Tag Archives: Psalms

Face Time with God

07 Friday Feb 2025

Posted by in Psalm 80, Psalms

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Reading: Psalm 80:1-7
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.”
Of Asaph. A psalm.

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might; come and save us.
Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
How long, LORD God Almighty,
will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.
Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved (NIV). *

Buttercups — photo by David Kitz

Reflection
Have you been greeted by a happy face today? I’m talking about the ubiquitous, yellow, happy face stickers that pop up everywhere, especially in any form of online communication. 🙂, 🙂, 🙂! We all recognize these happy faces are intended to brighten our day—make us feel happy like the smiley face shows. I’m not sure they always succeed in their objective.

Of course, a bright, shining human face with a broad genuine smile is much better in communicating happiness than a symbolic sticker on a screen. Real live face time trumps online communication in every way—at least it should. Some things—most things—are communicated best face to face.

Here in Psalm 80, the psalmist, Asaph, pleads for face time with the LORD. In fact, in the entire psalm, Asaph repeats this request three times. Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved (v. 3). Clearly, the psalmist is longing to see the smiley face of God—the shining face of God.

In Hebrew literature the shining face of God represents God’s favor—His grace. The psalmist is pleading for God’s favor to rest on him and his people. The truth is we get nowhere without the favor of God. Unless the LORD is gracious to us, we are doomed to fail in this life and perish in eternity. It’s just that simple. We desperately need that happy face sticker from God. This should be our daily prayer: Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved (v. 7).

Response: Father God, today I need face time with you. Show me your kindness. Help me to sense you smiling down on me, like a loving parent smiles down on their child. Thanks for your grace. Amen.

Your Turn: Have you recently sensed God smiling down on you? How did that make you feel?

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

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

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

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Winner of the 2024 Word Award of Merit in Biblical Studies
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To purchase or for a closer look click here.

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.

The photo of Jerusalem on the cover of Psalm 365, Volume II

The LORD Loves the Foreigner

06 Thursday Feb 2025

Posted by in Psalm 79

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

Reading: Psalm 79:8-13

LORD God,
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.
Forgive the sins we have committed
against minorities within our borders.
You hold us accountable.
Show us your mercy,
Lord Jesus.
Amen.

— — —

For the LORD your God is God of gods 
and Lord of lords, 
the great God, mighty and awesome, 
who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 
He defends the cause
of the fatherless and the widow, 
and loves the foreigner residing among you,
giving them food and clothing. 
And you are to love those who are foreigners,
for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
Fear the LORD your God and serve him. 
Hold fast to him
and take your oaths in his name.
(Deuteronomy 10:17-20)*

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

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

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

New from David Kitz
Winner of the 2024 Word Award of Merit in Biblical Studies
TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

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

The photo of Jerusalem on the cover of Psalm 365, Volume II

A Cry for Justice and Mercy

05 Wednesday Feb 2025

Posted by in Psalms

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Reading: Psalm 79:1-7
A maskil of Asaph.
O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that do not call on your name;
for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland (NIV). *

Reflection
Have you caught a glimpse of the devastation? It seems the psalmist, Asaph, had a good look at it. Now take a good look at his words. “They have left the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild. They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead” (v. 2-3).

This description reads like a segment of the evening newscast. Of course, the newscast has plenty of disturbing visuals to go with it. When we look at conflict zones like Syria, Gaza, and Ukraine, we realize bloodshed and violence are all too common in our world. Jihadi violence has spread to European cities too. But we don’t have to go overseas to find images of death and destruction. Just last week in my city an unarmed black man was beaten to death by two police officers. As is so often the case, the images were caught on camera. Violence and bloodshed are present in our cities too.

Has the world gone mad? Are we sinking deeper and deeper into depravity? Have our minds become numb to the carnage? Or are we joining with the psalmist in crying out, “How long, LORD?” How long will you let this insanity continue? LORD, won’t you come and fix this broken messed up world?

Our hearts cry out for justice, mercy, and peace—justice for those who have been wronged, mercy for those who have been wounded and broken, and peace for all who are troubled in soul and spirit. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).

Response: LORD God, please have mercy on the people of this world. We need you here—right here with us in this broken world. Come and fix it. Come and fix us, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Your Turn: What concerns you about the state of your city, your country, and the world? What practical thing can you do to change your community 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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I Will Give You a New Heart

04 Tuesday Feb 2025

Posted by in Psalm 78

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

Reading: Psalm 78:65-72

LORD God,
I want a heart of integrity—
a heart that is pleasing to you.
Help me to become an instrument
you will use for your good purpose
in this strife-torn world.
Amen.

— — —

   I will sprinkle clean water on you,
and you will be clean;
I will cleanse you from all your impurities 
and from all your idols.
I will give you a new heart
and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit in you
and move you to follow my decrees 
and be careful to keep my laws.
Then you will live in the land
I gave your ancestors;
you will be my people, 
and I will be your God.
(Ezekial 36:25-28)*

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

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

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

New from David Kitz
Winner of the 2024 Word Award of Merit in Biblical Studies
TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

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 Blessed and the Cursed

03 Monday 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 78:56-64

LORD God,
 collectively as a nation,
we have wandered away from you.
LORD in your mercy
lead us back to the center of your holy will.
Give us repentant hearts that seek your face
and hunger for you, Lord Jesus,
the living Word.
Amen.

— — —

This is what the LORD says:

  “Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
    whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

(Jeremiah 17:5-8)*

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

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

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

New from David Kitz
Winner of the 2024 Word Award of Merit in Biblical Studies
TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

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

When Israel Abandoned God

03 Monday Feb 2025

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Reading: Psalm 78:56-64

But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.
They angered him with their high places;
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
When God heard them, he was furious;
    he rejected Israel completely.
He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
    the tent he had set up among humans.
He sent the ark of his might into captivity,
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
He gave his people over to the sword;
    he was furious with his inheritance.
Fire consumed their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;
their priests were put to the sword,
    and their widows could not weep (NIV). *

Reflection
Sin has consequences. We can pretend it isn’t so, but we’re fooling ourselves. Unchecked sin on a personal level can have devastating consequences—consequences that lead to heartache and an early grave. I think we all know individuals who became trapped in sin and wandered down a self-destructive path.

Today’s reading from Psalm 78 reminds us that a whole nation can abandon God and become mired in the consequences of sin. The nation of Israel did just that. The psalmist tells us they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow (v. 57).

When Israel abandoned God, He in turn abandoned them. We read, “He rejected Israel completely. He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans. He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy. He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance” (v. 59-62).

Has God changed? If the LORD abandoned His people in ancient times, will He treat our nation—any nation that turns away from Him differently today? There are consequences for sin and that truth applies to nations too. When collectively we abandon the ways of God and the precepts He has established from the foundations of the world, we can expect dire days ahead. That’s what happened to ancient Israel, and it can happen to us today as well.

Response: LORD God, collectively as a nation, we have wandered away from you. LORD in your mercy lead us back to the center of your holy will. Give us repentant hearts that seek your face. Amen.  

Your Turn: Are you concerned about the spiritual state of your nation? What are you doing about it?

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

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* 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 begin the new year, and daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

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Honey from the Rock

02 Sunday Feb 2025

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I will praise the LORD!


Psalm 81:11-16

“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.”*

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

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* 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 begin the new year, and daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

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A gripping read from David Kitz.
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Sing for Joy to God

01 Saturday Feb 2025

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I will praise the LORD!


Psalm 81:1-10

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.
I am the LORD your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.*

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

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* 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 begin the new year, and daily meet with the Lord. To purchase or for a closer look click here.

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A gripping read from David Kitz.
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New Birth into a Living Hope

31 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by in Psalm 78, Psalms

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

Reading: Psalm 78:50-55

LORD God,
I am thankful your Spirit sought me out
and drew me to the cross of Jesus.
I bow before you in praise and gratitude.
I pray you will show the same mercy
to many others.
Give me a heart of compassion
for those who have not experienced
your saving grace.
Amen.

— — —

 Praise be to the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy
he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance
that can never perish, spoil or fade.
This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
who through faith are shielded by God’s power
until the coming of the salvation
that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
(1 Peter 1:3-5)*

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

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

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

New from David Kitz
Winner of the 2024 Word Award of Merit in Biblical Studies
TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

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

The photo of Jerusalem on the cover of Psalm 365, Volume II

Our God Opposes the Proud

30 Thursday Jan 2025

Posted by in Psalm 78, Psalms

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

Reading: Psalm 78:40-49

LORD God,
I believe in your wrath
because you are grieved
at the hate and harm
we generate in this world.
Jesus,
I want to hear you calling
and follow you
to a place of deep personal change. 
Amen.

— — —

You adulterous people,
don’t you know that friendship with the world
means enmity against God?
Therefore,
anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world
becomes an enemy of God.
Or do you think Scripture says without reason
that he jealously longs for the spirit
he has caused to dwell in us?
But he gives us more grace.
That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”


Submit yourselves, then, to God.
Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you.
Come near to God
and he will come near to you.
Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts,
you double-minded.
Grieve, mourn and wail.
Change your laughter to mourning
and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will lift you up.
(James 4:4-10)*

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

bgbg_v4.3_1501818
* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

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

New from David Kitz
Winner of the 2024 Word Award of Merit in Biblical Studies
TheElishaCodeCVR5

To purchase or for a closer look click here.

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

The photo of Jerusalem on the cover of Psalm 365, Volume II