Psalm 54 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Part of God’s Family - July 18, 2022
“Is anyone still left in Saul’s family? I want to show kindness to that person for Jonathan’s sake!” (2 Samuel 9:1 NCV). Those who are prone to extend grace tend to ask such questions: can’t I be kind to someone because others have been kind to me? A servant named Ziba knows of a descendant. “Jonathan has a son who is still living who is crippled in both feet” (2 Samuel 9:3). David’s only response is, “Where is this son?” (v. 4).

When God speaks of you my friend, he doesn’t mention your plight, pain, or problem. He calls you his son, his daughter, his child. Mephibosheth was taken before the king, and David’s first words to him were, “Don’t be afraid.” By the way, your king has been known to say the same. Are you aware that the most repeated command from the lips of Jesus was Fear not? He still calls you a part of his family.

Psalm 54

 God, for your sake, help me!
    Use your influence to clear me.
Listen, God—I’m desperate.
    Don’t be too busy to hear me.

3
Outlaws are out to get me,
    hit men are trying to kill me.
Nothing will stop them;
    God means nothing to them.

4-5
Oh, look! God’s right here helping!
    God’s on my side,
Evil is looping back on my enemies.
    Don’t let up! Finish them off!

6-7
I’m ready now to worship, so ready.
    I thank you, God—you’re so good.
You got me out of every scrape,
    and I saw my enemies get it.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, July 18, 2022

Today's Scripture
Psalm 19:1–4
,
7–14

God’s glory is on tour in the skies,

God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.

Madame Day holds classes every morning,

Professor Night lectures each evening.

3–4     Their words aren’t heard,

their voices aren’t recorded,

But their silence fills the earth:

unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

4–5     God makes a huge dome

for the sun—a superdome!

The revelation of God is whole

and pulls our lives together.

The signposts of God are clear

and point out the right road.

The life-maps of God are right,

showing the way to joy.

The directions of God are plain

and easy on the eyes.

God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,

with a lifetime guarantee.

The decisions of God are accurate

down to the nth degree.

10     God’s Word is better than a diamond,

better than a diamond set between emeralds.

You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,

better than red, ripe strawberries.

11–14     There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger

and directs us to hidden treasure.

Otherwise how will we find our way?

Or know when we play the fool?

Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!

Keep me from stupid sins,

from thinking I can take over your work;

Then I can start this day sun-washed,

scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.

These are the words in my mouth;

these are what I chew on and pray.

Accept them when I place them

on the morning altar,

O God, my Altar-Rock,

God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

Insight

It isn’t difficult to imagine David as a youthful shepherd, gazing into the night sky and pondering his Creator. The first four verses of Psalm 19 focus on the heavenly expanse. David noted that these “silent” heavens announce the reality of God: “their voice goes out into all the earth” (19:4). The message is clear: all creation points to the Creator. The apostle Paul picked up this theme: “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” (Romans 1:20). By: Tim Gustafson

Unwanted Guests

Who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins.
Psalm 19:12–13

Kyle and Allison had a wonderful honeymoon in an exotic location. When they returned home, however, they discovered that Kyle’s feet had developed a strange, itchy rash. The couple was referred to an infectious disease specialist. He informed them that small parasites had burrowed their way into Kyle’s feet through blisters caused by his new flip flops. What started out as a dream vacation ended in a challenging battle with unwanted “guests.”

David knew that if he didn’t ask God for help to fight sin, his dream of living a pleasing life before Him would turn into a battle with the unwanted guests of sin and rebellion. After declaring how God is revealed in the natural world (Psalm 19:1–6) and His wisdom found in His instruction (vv. 7–10), David asked God to protect him from inadvertent, arrogant, and deliberate disobedience. “Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins,” he wrote (vv. 12–13). He recognized that he didn’t have the human resources to keep the infectious disease of sin from affecting him. So, he wisely asked God for help.

How can we make sure our dream of living in a way that honors God doesn’t become hijacked by sin? Let’s keep our eyes on Him, confess and repent of our sin, and seek divine help in keeping unwanted spiritual parasites from burrowing into our lives.

Reflect & Pray

What roles do the spiritual habits of confession and repentance play in your life? How important is living a God-honoring life to you?

Loving God, I don’t know myself as well as I should, and I fall short of what I know is right and good. Please help me trust in Your power in my battle with sin

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, July 18, 2022

The Mystery of Believing

He said, "Who are You, Lord?" —Acts 9:5

Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.

There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person’s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.

Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart— Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will not obey (Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don’t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, “I will not obey,” He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (see John 3:19-21).

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L

Bible in a Year: Psalms 20-22; Acts 21:1-17

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, July 18, 2022

Sin - The Thrill and the Bill - #9266

On a family vacation, we had some time to do some extra biking. There was a lake nearby. It was fun to go around the lake...well, sort of fun. See, there were these long, downhill stretches, "Oh man, just flying down that hill! It was fantastic! Then guess what came right after that. Yeah, the uphill climb, and that was grueling, sometimes painful. And guess which lasted longer...the downhill thrill or the pain of going uphill?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Sin - The Thrill and the Bill."

It was my son who reminded me as we collapsed at the top of a particularly grueling hill and we had just biked it. He said, "Dad, you know, this is a lot like sin." Okay. You know, he's right. He said, "We had a great time sailing down the hill, but the great feeling didn't last long. It felt like it took most of the afternoon to get up those hills."

Well, King David is going to be called right now as a witness in the case of the Downhill Thrill and the Uphill Bill. Oh, he spent his adulterous night with Bathsheba, and it was probably pleasurable. The Bible talks about the pleasures of sin, except it tacks on three words. It says, "for a season." That's the downhill thrill. Then comes the uphill bill that you pay for that short-lived thrill.

In our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 51:3, David steps forth after that sin and he says, "I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me." Now, the pleasure wasn't always before him. But his sin, the guilt, the consequences, the shame, oh they never went away: memories, consequences, hurting relationships. You might say, "Was it worth it, David-that downhill thrill?" And he'd say, "No way. There's way too much pain for that short-lived pleasure. You pay a lot longer than you play."

It could be right now that you're experiencing the downhill thrill of sin. Oh, it feels good; seems like nothing's wrong. Maybe it's a sexual sin, maybe it's a short-lived satisfaction of getting even with someone, or maybe you've got a good situation you've come through with a little dishonesty. Maybe you're violating God's boundaries with your body, or you're partying with some friends.

Let me warn you, the uphill grind is coming. In fact the Bible guarantees that "whatever you sow, you will reap." And the harvest? Oh, that will last a whole lot longer than the sowing ever did. It's a law of the universe: if you sow to your evil nature, the Bible says, you will reap destruction. It is inevitable; it happens every time.

Oh, you have a good feeling right now that sin gives, but maybe you don't have the consequences yet, and it's easy to just go with what you can see now. But the thrill is not worth the price tag. This moment won't last. The loss, oh it will last. The pain, the consequences? Just ask King David. They last a lifetime.

There's some good news, though. Because for all of us who have violated God's laws, who've lived outside of His boundaries in one way or another, we have found there's a Savior who will forgive and erase every one of those from God's Book and begin to heal the hurt and the damage sin has done. Only Jesus can do that, because only He paid the price to do it. I mean a price of blood shed on a cross for all us sinners...for you, for me. Maybe today, knowing very well what dirty feels like inside, you could feel clean for the first time in your life. All the consequences, all the pain of our sin? It's just a reminder that there is an awful punishment for sin coming, and God doesn't want you to pay that price; His Son already did.

Today, would you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You're my rescuer!" I'd invite you to go to our website, because there's a lot more information about this there. It's ANewStory.com.

You can take it from an old tired biker, that uphill grind will cancel any downhill thrill.