Category: Daily Devotionals

SPIRITUAL MUTINY

Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!  Psalm 119:117

    I married into a well known Christian family.  Jack Wyrtzen, my father-in-law, was an evangelist.  In the 40’s and 50’s, he spoke to crowds of a half million people across the world.  He could not go many places without being recognized.  With this notoriety came family pressures.  His wife, like Ruth Graham, stayed home most of the time with their five children.  Both Jack and his wife, Marge, are now in heaven and all five children are, by God’s grace, strong in their faith.  Continue reading “Spiritual Mutiny” →

CHOOSE AND DON’T LOOK BACK

I hate the double minded, but I love your law.  Psalm 119:113

I could study the subject of double mindedness for a long time in scripture.  There’s enough there to keep me busy for several weeks.  James talks about it.  John reveals God’s words about it in Revelation when He describes the church at Laodicea.  I am pulled up short when I remember that God promises wisdom to each of His children but I will never get my hands around it if I am double minded; one side bent toward the kingdom and the other attached to this world and its mindset.  My life will be marked by instability. Continue reading “Choose and Don’t Look Back!” →

CONFIRMING AN OATH

I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.  Psalm 119:106

When promises are made in the context of love, they are not usually uttered just one time.  When time and trials test them, reassurance is welcomed.  It comforts and it strengthens love and respect. Continue reading “Confirming An Oath” →

GOD’S BREATH AND THE EMBERS

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  Psalm 119:105

David gives such a rich word picture here that I can hardly get my mind and heart around it.  Lamps, fire, the oil with which to light them, all of these symbols are rich in our Jewish history.  The lamps in the tabernacle were to be kept burning, never extinguished, to symbolize the eternal presence of God.  The parallels between God and fire, God and light, are numerous through the Torah.  Continue reading “God’s Breath and the Embers” →

DO I REALLY HATE WHAT GOD HATES?

Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.  Psalm 119:104

The most stretching thing about writing devotionals every morning is being confined to look at a book just one verse at a time.  I am not let off the hook if that verse doesn’t instantly speak to me.  God is training my heart to read for quality, not quantity.

Today’s scripture is one I would normally pass over quickly.  I would assume that I hate what God hates.  I would make a sweeping pass over great sins like abusive power, anger taken out of innocent children, marriages eroded by pornography, etc.  The wake up call is this ~ that even the ungodly hate these things.  To hate sin that causes human suffering is not a sign that I am necessarily close to Jesus. Continue reading “Do I Really Hate What God Hates?” →

CHOICES

I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.  Psalm 119:101

The way of destruction isn’t far off.  It’s presented to me many times a day in the form of a single step over its threshold.  A journey down the road of self-pity beckons me.  Another trail toward grudge holding calls out to me.  A beautifully paved highway of entitlement glitters in front of me.  It would be easy to put my toe over the line and just take the first step.  If I do, the second step is even easier. Continue reading “Choices” →

ARROGANCE OR HUMILITY?

I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.  Psalm 119:100

This is quite a statement.  If I heard anyone in my lifetime say something like this, I’d probably think it was out of line.  So was David humble?  Or was this a flash of arrogance? Continue reading “Arrogance Or Humility?” →

NO MORE A WORD OF CONVENIENCE 

Forever, Oh Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.  Psalm 119:89

            Mankind picks and chooses which of God’s precepts he wants to follow at any given time.  If it suits him, he obeys.  Look how many times a lead story in the news is introduced with ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.  Scripture, in a post-Christian era, is snatched and used to support the universal message of love.  What commentators fail to quote is what precedes that verse; ‘Loving God with all our heart, soul, and strength.’  Continue reading “No More A Word Of Convenience” →

In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.  Psalm 119:88

Psalm 119 is the expression of extremes.  The writer (most think it is David) is in desperate straights and speaks about most everything in the context of life and death.  “Your Word is life to me.”  “I languish for Your saving hand.”  If any of us are in pleasant circumstances with our needs numbed out by pleasure, we will not track with the strong speech found within this chapter.

The psalmist’s words today are gut wrenching.  To paraphrase this out of the Hebrew language, the meaning takes on even more desperate overtones.  Here it is.  “Because you are so kind, keep me alive so that I preserve the testimonies of your mouth.”  It is not made clear whether David is in physical danger or spiritual danger.  But when threats against either are high, it really doesn’t matter, does it?  The truth is ~ God is the giver of life whether we need a physical resurrection or a heart preserver.

If you are looking for a Psalm to ponder out of mere interest, this is not the one for you.  A dispassionate reader will never know life change.  This Psalm is meant for those who know they would be ‘walking dead’ without the swift and life-saving hand of God.  Many of you are walking on hot coals everyday.  Your heart is bombarded with regret and the pressure to survive another’s cruelty, or any other circumstance which threatens to snuff the life out of a person’s soul.  The weight is so great as to make you throw up your hands and say, “I quit.  I’m numbing out to life.  It’s too painful to care anymore.” 

Ah, this verse is for you and me whenever we’re in that situation.

Oh God, you are kind.  You reach down and keep my faith alive when I ask you.  I can’t even decide to follow you.  The desire, even for that, is a gift out of the kindness of your heart.  Amen

VERY LONG COURT PROCEEDINGS

How long must your servant endure?  When will you judge those who persecute me? Psalm 119:84

            Have you ever been through a long court proceeding?  I haven’t.  But I have known friends who have and the time for testimonies, arguments, and then deliberation by the jury can seem long.  Given a complicated and in-depth case, the procedure can see like forever. Continue reading “VERY LONG COURT PROCEEDINGS” →