Category: “Listening to God” Devotional

Read chapter in full: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+124

Psalm 124

English Standard Version (ESV)

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

124 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—
  let Israel now say—
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side
  when people rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
  when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have swept us away,
  the torrent would have gone over us;
5 then over us would have gone
  the raging waters.

6 Blessed be the Lord,
  who has not given us
  as prey to their teeth!
7 We have escaped like a bird
  from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
  and we have escaped!

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
  who made heaven and earth.

 

 

Reflection

• David voiced praise to God for not allowing the pagan nations that surrounded Israel to defeat and assimilate God’s people. It’s only because God was on Israel’s side, that they had survived. So, all Israel praised the maker of heaven and earth, who has proven to be his people’s help.
• No one can fight evil alone. It is God who “was on our side” fighting for us. God has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrew 13:5). Jesus told his disciples, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”(Matt 28:20)
• What external or internal enemy is God saving you from? Come before His mercy throne, for we know where we can have sure help.

 

Read chapter in full: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+123

Psalm 123

English Standard Version (ESV)

Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

A Song of Ascents.

123 To you I lift up my eyes,
  O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants
  look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
  to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
  till he has mercy upon us.

3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
  for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than enough
  of the scorn of those who are at ease,
  of the contempt of the proud.

 

Reflection

• Mercy (v3) is a much-admired quality in the Old Testament. It is compassion, and concern for a helpless person’s plight, which finds expression in reaching out with help.
• The person who needs mercy is completely dependent on the willingness of another to help. God’s people look to God for mercy as a slave, dependent on another’s kindness, looks expectantly to his or her master. How wonderful that as we depend on God, he does reach out to help us.
• Recall a time when you’ve said “I’ve had it” (or as in v3, “we have had more than enough of contempt”). How has God shown mercy then? Read this psalm over a couple of time and have a conversation with God.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the “Spiritual Journal” book.

Read chapter in full: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+122

Psalm 122

English Standard Version (ESV)

Let Us Go to the House of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

122 I was glad when they said to me,
  “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2 Our feet have been standing
  within your gates, O Jerusalem!

3 Jerusalem—built as a city
  that is bound firmly together,
4 to which the tribes go up,
  the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
  to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 There thrones for judgment were set,
  the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
  “May they be secure who love you!
7 Peace be within your walls
  and security within your towers!”
8 For my brothers and companions’ sake
  I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
  I will seek your good.

 

 

Reflection

• David wrote of his delight in going up to the temple to worship God in this short psalm. And the joy of finally arriving at Jerusalem where God’s people worships. Surely, this is a cause for celebration.
• Worship at Mount Zion was both a regular obligation (although a joyous event) and a bonding experience for temple-bound worshipers. What is “going to church” like for you?
• Psalm 122 also reminds us of how Jesus marveled and wept over Jerusalem (Lk 9:51; 13:31-35; 19:41-44). By comparison, what tears have you shed over your beloved city?
• Scan the city news section of your newspaper for events and people that need God’s “shalom” (peace and prosperity). Bring to God in prayer everyone you know in city hall and the key urban areas that need shalom.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the “Spiritual Journal” book.

Read chapter in full: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+121

Psalm 121

English Standard Version (ESV)

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

121 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
  From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
  who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;
  he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
  will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;
  the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
  nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
  he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
  your going out and your coming in
  from this time forth and forevermore.

 

Reflection

• There is no help in the hills on which the pagans worship. However, for God’s children, our hope comes from the Lord himself.
• What can we expect from the God who watches over us at all times? Simply that he will “keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life”.
• Imagine you are an Israelite making this pilgrimage to Mount Zion and visual verbal journaling your way through this psalm of confession and assurance. What parts do you find most reassuring for yourself?
• What parts do you find most reassuring for a fellow pilgrim whom you know is struggling along the way?
• Consider using Psalm 121 as an appropriate prayer for all your comings and goings. Offer it at mealtimes, office breaks and bedtimes. Let it influence the prayers and counsel which you offer family, friends and work associates, especially anyone facing an uphill battle.

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the “Spiritual Journal” book.

Read chapter in full: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+120

Psalm 120

English Standard Version (ESV)

Deliver Me, O Lord

A Song of Ascents.

120 In my distress I called to the Lord,
  and he answered me.
2 Deliver me, O Lord,
  from lying lips,
  from a deceitful tongue.

3 What shall be given to you,
  and what more shall be done to you,
  you deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior’s sharp arrows,
  with glowing coals of the broom tree!

5 Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
  that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I had my dwelling
  among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace,
  but when I speak, they are for war!

 

Reflection

• How do you feel when Sunday comes, and you approach the church where you worship? This group of psalms reminds us that worship is to be a joyous occasion, rich in meaning for the believer.
• These 15 “songs of ascents” (Psalms 120-134) on a variety of themes, were probably chanted by Hebrew pilgrims as they approached Jerusalem to attend one of the Old Testament’s annual worship festivals.
• Ps 120, the first psalm of ascents pictures a burdened person of God, far from his spiritual homeland. This land of strife is not his home: his homeland is a land of peace. In this psalm, the psalmist asked God for protection from people who wanted to stir up war. This psalm has been called an individual lament that anticipates thanksgiving.
• The Jews were called to turn in their hearts, if not possible to return physically, to Jerusalem at specified times during the year to join the believing community in worship at the temple of the Lord.
• This psalm pictures a person living among the ungodly, who realized afresh at this time of year that he was a man of peace, who lived among those who were for war.
• How important for us Christians to return to our roots, and with the community of faith, look to and call on the Lord.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the “Spiritual Journal” book.