Archive | Devotions

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. (Ps. 34:4-5) After being married almost 30 years, my wife has developed the ability to know what I’m thinking just by looking at my face. Julie – “What’s bothering you?” Me – “Nothing.” Julie – “No, something’s bothering you. What is it?” Me – “How do you know something’s bothering me?” Julie – “You have that furrowed brow, low eyebrows, ‘something’s bothering me’ face.” She’s right …

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13) David begins in the clutches of despair, discouragement, …

"O Father of Jesus, Help me to approach you with deepest reverence, not with presumption, Not with servile fear, but with holy boldness. You are beyond the grasp of my understanding, But not beyond that of my love." My view of God tends to one of two extremes. Either I think of Him as familiar, approachable, and very much like me; or I imagine that He’s distant, fearsome, and completely alien to me. These opening lines, from the prayer "The Love of Jesus" in The Valley of Vision, succinctly capture the tension of worshipping the God who is both transcendent and immanent. "O Father of Jesus." I’m reminded …

This is a little different from my typical Monday devotion, but I thought it might be helpful to share. Yesterday, along with many American churches, we participated in “Pro-Life Sunday.” After singing two songs, we sang O God of Love by Nathan and Louise Fellingham. I then asked everyone to sit down and shared the following comments as part of our corporate worship: We just sang the lines, “You know my frame, you know how I am made, You planned all my days.” These words are taken from Psalm 139, where David writes: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully …

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. (Ps. 40:9-10 ESV) In these two verses, David models praise that is enthusiastic, specific, and corporate. “I have told…I have not restrained…I have not hidden…I have spoken…I have not concealed.” God has delivered David from the pit of destruction and put a new song in his mouth (Ps. …

“Serve the Lord with gladness.” (Ps. 100a) God cares whether or not there is joy in our hearts when we obey Him. He feels so strongly about this that in Deuteronomy He tells Israel they will be enslaved because “you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart.” (Deut. 28:47) In Ps. 32:11 he commands us “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” Philippians 4:4 sounds the same note: “Rejoice in the Lord, always; again I will say, rejoice.” Obviously, these verses aren’t referring to a superficial happiness that depends …

For the last few years I’ve made it a practice to begin each morning reading the five Psalms for the day. I multiply the day of the month times five and read that Psalm along with the preceding four Psalms. I read Psalm 119 on the last day of months that have 31 days. I started reading the Psalms in earnest after realizing that this is the one book God gave us that shows in detail how we should relate to Him in praise, prayer, and petition. There are few books in Scripture that so profoundly teach us about God with such a broad range of emotional expression. Even more importantly, since my job is to lead people in worshipping God corporately, …

I’m writing this after spending most of the last 24 hours in bed with the flu. I’ll spare you the details, but it ended up affecting everyone but Chelsea, my 19 year old. The family we invited over for dinner last night also succumbed. It was a little special "gift" we gave them… What’s been running through my mind at various points is the opening to Psalm 130: Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! I’m not sure what "depths" the Psalmist was going through, but I definitely feel like I’ve been there. No motivation, no strength, no …

O Lord, My every sense, member, faculty, affection, Is a snare to me, I can scarce open my eyes but I envy those above me, Or despise those below. So begins the prayer from The Valley of Vision entitled "Self-Deprecation." In a culture where low self-esteem is the ultimate sin, it’s refreshing to encounter confession that is so honest, so compelling, so familiar. Can you identify with this author’s sad situation? He realizes that our temptations don’t arise so much from things around us as things within us. A co-worker is honored and I wonder why nobody noticed my contribution. I silently applaud myself for buying a slightly-too-expensive …

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. (Lk. 1:46-48a ESV) Yesterday, Grant Layman, one of the pastors at my church, gave an outstanding message from Luke 1:39-56, called Mary’s Song. He focused on Mary’s circumstances, Mary’s character, and Mary’s God. I was raised as a Roman Catholic, and have long since dealt with an unbiblical exaltation of Mary’s role in God’s plan of salvation. She was not immaculately conceived, she was not perpetually sinless, and she is definitely not a co-mediator with Jesus. …

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14) Every year about this time I read an article or hear an interview where someone describes what they love most about Christmas. In America, there are a lot of things to love. Hearing Christmas carols everywhere you go, gathering with family and friends, smelling Christmas cookies in the oven (and the eating of those cookies), extended family shopping trips, last minute gift purchases, live nativity scenes, piling in the car to look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve, finding something you REALLY wanted under the tree on Christmas morning… I’m sure you could make your own …

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones! (Ps. 105:1-6 ESV) Recently, we’ve been experiencing something of a mini-crisis in our home. My 85 year old mother-in-law, is suffering from dementia. Although she’s been with us for over …