Key Verses: Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with Your generous Spirit.
The third Psalm in today’s re...
Key Verse: Psalm 49:15
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,
For He shall receive me.
The first two verses of today’s reading (Psalm 48) are sung, probably not with the same tune as the sons of Korah, but still in worship of the one and only “LORD” Who is “GREATLY TO BE PRAI...
Key Verse: Psalm 46:1-2a, 47:1
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear…
Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
In yesterday’s reading, words such as “reproach, scorn, derision, dishonour, shame,” etc., we...
Key Verse: Psalm 44:1-2a
We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us,
The deeds You did in their days,
In days of old:
You drove out the nations with Your hand,
But them You planted…
“The good old days” may not have been so good after all! We have a tendency to exaggerate how ...
Key Verse: Psalm 41:9
Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
In yesterday’s Psalms, that big word “I” was repeated over and over. Today the words that stand out are “my” and “me.” At least 35 times we are directed inward to think abo...
Key Verse: Psalm 39:1
I said, “I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my tongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.”
There’s a very big word here which has only one letter, the letter “i”. In these two Psalms, “i”, or actually the capital “I”, appears 19 tim...
Key Verses: Psalm 36:8-9a
They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
For with You is the fountain of life.
This is not a dull, unexciting existence, but a life of fullness, a river of God’s pleasures, and for us, a “fou...
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
The words, “the Lord,” occur 26 times in these two Psalms. There’s a saying about “the Lord”… that “He’s either Lord of all or not at all!” There should be no half-way measures in our faith! The Apostle Paul wrote...
Key Verse: Psalm 32:5
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
The key verse should sound familiar to us because of our common human condition. David shows us that the only w...
Key Verse: Psalm 30:5
For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.
It’s hard to imagine the despair that David tried to express in Psalm 30. He was running for his life from his father-in-law, King Saul, whom David woul...
Key Verse: Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
Like diamonds when the light strikes the many facets, so is the content of these two Psalms given to us by God and His shepherd king David. Let us joi...
Key Verse: Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 23 is classic literature and worthy of memorization. Even better than this is that it is true! We may want to read it aloud slowly, meditating on each line, applying it to our personal experience. David, the shepherd king, kne...
Key Verses: Psalm 22:16b-17
They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me…
In today’s reading, Psalm 21 communicates the joy we experience in the knowledge of God’s strength. When the Apostle Paul was struggling, God said to him, “My grace is sufficient...
Key Verses: Psalm 19:1-3
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Francis Collins, physician, scientist, and leader of the suc...
Key Verses: Psalm 18:1-2
I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
The conclusion David draws from the above statement is this, “I will call upon...
Key Verse: Psalm 16:11
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
YES!!! IT’S TRUE!!! Right now we can experience that “fulness of joy!” and the pleasures that are at His “right hand!” Just think of the amazing honour t...
Key Verse: Psalm 11:3-4a
If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord’s throne is in heaven…
Our key verse applies to our time! There are those who are taking jack hammers and bulldozers to the foundations of moral standards laid down o...
Key Verse: Psalm 10:17
Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear.
Yes! God will cause His “ear to hear.” Let us make personal the prayers found in our reading. Here are examples of what we may say when we pray. The shepherd ki...
Key Verses: Psalm 8:1a (and 8:9)
O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth.”
The shepherd king, David, sang the words of Psalm 7 “to the Lord.” Imagine singing of persecution, tearing apart like a lion, being trampled upon, etc. Somehow when we sing in our pain, it makes i...
Key Verse: Psalm 4:8
I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
How many of us have prayed the bedtime prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep! If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take!” How many...
Key Verses: Psalm 1:2, 2:7, 3:3
His delight…in His law he meditates day and night.
The Lord has said to me, You are My Son, today I have begotten You.
But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
First Psalm – the choice is ours to make! Either we will be...
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
What was to be the substance of Timothy’s message? Firstly, The Holy Scriptures (3:15). Secondly, “all Scripture” (3:16). Let us remember that the New...
Key Verses: 2 Timothy 2:15, 22b
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth…but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Today’s reading continues the militar...
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
The New King James translation is an excellent study Bible. The edition I use for this blog is called “The Open Bible Expanded Edition.” Here are quotations from the commentary on...
