Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 30:6-12
Ps 30:6-12
6 When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." 7 O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. 8 To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: 9 "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help." 11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.
1 Thess 5:16-18
16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
If only it were as easy to put things into practice as it is to tell others how to live their lives! For a lot of us it seems that Paul really meant to say “some of the time” or even “most of the time” and surely he did not mean to give thanks in “all” circumstances but instead “a lot of them” or at least less than “all”. How can we possible give thanks when things have all gone wrong? How can we give thanks when our loved ones are taken, our child is injured or so many other things that happen to so many every day? Are we really supposed to be joyful in these and other catastrophic circumstances?
The answer (I believe) lies in the middle of this text. We are told to pray continually. Paul said to the Philippians that he had learned to be content in all circumstances through Jesus Christ who gave him strength. This is why he could be found singing praises to God at midnight while locked and chained in prison when all he had done was heal a young girl of the evil that afflicted her. When his circumstances were beyond his ability to bear, he learned to trust in God instead of trusting in himself. Paul was a person just like us so we can do it too.
With this trust our wailing will be turned to dancing and our mourning will be turned to joy. We will then sing praises to him and not be silent.
Lord God, it is with humble heart and contrite spirit that I come to you because I have failed so many times to let your joy and your peace fill my heart. Increase my faith so I will let go of my pride and my desire to do it all myself when I am faced with things that overwhelm me. Help me open my heart to your Spirit so I can be moved to trust you in ALL things and do away with the unnecessary anxiety that so often fills my heart. God, I know you have never let me down but far too many times I have let you down so please forgive me and give me faith, wisdom and strength to trust you more. I ask this in the name of Jesus.
Robert
