Category: “Listening to God” Devotional

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+055

 

Psalm 55 (ESV)

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
⁶ And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
⁷ yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
⁸ I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹ Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
¹¹ ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase? How is that related to your current situation? What does God tell you to do?
3. How do you tend to respond to troubles: (1) Denial? (2) Blame someone else? (3) Avoid the problem/person? (4) Escape? (5) Tackle them head on? (6) Pray? How are you handling your biggest problem today?
4. How would you like God to help you to grow in your ability to express your feelings to Him? Talk to God about your concerns and fears.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

He Hears My Voice – www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcweU2YCZos

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+054

 

Psalm 54 (ESV)

¹ O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
² O God, hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.

³ For strangers have risen against me;
ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴ Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
⁵ He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.

⁶ With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
⁷ For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase?
3. It’s especially painful when a friend turns against us. When that happens, we would be wise to follow David’s lead.  When did you experience betrayal by someone close to you? How did you react? How would this psalm help you to face it now?
4. Don’t dwell on the betrayal. Let God mete out any appropriate punishment. Released from any thoughts of hurt or revenge, David praised God and remembered how the Lord “delivered me from all my troubles.” In the NT, Jesus teaches us to pray for those who persecute us. Out of prayer for others—even our enemies—comes an alignment with God’s heart, and because God is love, as we pray for others we will grow in our love for them. Listen to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to give you the faces of some people who have hurt you and who you need to not only forgive, but to love.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

The Lord Upholds My Life – www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxToiTbI0ZE

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+053

 

Psalm 53 (ESV)

¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.

² God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.

³ They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.

⁴ Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?

⁵ There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage?
3. We often think: “Do good and prosper, ignore God and fail.” But this often doesn’t work, and we wonder why good things happen to bad people. The psalmist says not to worry about it. God will take care of them soon enough.
4. What do you secretly want to see happen to those who do evil and enjoy momentary success? How would their success and your reaction to it make you feel about God, about yourself and those people? Are you focused on success here in this world, or on storing up treasures in heaven?
5. Talk with God and tell Him your emotions right now. Then listen to God’s response.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

There Is No God – www.youtube.com/watch?v=JirsdJnOqUo

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+052

 

Psalm 52 (ESV)

¹  Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
² Your tongue plots destruction,
like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
³ You love evil more than good,
and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴ You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.

⁵ But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
⁶ The righteous shall see and fear,
and shall laugh at him, saying,
⁷ “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

⁸ But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
⁹ I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
in the presence of the godly.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase? How is that related to your current situation? What does God tell you to do?
3. Verse 8: ‘But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God’ (NIV). Are you “flourishing in the house of God”? What is lacking in your spiritual community? What helps you flourish? How can you offer more of yourself in church, in your cell group, that you might grow closer to God and to others as well?

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Olive Tree – www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZGzga5X3yE

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+051

 

Psalm 51 (ESV)

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

³ For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶ Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹ Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase?
3. As Christians, we know we are sinful. Why then is it so painful to be confronted with a specific sin? What sin have you been avoiding talking to God about? Take it to God and experience His forgiveness.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Psalm 51 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IRQTaSo9Nc

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+050

 

Psalm 50 (ESV)

⁷ “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
⁸ Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
⁹ I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
¹⁰ For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.

¹² “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
¹⁴ Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase? How is that related to your current situation? What does God tell you to do?
3. What would a “thank offering” to God look like for you? Today, make your prayers an offering of praise and thanksgiving for God’s work in your life, and try to go about today with a spirit of thankfulness in your heart. Ask God to help you to see how He is continually present with you in each moment, showing you love and grace even if you are not aware.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Psalm 50 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqFoGh6Zp3I

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+049

 

Psalm 49 (ESV)

⁵ Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
⁶ those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
⁷ Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
⁸ for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
⁹ that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.

¹⁰ For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
¹¹ Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
¹² Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase? How is that related to your current situation? What does God tell you to do?
3. This psalm shows that life is fragile. No matter how much wealth you accumulate, you cannot take it with you. And no money can give you immortality.
4. Read and meditate: “’Blessed are the poor in spirit’ means ‘Blessed is the man who has realized his own utter helplessness, and who has put his whole trust in God.’ If a man has realized his own utter helplessness, and has put his whole trust in God, there will enter into his life two things which are opposite sides of the same thing. He will become completely detached from things, for he will know that things have not got it in them to bring happiness or security; and he will become completely attached to God, for he will know that God alone can bring him help, and hope, and strength. The man who is poor in spirit is the man who has realized that things mean nothing and that God means everything.” – William Barclay

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Psalm 49 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKTmMzWAzHI

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+048

 

Psalm 48 (ESV)

¹ Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!
His holy mountain,

² beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
³ Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.

⁴ For behold, the kings assembled;
they came on together.
⁵ As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.
⁶ Trembling took hold of them there,
anguish as of a woman in labor.
⁷ By the east wind you shattered
the ships of Tarshish.
⁸ As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God will establish forever. Selah

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase? How is that related to your current situation? What does God tell you to do?
3. As the psalmist walked the walls of ancient Jerusalem, he saw more than mighty stones. The city God had chosen represented all God’s acts in history in loving and protecting His beloved people. How do you see God in your life?  How have you seen God guide you through a crisis that threatened your “city” (your security or safety)?

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

City of the Great King – www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf1yTZUpB4Q

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+047

 

Psalm 47 (ESV)

¹ Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
² For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth.
³ He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
⁴ He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

⁵ God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
⁷ For God is the King of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm!

⁸ God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
⁹ The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted!

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase?
3. The psalmist sings, claps, sacrifices and invites others to share in his joy in God.
4. Try to write a psalm to the Lord, including in it reasons you enjoy knowing God. You might want to sing a song or hymn that you can sing with meaning. Or perhaps play some recorded music that reflects your mood.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

O Clap Your Hands – www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9lluagfp9c

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+046

 

Psalm 46 (ESV)

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
⁶ The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

 

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage?
3. When have you felt the safest in your lifetime? Why?  Circle or underline every word in this passage that deals with the concept of safety and security. What is your emotion as you read this word or phrase?  How is that related to your current situation?  What does God tell you to do?
4. When you pray, are you able to be still and listen to God’s voice and feel His presence? Take several minutes to allow the Holy Spirit to free your mind of any anxious thought, concern or stress right now. Ask God to release you from these thoughts that hold you captive and paralyze you. At this time, ask God to fill you with the promises from this psalm concerning the safety and security found only in Him.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Lord of Hosts – www.youtube.com/watch?v=2emelR7lGmw