READ:
Psalm 34-36
David wrote this Psalm just after he pretended to
be insane to preserve his life (see 1 Samuel 21:10-15). David’s life, it could
be said, was one of living on the edge. He was going from danger to danger,
risk to risk. For one risk he might engage in battle, in the next he might be
diplomatic, and according to Scripture he even went so far as to act like a
madman! David had no tried-and-true battle plans, or means of escape. His
strategy was to rely on the Lord. No wonder his plans were a little
off-the-wall! In Psalm 34 David gives credit to God for helping him. He says he
boasts in the Lord. This is because the crazy ideas are not his – they come
from God. God answered him, delivered him and saved him. David has no doubt
whatsoever. He knows the Lord has protected him. He also knows it is because he
pursues righteousness and fears the Lord. So he teaches his followers (verse
11) to live holy lives and fear the Lord. David understands there is, and will
continue to be, trouble, disaster and discouragement. Yet he has the audacity
to say the Lord won’t allow even a bone to be broken. We will very likely see
trouble and hurt here, but God will not allow this to define you for
eternity. The deliverance God offers is not just for not, but forever!
Psalm 36 offers us an opportunity to evaluate our
own hearts. The first few verses describe the wicked. It is natural to ask,
“How do I compare?” David’s first
comment is there is no fear of God in the heart of the wicked. This should
cause us to pull back, evaluate, and ask if we fear the Lord. The next thing
David says is they think so highly of themselves they don’t even see their own
sin. How many times are we caught in this trap, thinking our sin is not nearly
as big as someone else’s? “At least I
haven’t….” We fill in the blank with a sin someone else has committed
thereby excusing ourselves of our own sin. We don’t hate our sin. We get
comfortable with it, make friends with it, and don’t even notice it is the very
thing that’s killing us. When David goes on to explain what this sin looks like
it’s not murder, or adultery, or any of the “big” sins. It’s in what he says,
unwise choices, and planning sinful behavior. It’s the heart! Yet God offers us
His faithful forgiveness, time after time after time. God looks for the heart
that is upright, not just the actions.
JOURNALING
AND PRAYER
1. Ask the Lord to reveal to you anything that has
happened to you, or you have done, that is defining you today. Ask the Lord to
show you how this will change in eternity if you stay committed to Him. Ask the
Lord if there is something He wants to say to you today to change whether or
not this continues to define you even now.
2. Ask Jesus to reveal to you if there is a sin in
your life you have excused by comparing it to someone else’s sin. Ask God why
you don’t hate that sin. Confess it to Him and ask Him to give you His
perspective on your sin so that you might have a righteous heart.
3. Ask God for a very specific picture of His love
toward you that will motivate you to love others today with a love that is
pure, faithful and unfailing. Keep this image in mind throughout today.
