Author: Dana Hagstrom

Read Psalm 56

Fear.  We all experience it from time to time, in different ways and to different degrees.  The psalmist here is afraid for his life, yet he reminds himself, and us, that “God is on my side” and “what can mere mortals do?” Certainly not touch the saving power of God and take away our eternity.

But what about you?  What happens when our fear crowds out our assurance and doubts creep in?  We feel overwhelmed by our circumstance. Right?  I don’t know what you may be fearful of, but I’m certain you are familiar with that sense of dread.  Maybe you don’t even know what you’re afraid of at a given moment, but you have that feeling of unease?

The psalmist repeats this line twice, actually three times, in this psalm, “I praise God for what he has promised”, and in other translations these “promises” are God’s “word”.  We praise God for his word, and need to focus on his wisdom for us.  God’s promise is his Son, Jesus!  Will our fear flee?  If we truly praise with our whole heart, fear will retreat.

Are you “all in” for Jesus?  I keep hearing that phrase when it comes to launching our business, and the need to be “all in” as a recipe for success.  But in reality, what we need to be is “all in” for Jesus.  Are we holding back for some reason?  What is crowding out our time with our best friend?  Take an accounting of how you spend your day.  How does your time with God fit into all those activities? Is it a priority?

Let’s pray.  Lord, help me to rearrange my priorities and take a good look at what I am doing and how I am spending my time.  Help me be more intentional on spending time in your word and listening for your voice.  Thank you for your promises. May I praise your promises today! In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Read Psalm 55

This is a cry for rescue from not only evil enemies seeking harm, but from a trusted friend who has deceived.  There is much pain that goes along with that.  Have you experienced a situation where a close friend hurt you in some way, whether by words or inaction or purposeful abuse?  Those wounds hurt worse than if the same pain is inflicted by a stranger.

The psalm seems to mesh the two thoughts and struggles together.  So quickly that “friend” has become an enemy.  Verse 22 stands out as a good reminder amidst the lament, as if the writer took a breath and realized, “aha” this is what happens if… “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”  While that sounds good, there are times we fail, we slip up.  I’m not sure we are being “godly” then.

Are you your own worst enemy?  Do situations come about that totally throw you for a loop and distract you, frustrate you or crush you?  Do you have feelings of being overwhelmed and not having a clear picture how or why it is happening?  Sometimes our thoughts and fears can crowd our head to the point we logical thought is impossible.  Our crowded heads can also distort the truth, causing us to drift away from our one true hope, God.   We need to work on focusing on the good and turn those burdens over to God.  Now.  We need to remember where our strength comes from.  (Philippians 4:13).

Think of a situation you are holding on to.  Perhaps it involves a “friend”.  Ask God to cleanse you and restore this relationship.

Let’s pray.  Lord, forgive me for not trusting you when I lurch forward on my own.  My power is weak compared to yours, and with you all things are possible.  Help me today to set aside my feelings of regret, of anger, of hurt as it relates to those in my life that have hurt me.  Help me work through those feelings and be cleansed.  May I focus on your assurance to love me no matter what.  May I learn to love like that.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Read Psalm 54

In the seven short verses of this psalm, there is a lot going on.  Bottom line = turn to God. There is an insistence in the psalmist’s tone, a plea to God to listen, yet it’s almost like a shout, isn’t it?  The author is truly in fear for his life and needs God now!  We should have that urgency for God, whether in peril or not.

While the author appears or sounds to be in mortal danger, he quickly shifts to trust and praise.  He knows with assurance that God is there, that God has promised to rescue, and for that he will be praised.  Again, we can take away from this that we shouldn’t wait until God has moved, praise him because we know he will.

A song from Casting Crowns come to mind here, “Praise You in This Storm”.  Take a listen here.

Do we have the same degree of trust that the psalmist does – to begin praising while still in our storm?  The lyrics of the song also demonstrate this trusting and praise before the deliverance, not just after.  I don’t know about you, but I need to work on trusting in deliverance amidst the storm.  I often focus more on the storm and how I should stop it.  I need to be fully assured that God has my back and is working it out.  Do you find yourself struggling with this weakness as well?

Let’s pray.  Lord, I do praise you in my storm. Help me to look to you first, and be on my knees.  I lay these burdens and concerns at your feet, Lord.  They are weighing me down and I know you have them in  your control.  Thank you for all that you do for me.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Read Psalm 53

More on evil, particularly those who don’t believe.  So tragic for them.  Who are these people? They are fools.  They are corrupt.  Evil. They
have no future.  They don’t know God.  Is it us?

Terror.  Shame.  Rejection.

That doesn’t sound so pleasant to me.  It doesn’t sound like the way I want to live my life with no hope for the future.  Sadly, those caught up in this evil are blind and don’t even realize they are heading for destruction.  Like not knowing there is a detour ahead on your travel route.  They also don’t realize how much better, truly better, it is on the other side.  The side of living in the light.  The grass is truly greener here.

So, how does this psalm speak to you today? Do you feel our society is a lost cause?  Do you want to close your windows and doors and just pretend the evil doesn’t exist or affect the ones you love?  How can we make a difference?

I really struggled with this psalm today, verse 3 in particular.  “All have turned away, all have become corrupt.”  All is all.  When I look at the world around me, this statement seems to be coming true.  I see more and more of a departure from holiness.  There are people attending church, yes, but are they just going through the motions for appearance sake? When I feel like this, I go to my knees because I am powerless but my God is mighty.  Jesus came to show us how to shepherd the lost back to him.

Let’s pray.  Lord, you must be so sad that much of the world is apart from you.  I can feel your spirit burning inside of me and long to help make a difference for you.  May your spirit stir in the hearts of those who are lost.  I pray for those souls feeling empty and without hope. Use me and others to bring your people back to you.  May we be a beacon to show them the way. Thank you for your provision and guidance keeping my feet on the path of your will. In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 

 

Read Psalm 52

So many of our psalms could be titled “Trust God”, and that’s okay because it’s a good message to remind us often who is in charge. The object of today’s psalm, as the note suggests, is Doeg, and he was an evil person who had betrayed David and killed priests.  The fact that David wrote about him specifically signifies to me that he truly struggled with this event.

Picture, if you will and remember this is my own imagination, Doeg singing his own praises, feeling great with his accomplishments.  David, being a man of God, knew of Doeg’s doom and while Doeg was bragging, David was writing a warning, if not to Doeg directly, to us as a reminder or perhaps assurance or consolation to himself.  David ends the psalm focusing on his own strength and reason for that strength, trust in God.

How often we lament the successes of evil doers around us, wondering how they could have gotten to where they are with such an evil heart. Do we react like David?  Do we sit back and turn our eyes?  What is the proper response?  Should we let evil be and stay away?

There is no denying it.  We are surrounded by evil.  Really bad stuff.  But listen to the words of the psalm, “God’s unfailing love”.  God never fails.  So long as we trust him in that love, that protection, evil may come knocking, but we are safe.  While we may perish from this world one day, we have eternity to cling to.  A future with God cannot be taken away from us by anyone. Now that’s enough for me to trust God, how about you?

Let’s pray.  Lord, help me not to fear evil.  May I trust you with my whole heart and mind and not waver.  You are my God, and I am your child.  Draw me closer to you as evil surrounds.  Strengthen me to help others find refuge in you  as well.  Give me the words to say and the opportunities to say them.  Thank you for loving me even continuously, wildly, and without fail.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.