Category: “Listening to God” Devotional

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+025

 

Psalm 25 (ESV)

¹ To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
² O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
³ Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

⁴ Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
⁵ Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.

⁶ Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
⁷ Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

⁸ Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
⁹ He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

¹¹ For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

 

REFLECTION:

1. What can we expect from God to deliver us from shame? We can expect God to show us His way, guiding and teaching us by His truth (vv4-5). We can expect God to forgive us, freeing us from the burden of our past and purifying us (vv6-7).
2. Because God is good, He guides the humble into what is right (vv8-10). Because He is gracious, He forgives even great iniquity (v11). What a wonderful God we have.
3. What are you most in need of today: protection, guidance or forgiveness? Do you feel you will receive it? Why or why not? Speak to God about it and wait for God’s response. Continue this conversation with God throughout the day.

 

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 25 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHJa7W2Vqlo

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+024

 

Psalm 24 (ESV)

¹ The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
² for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

³ Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
⁵ He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
⁸ Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Imagine you are in the procession going up to the temple to worship. As you read this psalm, what feelings and images evoked in you?
2. Read it again slowly and try to grasp the emotions and attitudes of fellow worshipers. What are they?
3. Compare it with your own emotions and attitudes of going to worship each Sunday, what is the difference?
4. Who can enter God’s sanctuary (vv3-6)? How does this psalm help you better prepared for worship this week and the weeks following?

 

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 24 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO77-m4SS3M

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+023

 

Psalm 23 (ESV)

¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³ He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Read aloud this familiar psalm of the Bible.
2. Now read it again in the negative (“The Lord is not my shepherd…”). What verse is most disturbing to you? Why?
3. Now read this psalm the right way again. Any new insight?  Talk with God about your insights.

 

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:

I Am Not Alone – www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpTXb_-sir8

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+022

 

Psalm 22 (ESV)

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.

³ Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸ “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

⁹ Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
¹⁰ On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
¹¹ Be not far from me,
for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

 

REFLECTION:

1. The opening words of this psalm: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”, was quoted by Jesus on the cross (Matt 27:46). This is also David’s cry to God during his many troubled times.
2. Jesus was forsaken on the cross so that we would be received by God. Then God promised: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). God has also promised to be with us forever (Matt 28:20).
3. No matter what your circumstance is, remember: God will never forsake you. Cry to God as David did, and wait patiently for His response with a thankful heart.

 

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 22 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaJ-moIjATU

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+021

 

Psalm 21 (ESV)

¹ O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices,
and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
² You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
³ For you meet him with rich blessings;
you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
⁴ He asked life of you; you gave it to him,
length of days forever and ever.
⁵ His glory is great through your salvation;
splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
⁶ For you make him most blessed forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
⁷ For the king trusts in the Lord,
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

⁸ Your hand will find out all your enemies;
your right hand will find out those who hate you.
⁹ You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.
¹⁰ You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
and their offspring from among the children of man.
¹¹ Though they plan evil against you,
though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
¹² For you will put them to flight;
you will aim at their faces with your bows.

¹³ Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power.

 

REFLECTION:

1. David lists the blessings of faithfully following after God in this passage: the victories won (v1), desires granted (v2), prayers answered (v2), presence welcomed (v3), crown given (v3), life forever and ever (v4), glory bestowed (v5), joy in God’s presence (v6), and unfailing love (v7).
2. Remembering what God has done for us is a continual source of joy.
3. Make a list of the blessings you’ve received from God. Go through the list and thank God for all of the blessings one by one.

 

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:

Victory – www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPrUDYX44Pk

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+020

 

Psalm 20 (ESV)

¹ May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
² May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion!
³ May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

⁴ May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
⁵ May we shout for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.

⁹ O Lord, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.

 

REFLECTION:

1. David’s trust in God rather than chariots (v7) is expressed in his conviction that blessings come from God. We who share David’s belief will express our best wishes for others in prayers like his.
2. Think of one person that may need this prayer. Pray this psalm for that person. You may rephrase it to suit his/her situation. You may also write it down and send a note to let him/her know you are praying for him/her.

 

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 20 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5ekcTrLWLw

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+019

 

Psalm 19 (ESV)

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

¹² Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

 

REFLECTION:

1. God’s guidance and teaching through the law are a gift, not a burden. They nurture life, offer warning, and promise great reward for those who please God.
2. Which of David’s descriptions of God’s Law (God’s Word) best matches your experience with Scripture? How does your sense of its value match the time you spend reading it? Why? How can you improve it?
3. Ask God to help you to increase your sense of value of the Bible.

 

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 Law of the Lord is Perfect – www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-ykfw3-i7s

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+018

 

Psalm 18 (ESV)

⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷ Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸ Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹ He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰ He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
thick clouds dark with water.
¹² Out of the brightness before him
hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

¹³ The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

 

REFLECTION:

1. These few verses give a wonderful picture of storm; it’s a vivid description of God working to help His people. Our Creator God uses all happenings in nature to serve His people.
2. Today, go outside and feel the wind; watch the clouds. Just imagine God being in the wind and the cloud. Continue going with God as He “soars on the wings of the wind”, and from the thick clouds, watching Him sends down blessed rain.
3. How do you feel on this imaginative trip with God? Talk to God about it. And listen to His chuckling and response to you.

 

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:

Great Praise for Great Victory – www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-l2T4q7uQY

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+017

 

Psalm 17 (ESV)

¹ Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry!
Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
² From your presence let my vindication come!
Let your eyes behold the right!

³ You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,
you have tested me, and you will find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
⁴ With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
⁵ My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.

⁶ I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words.
⁷ Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand.

⁸ Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings,
⁹ from the wicked who do me violence,
my deadly enemies who surround me.

 

REFLECTION:

1. The psalmist boldly claims innocence and asks for God’s vindication and protection in the face of enemies who want to destroy him.
2. Those who resolve not to sin can have great confidence in prayer. We pray because we expect a God who loves us to act. And God’s eyes are constantly on the believers, watching over us.
3. We are confident that we will see God in prayer. He will listen patiently and we can commit all our things to Him and not be in fear of being interrupted, hurried or stopped.
4. Do you need someone to listen to? To be understood? To be vindicated? Tell God of your needs.  Then thank God with confidence for His listening, understanding and His vindication.

 

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:

Apple of Your Eye – www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiJuHAPteqE

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+016

 

Psalm 16 (ESV)

¹ Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”

³ As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.

⁴ The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.

⁵ The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷ I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
⁸ I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
¹⁰ For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.

¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

 

REFLECTION:

1. This is a psalm of joy. David delighted in the Lord as “my” Lord. And he knew that without God he would not have anything (v2). David delighted in the people of God (v3).
2. David took joy and comfort in the fact that God was the portion of his inheritance, and he knew that he had a good inheritance (vv5-6). David described the benefits of always setting the LORD before him (v8). This decision brought gladness and glory to David’s life (v11).
3. Judging from your appointment calendar this past week, what do you “delight” in? How can you turn your delight from other things to God?

 

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:

No Good Apart From You – www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjMB2dMapVo