Monday, January 02, 2012

Psalm 108

Using as a base for devotions, Day by Day by Charles Swindoll.




I often don't like using devotionals as frequently what someone else gets out of a text I don't...and frequently the text has nothing to do with what the person is talking about except in a generic sense. That I just find annoying. So I'll see how this one goes. :)

Psalm 108 (CEV)
1Our God, I am faithful to you

with all my heart,

and you can trust me.

I will sing

and play music for you

with all that I am.

2I will start playing my harps

before the sun rises.

3I will praise you, LORD,

for everyone to hear;

I will sing hymns to you

in every nation.

4Your love reaches higher

than the heavens,

and your loyalty extends

beyond the clouds.

5Our God, may you be honored

above the heavens;

may your glory be seen

everywhere on earth.

6Answer my prayers

and use your powerful arm

to give us victory.

Then the people you love

will be safe.

7Our God, from your holy place

you made this promise:

"I will gladly divide up

the city of Shechem

and give away Succoth Valley

piece by piece.

8The lands of Gilead

and Manasseh are mine.

Ephraim is my war helmet,

and Judah is my symbol

of royal power.

9Moab is merely my washbasin,

and Edom belongs to me.

I shout with victory

over the Philistines."

10Our God, who will bring me

to the fortress

or lead me to Edom?

11Have you rejected us?

You don't lead our armies.

12Help us defeat our enemies!

No one else can rescue us.

13You are the one

who gives us victory

and crushes our enemies.


Wow....this is an interesting Psalm to read isn't it?

The promise that David gives to God.

The plea for help...for God to act in the best interests of his people.

I kind of feel like David right now, promising God that I will rise early and "start playing my harps". Granted, if I did that literally in my household it would engender a fair amount of annoyance! :) Even if my harp was the keyboard. But I do want to start having a regular, accountable devotion time. j

I do want to more deliberately have to take time to say God...this is who I am, and yes, I know that God already knows who I am but it different if you take the time to say it. To take that time to deliberately say to God that I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! Meaning to take that deliberate time to praise him and to thank him for what he does in my life. And with that to also deliberately take the time to say God, this is where I need your action in my life. To be able to say GOD.. I love you and I praise you and I want my boy child to grow up to love and praise you. I want my hubby to have a knee what works well for him. I need you to guide my days.

David promises much to God in this Psalm and he expects at lot from God as well. He wants to see God in action on behalf of his people.

I want to see God do much on behalf of my people as well. My church... To shake it up, to make it want to do more. My family... to see them all grow in the knowledge and Love of God, to see my hubby healed of his bum knee. I want my Dad to have a decrease in the pain he suffers daily. I want to see this community changed by the Love of God. I want much. But I have to admit....I'm a bit afeared by what the wanting much would me for me.

Charles Swindoll says "you will have to change...and that won't come easily". I don't always welcome change. Change can be alarming. Change can also be life-affirming. So I wonder what change God might have in store for me.

No comments: