Category Archives: Devotion

THINGS THAT DAVID SAID – 15

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A SONG OF ASSURANCE

What would we do without Psalm 37? How often we return to David’s words in troubled times when the wicked seem invincible and the righteous vulnerable!

If there was a ever a word from the Lord, through the mind and heart of a believer, it’s this one. From our perspective, the wicked are everywhere, controlling, prospering, and laughing all the way to the bank while God’s people can hardly come up for air.

David’s personal experience was similar. Despite his anointing as future king of Israel, he was a fugitive, on the run from a ruthless killer, Saul, who was determined to end his life. David had the companionship of a motley bunch of discontents, hardly an effective bodyguard against Saul’s military might. Wherever he went, Saul and his men were in hot pursuit, breathing down his neck and barking like a pack of bloodthirsty rottweiler behind him.

Then came the Word, the real word that put his thoughts back into perspective. Who was really in charge, anyway? Was it Saul with his evil intentions, or was it God, a wise, powerful and just ruler?

If Saul represented the wicked, and David the righteous, whose cause would triumph? In the end, the outcome represented, not which side was more powerful but which side stood on God’s side and, in turn, which side did God support?

We look around us and see a similar situation at work. The wicked seem to be in charge while the righteous are swamped by the evil around us. The more we pray, the more we protest, the more our rulers double down on their wicked schemes. There seems to be no end in sight to this contest between good and evil…and the most vulnerable are at the mercy of the depots.

“Take heart”, said David, faith rising above fear.

Psalms 37:1-2 NIV
[1] “Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; [2] for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.”

David leaned hard on his people’s history. Was he thinking of the Egyptian army, hot on the heels of a crowd of runaway slaves? They were coming fast and the Israelites had no defense except…God!

Then, right in the middle of the Red Sea, when God’s people thought that all was lost, the waters crashed down on the Egyptians and, guess what…now you see them, now you don’t. They vanished under the waves, just like that!

Psalms 37:10 NIV
[10] “A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.”

The Israelites were free, free to go on their merry way because the enemy had ceased to exist. Israelites one, Egyptians nil. God had won the first round for them.

However, there still lay many battles ahead, for instance, like the battle for food and water.

Their victory song soon turned to whining, complaining, and even threats of murder against their leaders. Food! They needed food. Who could provide food for such a vast crowd in such a terrible place, a howling wilderness where there was nothing but wind and sand?

God could…and did…and they sang again.

What seemed impossible turned into abundance beyond their wildest imagination for more than forty years!

Psalms 37:19, 25 NIV
[19] “In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty…
[25] I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”

And what of the land God promised to give them. The Promised Land was crawling with giants, so they heard. How could these “grasshoppers” extirminate the giants and take over their land?

“No problem,” said the Lord.

Psalms 37:29, 34 NIV
[29] “The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever…
[34] Hope in the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.”

From the human perspective, they needed military might to deal with the enemy and military might they did not have. For the Israelites, it was a lost cause before they even started…but not for God. He approached the situation from a different perspective. The battle was not about power. It was about righteousness, obedience to His covenant.

When they obeyed, city walls fell down, the sun stood still in the sky, and the enemy turned on each other! Under their new leader, Joshua, the Israelites sowed mayhem wherever they went until the land they thought impossible to conquer, became theirs.

Psalms 37:10-11, 27 NIV
[10] “A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. [11] But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity….
[27] Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.”

David concluded this timeless wisdom with these words…

Psalms 37:39-40 NIV
[39] “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. [40] The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.”

Surely, God’s wisdom never changes. Do we need deliverance from the wicked, supply for every need, and a secure country in which to live? Then as David concluded, let’s follow the instruction that will assure us of God’s favour, by living within the boundaries of His righteousness given to us through the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And, just to crown it all, David reminds us…

Psalms 5:12 NIV
[12] “Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”

THINGS THAT DAVID SAID – 14

Devotion, ,

WORDS ABOUT THE WORD.

Since we have already dipped into Psalm 119, looking at one of the most precious verses in Scripture, verse 165, let’s examine a few more gems from the same psalm.

Psalms 119:1 NIV
[1] “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.”

If David wrote this psalm, and all the evidence points to this fact, then Psalm 119 is David’s story. He gathered together, in 176 verses, everything he could think of, in his experience, that God’s Word meant to him. It was light. It was truth. It was honey. It was direction. It was security. It was delight and happiness. It was rebuke, correction, teaching. It was hope and life. It was God’s words, everything he needed for life, packaged into the pages of a book, of whatever material those pages were made.

God’s Word is like precious metal purified in the fire, preserved through centuries of hatred and fear, and every attempt to discredit and vilify its truth, inerrency, and indestructibilty. As the hymnwriter declared…

1. All people that on Earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
Him serve with fear, his praise forthtell;
Come ye before him and rejoice.

2. The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
Without our aid he did us make;
We are his folk, he doth us feed,
And for his sheep he doth us take.

3. O enter then his gates with praise,
Approach with joy his courts unto;
Praise, laud, and bless his name always,
For it is seemly so to do.

4. For why? The Lord our God is good;
His mercy is forever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure.

Author: William Kethe (1561)

(https://www.hymnary.org/text/all_ people_that_on_earth_do_dwell)

Psalm 119 begins with a declaration of blessedness. In Hebrew, there are two words that express blessedness. “Asher”, used in this verse, expresses the state of blessedness that those whom God blesses, experience. “Baruch” is God’s side of the equation. Baruch is the blessedness God bestows on those who walk according to His law. God blesses (baruch), and we are blessed (asher).

God’s blessings are not only a gift but also a state into which He places us when we choose to follow the standards of His Word. His children live in a perpetual state of blessedness in keeping with their submission and obedience to Him.

As we travel though this psalm, we meet instructions, declarations, blessings, warnings, worship, praise, prayers, actions, expressions of confidence, repentance, desire, hope…all flowing from one central truth, the beauty, efficacy, and sufficiency of God’s Word.

Without the Bible, both Old and New Covenants, we would be completely in the dark about God, the world, ourselves, life, our beginnings, our present, and our future.

Many have tried to explain these mysteries outside of the answers God gives us in His revelation. They may come up with fanciful ideas but cannot confirm what they have written with evidence. Those who believe these human impositions have no guarantee that they will end where they desire to be.

The Bible is the only reliable source of information with evidence, because God Himself has spoken, and the Holy Spirit has inspired ordinary people to write what God has said.

2 Peter 1:20-21 NIV
[20] “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. [21] For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

How has God spoken to humans in a way that we can understand?

1. Through His prophets.

Amos 3:7 NIV
[7] “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”

The word God spoke through His prophets is accurate, reliable, and guaranteed…some already fulfilled and some yet to be fulfilled, with thousands of years of evidence that it is true.

2. Through His Son.

Hebrews 1:1-2 NIV
[1] “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”

Jesus is God’s Word in person.

John 1:14 NIV
[14] “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus came to earth, became part of history, to reveal the Father, to restore people to the Father, and to take them to the Father. He backed up His message by dying and rising again. No one has been able to  disprove the evidence.

3.Through the created universe.

Psalms 19:1-4 NIV
[1] “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. [2] Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. [3] They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
[4] Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…”

Romans 1:20 NIV
[20] “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

Psalm 119 is the pinnacle of reassurance that…

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV
[3] “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. [4] Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

So, dear reader, if you follow David’s testimony and adjust you life to the Word of God, despite the ills of life on this planet, you will live a truly blessed life.

THINGS THAT DAVID SAID – 13

Devotion, ,

HEAVEN IS ALREADY HERE

Psalms 119:165 NIV
[165] “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”

One of the greatest verses in one of the greatest chapters in the greatest book on earth, a word about God’s Word!

If you want to know what heaven is like, you’ll find it in three words…love, joy, peace.

Peace…God’s heaven is a place of peace. Jesus is king there, and His righteous government produces endless peace. Imagine that! No protests over load-shedding… lack of service delivery… poverty… joblessness… crime! No burning tyres! No throwing rocks! No toy-toying in the streets, no chanting and blocking traffic. Just peace, endless calm, quiet, and harmony everywhere!

The world, by contrast, is in a ferment of conflict and chaos for one reason…

Isaiah 57:20-21 NIV
[20] “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. [21] “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

The world is in its mess because people insist on leaving God out. Without God, there can be no peace because He IS peace, the only source of peace, and the only giver of peace.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV
[16] “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”

God can only give His peace to those who qualify on a legal basis. Sin… wickedness, disqualifies. No peace for the wicked. This means that no one is eligible to receive God’s peace because everyone is wicked, born wicked, and condemned to death.

God Himself, in mercy, dealt with our wickedness by taking the rap for sin Himself.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
[21] “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

So, God’s gift of peace stands squarely on satisfying His demand for the punishment of the wicked. Death, He demanded, and only death. His own Son, innocent of wickedness, paid the penalty for us, a perfectly legal transaction…and the outcome?

Romans 5:1 NIV
[1] “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”

Wow! Would you look at that! It’s written in God’s own Word… peace with God! His wrath at sin has been perfectly appeased, satisfied, no more payment needed. The conflict is over. Peace!

However, God’s gift of peace extends far beyond just the punishment of sin to satisfy His legal requirement. Oh, no! God is much bigger than that! He is God, brimming over with a passion to bless.

God has removed the issue of sin. He can now lavish on those who have received His forgiveness by faith and the righteousness of Jesus, all the magnificent blessings He longs to pour out.

Since God equals love, joy, peace, everything He gives is wrapped in a parcel of who He is. This means that peace with Him opens the amazing reality of His own very presence, the God of peace, with us, always.

We can make an exchange…all the worries, concerns, and anxieties we encounter in our daily lives for a mind and heart always at peace because He is with us. How does this happen? Let Paul tell us in his own words…

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
[6] “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

How do we know this is true and that we can have this peace always?

Our verse in Psalm 119 tells us how.

Psalms 119:165 NIV
[165] “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”

Can you see how this works?

Everything God has done for us is written in His law, His Word. When we love His Word, we will read it, believe it, and act on it. His promises make us so secure that “nothing can make us stumble.”

Now, that’s the best way to live in this crazy world, by bringing heaven’s environment of peace right here where we are. By faith, this happens when we trade all our doubts and fears for God’s peace.

THINGS THAT DAVID SAID – 12

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ROCK SOLID!

Among the many things David said are statements about God that are rock solid testimony to His character. Let’s examine a few of them.

Psalms 5:12 NIV
[12] “Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”

Favour! Who doesn’t need favour especially when the whole world sometimes seems against us? Simple things can go horribly wrong without God’s favour.

There’s no favour like the favour of God. God’s favour or, as the Hebrew word suggests, both delight and pleasure, is all around us like a fortified castle of protection.
Imagine that! It’s as though, like a watchful father, He says, “Don’t touch my kids!” and makes good His warning with necessary action.

What does this declaration mean to us?

God blesses the righteous! This is an amazing observation! First, God blesses. Google provides a comprehensive list of God’s blessings… spiritual, physical, material, and circumstantial… too many to enumerate here. Most important is that all these blessings are promised and given in the context of His covenant. His covenant, in turn, is a package deal in response to our faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 1:3-8, 11-12 NIV
[3] “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. [4] For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace [8] that he lavished on us…
[11] In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, [12] in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.”

“In Him…in Him!” All this happened because of Jesus. We owe every we get from God to Him.

Second, even the righteousness which qualifies us to receive all His covenant blessings is His gift to us. Our righteousness is completely inadequate to earn His favour. In fact, according to Isaiah’s observation, our righteousness is no better than “filthy rags”. Our “righteousness”, our very best efforts, stink!

Isaiah 64:6 NIV
[6] “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

So, the only righteousness that is acceptable to God is the righteousness of His Son which He earned by His obedience to the Father at tremendous cost. This is the righteousness that the Father reckons as ours and blesses with the abundance of His favour and delight.

Imagine that! God lavishes on us blessing after blessing… goodness, favour, loving kindness, covenant love, promises… whatever you want to call them, because of Jesus! God’s favour around us, like a protecting shield, has nothing to do with our merits, only with Jesus’ merits which He freely gives to us. He not only gave us His righteousness. He MADE US the righteousness of God, as righteous as God is.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
[21] “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Jesus became what we are, sin, so that we can be what He is, righteousness in person.

Now, God can freely lavish on us everything that He is and wants to do for His children. There is nothing to stop Him from being the Father He is to us.

Third, God blocks every evil intention of devils and people with His favour. We are encased in His fanour like a “bubble”, above, beneath, and all around us. Wherever we go, favour accompanies us. We go shopping… favour! We run into problems…favour! We encounter people, conflict, opposition, whatever…favour! We need help…favour! God’s favour is indispensable, reliable, and capable as we meet every situation.

So, how do we appropriate God’s favour when we need it?

Psalms 18:19-20 NIV
[19] “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

David gives us the answer.

Psalms 116:12-13 NIV
[12] “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? [13] I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

In the cup of salvation is all the favour we ever need, the blessings of His covenant. He is only a call away.

THINGS THAT DAVID SAID – 11

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A DESIRE, A PROMISE

One of the most terrible things happened in the garden of Eden when Adam chose his way over God’s way. He only found out after he had made the choice that his way was a “dead” end. His way led him to nowhere but trouble, loss, and, in the end, death. He lost God’s presence, His peace, his oneness with Eve, the garden with its bounty and, probably the worst of all, his direction in life. He was left to his own devises with no security in the present, no knowledge or hope for the future, and no experience of life to help him make good choices. Life had become, for him, a game of chance, a hit-and-miss nightmare, a daily grind with no end in sight…and all because of one foolish decision!

How often our lives echo Adam’s life… one foolish decision, one wrong turn, one split-second action on the spur of the moment and everything changes for the worse. We think our way is better than God’s way, only to wake up when it’s too late. What a tragedy!

There is a better, wiser way to navigate a treacherous, dangerous world. David took this course and, despite one or two deviations which cost him dearly, he emerged a winner in the end, by God’s grace and with His help.

To Saul, the first king of Israel, who chose his own way and failed to obey Him, God said…

1 Samuel 13:14 NIV
[14] “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

…and of David, He said…

Acts 13:22 NIV
[22]” After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ ”

What a testimony from God’s own mouth!

What did David do to merit this affirmation from God?

He prayed…

Psalms 86:11 NIV
[11] “Teach me your way, Lord… give me an undivided heart…”

…and he promised…

“… that I may (rely on your faithfulness) walk in your truth;
… that I may fear your name.”

God’s way over his! A single-minded purpose to honour God above himself! A simple solution but a huge undertaking!

You see, we were all born with a powerful pull towards independence, like Frank Sinatra, who sang,” I did it my way!” That’s our biggest downfall. That’s the roadblock to real life. It takes God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s power to get us over the hump of self-will and into a life of humble submission to the will of God.

When we have finally made that once-for all decision to dump our own stubborn foolishness for God’s
perfect will, our lives begin to take shape in a miraculous way, and our hope and future beckon with a bright golden glow that makes our present liveable right now.

So, I take David’s prayer seriously. I share his desire, and I ask God for that revelation of Himself that unveils His secrets, and keeps me living in harmony with His character and His purposes. I want, above all else, to fear His name because He is of infinite worth to me.

Psalms 86:11 NIV
[11] “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”