SCRIPTURE: Lamentations 2 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?” [Lamentations 2:15] Its hard to imagine the horror of the destruction that the people of Jerusalem experienced;…
regret, dying on the inside
SCRIPTURE: Lamentations 1 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: See, Lord, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death. [Lamentations 1:20] Jeremiah speaks for himself and for Israel, regretting how they have rebelled against God, and experiencing the misery…
poetic, prophetic truth!
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 91 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [Psalm 91:1] This psalm gives great hope to those who are abandoned or assaulted; it encourages them to trust God though trouble. The analogy of a mother hen and her chicks is used to describe how…
so much for our security measures
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 90 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning: In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered. [Psalm 90:5-6] God is eternal, enduring, everlasting, like the mountains. We are finite, short-lived, here today and gone tomorrow,…
He is the One
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 89 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. [Psalm 89:9] The psalmist affirms God’s power over all creation, and also the power of the sea. He then describe how David’s heir (the messiah) will also have this power assigned to Him. I will set his hand over…
the darkness of despair
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 88 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. [Psalm 88:3] This is the only psalm that I know of that ends in darkness. The writer is in despair, he has suffered most of his life and feels abandoned. He is despairing of life, he sees no hope, darkness is…
glorious diversity!
There are two readings for today. SCRIPTURE: Psalm 87 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Glorious things are said of you, city of God: ‘I will record Rahab (Egypt) and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush (Upper Nile region) — and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ [Psalm 87:3-4] This is a remarkable…
give me an undivided heart
There are two readings for today. SCRIPTURE: Psalm 86 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. [Psalm 86:11] An undivided heart, a focus on, and love for, God. For me, a divided heart is when I am focused on things…
God’s good gift
There are two readings for today. SCRIPTURE: Psalm 85 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. [Psalm 85:12] As the psalmist pleads with God for mercy and help, he reminds himself that God is good, and that He will in His time help His people. These words are…
even seagulls!
There are two readings for today. SCRIPTURE: Psalm 84 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God. [Psalm 84:3] How important is a bird? That depends on who you are asking –…