June 24: You Are My Shield
God’s judgment is about making things right. About restoring justice where it has been twisted. That is good news for some and terrifying news for others.
June 23: Righteous Anger
God’s anger is different from ours: it is righteous. And it is the only reasonable response to pure evil.
June 22: Justice Isn’t Always Convenient
If we pray to God for justice, we need to be prepared for him to challenge our own sins as well.
June 21: Deliver Me
David was hiding in caves and strongholds, but he recognized a key truth: no stronghold is sufficient to protect you if God is not your refuge.
June 20: Lament and Hope
Lament and hope are not mutually exclusive. We can weep (like David did) and also have an unshakeable confidence that God will come through for us.
June 17: You Have Heard My Weeping
If you’re going through a difficult time, remember this: your tears are a sacred form of prayer. And God will hear you.
June 16: In Death There Is No Remembrance of You
Thankfully, God is much more faithful than we are, and not even death can separate us from his love.
June 15: Steadfast Love
When David cried out to God, he didn’t claim to deserve his deliverance. No, he appealed to the only thing he (or anyone) could: God’s “steadfast love.”
June 14: Hiding is Pointless
Many of us feel the need to “sugar-coat” our prayers. May we learn this lesson today: God cherishes honest prayers.
June 13: Favor Like a Shield
Choosing to obey God’s instruction is not an oppressive limitation of freedom but a door that leads us to true joy and liberation.
June 10: They Fall By Their Own Counsel
And this is another truth I have discovered through studying the Scriptures: although God does punish evil, the punishment is typically self-inflicted.
June 9: We Don’t Know The Way
It takes humility to pray these words. To say, “lead me,” you have to admit that you don’t know the way. And of course, we don’t.
June 8: Evil May Not Dwell With You
I love verse 7 because it reminds us of the variable that changes everything: God’s love. David doesn’t say that he will enter God’s house (the place of his presence) because he is without fault. He says that he will enter “through the abundance of (God’s) steadfast love.”
June 7: We Watch
And here’s the funny thing: in watching and waiting we discover that he was there all along. We just didn’t notice him.
June 6: To Be Heard
The more I study the Psalms the more I am convinced of this: deep within the heart of humankind is the need to be heard.
