Grace CRC Midweek Devotion: Week Seventeen

Scripture: Read Psalm 27

Devotion – “Finding Jesus in the Psalms” taken from The Worship Initiative: Psalm 27 is one of those many places in Scripture that bring us priceless clarity about our lives. The psalm is like an old friend who firmly places his hands on our shoulders, looks us in the eyes, and reminds us about what really matters. Life slows down. The noise grows faint. The distractions are drowned out by what we most need to know. Look, our friend says, this is truth. This is your one desire. This is your hope.

Truth – God is your light and your salvation. He is the stronghold of your life; therefore, you have nothing to fear. Your enemies, even if they are an army or an entire war waged against you, will not stand. In fact, in the midst of the turmoil, when your seething adversary is making his assault on your soul, you can be confident. Not just okay; not just getting by; but confident. Your heart can be firm. God is your light, and He will show you the way. He will lead you in His paths. God is your salvation, and He will rescue you from destruction. He will lift you high upon a rock. God is your stronghold, and though everything else around you may falter, He has hemmed you in. He has established your feet. The raging floodwaters may rise. A tsunami of affliction may build in the distance. But His hold of your heart is unshakable, and the most intimidating of waves is a mere splash compared to His power. He has you. He’s holding you.

Desire – This is your one desire. You want God. He is your Supreme Good — the unparalleled object of your soul’s deepest longings. Ask Him for Him. You seek Him. You stay near Him. You gaze upon His beauty. You worship at His feet. That is it. All other ‘goods’, good as they seem, are about this one, great, matchless Good. You want them because you want Him, and because their goodness makes us wonder, as C. S. Lewis puts it, “What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary [flashes] are like this!” God is that one thing above all other things. He is our chief pursuit, and all other things we seek are for His sake.

Hope – This is your hope. You will look upon the goodness of God in the land of the living. That means you will be raised from the dead with Christ to live in His eternal presence. There is more life to be lived after our lives in this world are over. That is when real life, true life, the fullness of life, begins. That is when the faint echoes of God’s goodness we’ve known in this world become visible, when our faith becomes sight. On that day, when we look upon God’s goodness in the resurrection age, the fight will be over. The victory we’ve long tasted but partially enjoyed will invade our lungs in triumph. No more doubt. No more pain. No more struggle. We will see, more clearly than ever, the grace of God, the glory of Jesus, the wonder of His fellowship. We will know then, most surely, what Psalm 27 tells us now: This is truth. This is our one desire. This is our hope.

Reflect

• Worship: Reread Psalm 27 and let one of the aspects of God* rest over you. Worship Him for who He is. Put your personal prayer requests aside and look upon His glory. Give Him praise.
• Pray: As you meditate on this aspect of Him, fall before His presence with humility and confess your shortcomings. With heartfelt thanks, list His blessings and be comforted by His forgiveness through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. Pray for God to send workers into the fields to harvest for His glory. Ask how you can participate in God’s plan for others by offering truth and hope through Jesus.
• One Kind Act: Have you ever baked something and accidently left out the salt? Try it sometime if you haven’t. You will be amazed at how that small teaspoon of salt adds flavor and keeps the item form being flat and tasteless. All of the sugar and vanilla in the world cannot make up for a tiny addition of salt. Today, purpose to be ‘salt’ to someone. Ask your Father who and how to do it and then rest your mind about it. Go about your day and wait expectantly for Him to lead you to the recipe that needs your salt. When you go to bed, reflect on how God answered your prayer and how you were the hands and feet of Jesus. Remember, that sometimes things we do or say have great effect and we are not even aware. Trust that your heavenly Father used you to bless another.

*Eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; wise, good, loving, gracious, merciful, patient, holy, righteous, sovereign.