As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (Psalm 42:1-2) As we begin to look at this psalm, which incidentally is the first in Book Two of the Psalms, it is important to point out that it was...

O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them. By this I know that You are well pleased with me, because my enemy does not triumph over me. (Psalm 41:10-11) At first glance, it seems as if David prayed that God would raise him up from his weakened...

My own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9) Before moving on to other verses and other issues, there is one other concept embedded within David's words that is important to address. As we've discussed, it...

My own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9) As with many of David's psalms, not only are they expressions of his heart and the emotions evoked by his circumstances, they are also prophetic, specifically...

My own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9) It is one thing to be assailed by an enemy -- it is to be expected -- but it is another kind of hurt to be betrayed by someone you have trusted in times past....

Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth. (Psalm 41:1-2) In conjunction with previous devotions about our responsibility to care for the less...

Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth. (Psalm 41:1-2) As was discussed in the previous devotion, the Creator is sensitive to the needs of...

I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, O my God. (Psalm 40:17) The Bible clearly establishes the fact that, in this world, there will always be poor people. In fact it is written, “The poor will never cease...

Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have surrounded me. (Psalm 40:11-12) In the previous devotion, David was very adamant about his outspokenness in regard to his...

I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your...

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my...

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my...