Will You Revive Us Again?

16 Sunday Feb 2025

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I will praise the LORD!

Psalm 85:1-7

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

You, LORD, showed favor to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of your people
    and covered all their sins.
You set aside all your wrath
    and turned from your fierce anger.
Restore us again, God our Savior,
    and put away your displeasure toward us.
Will you be angry with us forever?
    Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
    that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your unfailing love, LORD,
    and grant us your salvation. *

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A Day in Your Courts

15 Saturday Feb 2025

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I will praise the LORD!

Carcasonne, France, photo by David Kitz

Psalm 84:8-12

Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty;
    listen to me, God of Jacob.
Look on our shield, O God;
    look with favor on your anointed one.
Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
    the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless.
LORD Almighty,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you. *

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The Weapons We Fight With

14 Friday Feb 2025

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.

Reading: Psalm 83:1-8

LORD God,
we have a powerful deceptive opponent,
but we have victory through your Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
I call on your awesome name.
Give me victory over sin
and the forces of evil
that are out to destroy my life.
My strength is in you,
Lord Jesus,
and your redeeming blood.
Amen.

— — —

For though we live in the world,
we do not wage war as the world does. 
The weapons we fight with
are not the weapons of the world.
On the contrary,
they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 
We demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up
against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought
to make it obedient to Christ. 
(2 Corinthians 10:3-5)*

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Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.
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Like Cobras Ready to Strike

14 Friday Feb 2025

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Reading: Psalm 83:1-8
A psalm of Asaph.
O God, do not remain silent;
    do not turn a deaf ear,
    do not stand aloof, O God.
See how your enemies growl,
    how your foes rear their heads.
With cunning they conspire against your people;
    they plot against those you cherish.
“Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
    so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
With one mind they plot together;
    they form an alliance against you—
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
    of Moab and the Hagrites,
Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
    Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
Even Assyria has joined them
    to reinforce Lot’s descendants (NIV). *

Reflection
Do you have enemies? Ancient Israel certainly did. Here in Psalm 83, Asaph lists ten traditional enemies of Israel. The psalmist clearly states the objective of these foreign powers. Their objective was the annihilation of Israel as a nation. “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more” (v. 4).

In the spiritual realm every born-again follower of Jesus has a host of enemies who are trying to tear him down and annihilate his or her faith. Therefore, St. Paul gives us this advice:  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:11-12).

Though they may not have a physical form, our enemies are real. The trap called pornography is real. The idolatrous nature of greed is real. The crippling effects of resentment and bitterness are real. These sins and the demonic forces that continually prompt us to disobey God are real. They are constantly working to annihilate our faith.

Our enemies growl and like cobras they rear their heads to strike. But in our hour of need, if we call out to God, He will not stand aloof. He will deliver us. Lord, teach us to pray. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Response: LORD God, we have a powerful opponent, but we have victory through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I call on your awesome name. Give me victory over sin and the forces of evil that are out to destroy my life. My strength is in you. Amen.  

Your Turn: Identify some of the sins and snares the enemy has set for you. Are there patterns of behavior that trigger defeat?

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.
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The One Who Boasts

13 Thursday Feb 2025

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.

Reading: Psalm 82

LORD God,
you are the Most High.
Help me to stop comparing myself with others.
All I have comes from you.
Today I want to get off my pedestal
and help someone else.
Show me how, Lord Jesus.
Amen.

— — —

 But,
“Let the one who boasts
boast in the Lord.”
For it is not the one who commends himself 
who is approved,
but the one whom the Lord commends.
(2 Corinthians 10:17-18)*

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Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.
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Learning to Walk in Humility

13 Thursday Feb 2025

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Reading: Psalm 82
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
“How long will you defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
“I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance (NIV).

Reflection
How high is the pedestal you are standing on? Are you standing taller than the fellow beside you?

Most of us would answer that we are not standing on a pedestal but is that the truth. If we are honest with ourselves, I think we all can admit that we have looked down on others at times. We have considered ourselves superior to most of our peers.

Here in Psalm 82, God sets us on a pedestal. He calls us gods. This is a rather backhanded compliment, because after calling us gods, the Most High calls us to account. And what must we account for? We need to account for how we treat the weak and the poor among us. Here are the actions the LORD expects from us: Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed (v. 3).

Are we doing these things? Far too often I spend my time jacking up my pedestal—trying to get a bit of elevation over the fellow beside me. I’m too busy to help someone else who has fallen off their pedestal or the poor clod who can’t find one to stand on. You have to pity these folks—the ones who don’t have a pedestal. How can they hold their head up if they’re superior to no one?

Paul, the apostle, writes, “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12).

God will have the final say with mortals like me. This “god” needs to learn to serve in humility.

Response: LORD, you are the Most High. Help me to stop comparing myself with others. All I have comes from you. Today I want to get off my pedestal and help someone else. Show me how, Lord. Amen.

Your Turn: Do you compare yourself with others? Are you polishing your pedestal? How can we maintain an attitude of humility?

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.
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Choose Whom You Will Serve

12 Wednesday Feb 2025

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.

Reading: Psalm 81:10-16

LORD God,
today I choose to follow you.
I want to be on your side,
rooting for the right team,
and reflecting the compassion of Jesus.
I trust the promises in your word.
You bring me victory,
provision, and enduring joy. 
Amen.

— — —

“Now fear the LORD
and serve him with all faithfulness.
Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped
beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt,
and serve the LORD. 
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you,
then choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve,
whether the gods your ancestors served
beyond the Euphrates,
or the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land you are living.
But as for me and my household,
we will serve the LORD.”
(Joshua 24:14-15)*

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Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.
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When We Listen, God Fights for Us

12 Wednesday Feb 2025

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Reading: Psalm 81:10-16
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
“But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
“If my people would only listen to me,
if Israel would only follow my ways,
how quickly I would subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!
Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last forever.
But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (NIV).

Reflection
In this concluding portion of Psalm 81, the LORD sets out two possible courses of action for the people of Israel. They can refuse to listen to God, persist in their stubborn ways and reap the devastating consequences, or they can submit to the LORD and be rewarded for their obedience.

God is for us; He is on our side. But we must decide to be on His side. He will fight for us—on our behalf—if we make the right decision. Look at this promise. “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!” (v. 13-14).

But the LORD doesn’t just promise victory over our foes. He promises to richly provide for us and bless us. “But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (v. 16)

The benefits of following the LORD are clearly stated and obvious. They are obvious when we examine the word of God, but they are obvious as well from human experience. I know many individuals who have resisted the will of God for their lives and their way has been marked by hardship and tragedy—much of it brought on by the choices they have made. The rebellious soul chooses to walk a rocky road. “God sets the lonely in families; he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land” (Psalm 68:6).

What choices are you making? Are you choosing God’s ways? Are you listening to Him? We can choose a rocky road in a sun scorched land, or we can choose to be fed with honey from the rock. There are rich rewards when we make the right choice.

Response: LORD God, today I choose to follow you. I want to be on your side, rooting for the right team. I trust the promises in your word. You bring me victory, provision, and enduring joy. Amen.

Your Turn: Have you struggled in obeying God? How do you turn rebellion into submission to God’s will?

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.
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Growing in the Knowledge of God

11 Tuesday Feb 2025

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Today’s quote and prayer from
“Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer”
by David Kitz.

Reading: Psalm 81:1-9

LORD God,
I thank you for rescuing me
from a life of sin and futility.
I praise you for redeeming me, Lord Jesus.
I rejoice in your continual goodness.
Your mercies are new every morning.
Amen.

— — —

We continually ask God to fill you
with the knowledge of his will
through all the wisdom and understanding
that the Spirit gives,
so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord
and please him in every way:
bearing fruit in every good work,
growing in the knowledge of God, 
being strengthened with all power
according to his glorious might
so that you may have great endurance and patience, 
and giving joyful thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you to share in the inheritance
of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 
in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
(Colossians 1:9b-14)*

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Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

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Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.
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Celebrating Our Freedom in Christ

11 Tuesday Feb 2025

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Reading: Psalm 81:1-9
For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph.
Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre.
Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.
I heard an unknown voice say:
“I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me (NIV). *

Reflection
Psalm 81 begins with a call for God’s people to celebrate: Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre (v. 1-2).

Why should we break forth in music and song? Well, we have a good reason to celebrate. We have been set free from our burdens. Because of the victory of Christ, we have been set free from slavery to sin. The psalmist expresses this thought with these words: I heard an unknown voice say: “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you” (v. 5-7).

Who is that unknown voice? That unknown voice belongs to the LORD. He is the One who set the people free from bondage in Egypt. God went out against Egypt (v. 6). He opposed the most powerful nation of the world at that time and claimed a people for Himself by rescuing them from the hand of Pharaoh.

Our heavenly Father has done the same for us. At the cost of his life, Jesus redeemed us from bondage to sin and Satan and he brought us into his Kingdom. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). We have plenty of reasons to celebrate and break forth into music and song. Let nothing hold you back. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Response: LORD God, I thank you for rescuing me from a life of sin and futility. I praise you for redeeming me, Lord Jesus. I rejoice in your continual goodness. Your mercies are new every morning. Amen.

Your Turn: Do you find it difficult or easy to break into song as you think of the Lord’s love for you? Take some time to worship God today.

Para la publicación de Salmos 365 de hoy en español haga clic aquí.

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

Please pray for peace to return to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine!

Volume I of Psalms 365: Develop a Life of Worship and Prayer won the Best Book of the Year Award from The Word Guild and Volume II has won the Best Devotional of the Year Award. For those who love God’s word, this three-book series is an ideal way to daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.
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