LOVE, WE ARE BLESSED

Psalm 17:14-15

You still the hunger of those you cherish; their sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children. And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

It is our collective desire that we store up treasures for our sons and daughters, that they know that we love them and that