Daily Bible Devotionals

“Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words, that they may shoot in secret at the blameless; suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear. They encourage themselves in an evil matter; they talk of laying snares secretly; they say, ‘Who will see them?’ They devise iniquities: ‘We have perfected a shrewd scheme.’ Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.” Psalm 64:1-6 (NKJV)

Ah, the secret plots of the wicked.  Most of us can relate to how it feels to discover that people are secretly spreading negative rumors about us.  Often, the source of backbiting is someone close to us: a friend, coworker, or family member.  So, it hurts even more.  I say it often, but we must be ever mindful that the definition of "Envy" is simply "Pride wounded in competition."  Whenever someone is trying to secretly destroy your character, it is likely because they feel threatened by you.  Whether you perceive it or not, there is a level of competition present, and the backbiter feels they are in danger of losing.  Hence, they try to skirt the rules of Christian unity and seize control through falsehood.  While your character may be irreparably damaged in the eyes of some people, rest assured that God sees both the oppressed and oppressor and He judges righteously in His fair time.

“Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.” Luke 12:3 (NKJV)

Regardless of what people may say about you, the best defense is a Godly character.

“Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 (NKJV)

Ultimately, our vengeance comes from God.  (Romans 12:9)

“But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly they shall be wounded. So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; all who see them shall flee away. All men shall fear and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider His doing. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.” Psalm 64:7-10 (NKJV)

“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.” Psalm 63:1-2**

Today’s Psalm, written while David was in the Judean wilderness, mirrors Jesus’ time in the wilderness, leading up to His being tempted by Satan.  It mirrors Jesus’ wilderness time, not simply because it was written in the Judean desert.  It is also similar in that David and Jesus’ ability to survive in the desert was more linked to their remembrance of and trust in God’s Word than their ability to find food and water.  We, too, should seek and meditate on His Word from sunrise to bedtime.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.”  Matthew 4:1-2

“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.  My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.” Psalm 63:3-5

“Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”’”  Matthew 4:3-4

“When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63:6-8

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7

“But those who seek my life, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him shall glory; but the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped. Psalm 63:9-11

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23

**All verses are NKJV

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Psalm 62. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. – Selah” Psalm 61:1-4 (NKJV)

It is good to know that we serve a God who hears our prayers and attends to them.  We do not toss up prayers like that lonely NASA engineer sending random messages into space, hoping for signs of extraterrestrial life. God is ever-present (Psalm 46:1), all-knowing (Job 34:21), all-powerful (Matthew 19:26), and His character never changes (James 1:17).  From the end of the earth, we can cry out to Him and expect that He is with us, hear us and can affect change according to His character as articulated in His Word. And that last part (according to His character) is where we often have trouble.  We live in an increasingly impatient society, an on-demand culture that expects our texts, emails, and social media posts to be immediately answered while affirming our egos.  

I'm sad to inform you, but if you don’t already know, we do not have a genie in heaven.  We have a FATHER in heaven, who answers all prayers, yet not always in the affirmative nor according to our wisdom.  He sees the world from an elevated, personally engineered perspective.  He is the Creator; we are the creatures.  He set the world into motion; we are simply responding to it.  Yet, if we trust Him, He will be the Rock, “higher than I.”  He will be our shelter and strong tower protecting us from the enemy.  True worship means giving all that we are to all that He is.  And He delights when we come under the shelter of His wings.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37 (NKJV)

We should delight in dwelling in His tabernacle (sanctuary of His holy presence) because He delights to dwell in our presence for all eternity.

“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” Revelation 21:3 (NKJV)

David believed in the resurrection, and he fully expected to spend eternity in God’s presence.  Therefore, he sought God every day.

“For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. You will prolong the king’s life, his years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him! So I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may daily perform my vows.”  Psalm 61:5-8 (NKJV)

“Who will bring me to the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom? Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies? Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless. Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.”  Psalm 60:9-12 (NKJV)

Today’s psalm is known as  “A Michtam of David, for teaching…when Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.”  God is so gracious to us. In addition to giving us the theology of the psalms, He also provides context by telling us where (in the Bible) we can reference the accounts/events through which the psalms were written.  We find the battle’s account in 2 Samuel.  

“And David made himself a name when he returned from killing eighteen thousand Syrians in the Valley of Salt. He also put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went. So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgment and justice to all his people.”  2 Samuel 8:13-15 (NKJV)

When we combine the narrative of 2 Samuel 8 with David’s testimony in Psalm 60, we get a richer understanding of what went on.  Sure, David was ultimately victorious, but not without struggle and doubt.  David begins Psalm 60 in trouble.  

“O God, You have cast us off; You have broken us down; You have been displeased; oh, restore us again!”  Psalm 60:1 (NKJV)

The campaign of battles against the Philistines, Moabites, and Edomites (which did not begin victoriously) began shortly after David assumed the throne.  David was in the midst of great opposition, not just from foreigners, but there was also massive division within the kingdom, stemming from Saul’s extended pursuit of David.  Now, David felt God was against him.  David must have been perplexed as to why victory was so difficult to achieve, since earlier, in 2 Samuel, Chapter 7, God made a covenant with David that He would establish David’s “house” forever.        

“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:12-16 (NKJV)

So, today we learn three things: 1) battles are not for passive men, 2) even though kingdom success is God’s doing, He still chooses men to lead the charge, and 3) until Jesus returns, the kingdom will remain somewhat unstable under human leadership.

“Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For look, they lie in wait for my life; the mighty gather against me, not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord. They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine. Awake to help me, and behold! You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to punish all the nations; do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah” Psalm 59:1-5 (NKJV)

In filmmaking, it is important that a movie is matched with the perfect soundtrack.  What would a James Bond or Star Wars film be without their famous intro music?  But what if the soundtracks were flipped?  What if the Star Wars film began with the James Bond theme?  Something would be amiss.  Hollywood music is created specifically for the films they support.  It is also true for so many of these psalms.  In order to fully understand the song, it helps us to match the music with its “movie,” so to speak.  The subtitle/backdrop for today’s psalm is “When Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill David.”  We find that account in 1 Samuel 19.

“Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, ‘If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.’ So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, ‘He is sick.’ Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, ‘Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.’ And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats’ hair for his head.” 1 Samuel 19:11-16 (NKJV)

It may have been no fault of David’s that these “ belching dogs” (as David sings) were roaming the town, looking to kill him.  But we see something odd in the movie's plot.  David’s wife, Michal (Saul’s daughter), was an idolater.  Quite a big one, at that, because she had an “image” (aka: idol) big enough to pass for a sleeping man within reach.  We kind of saw it coming, didn’t we?  The Lord has departed from Saul, so we can only assume that his family had departed from Him, as well.  Pomegranates don’t fall far from the tree!  Saul, in his own words, gave Michal as a wife to David as a snare (1 Samuel 18:21).  And Scripture says that Michal was barren, a sign of the Lord’s disfavor in Biblical culture. (2 Samuel 6:23)

When we read of the image with a “cover of goat's hair,” we are also reminded of Jacob, who covered himself with goat hair in order to trick his father Isaac into bestowing (to Jacob) his brother Esau’s blessing. (Genesis 27).  We chuckle at that simple yet profound little detail because we know that the blessing of kingship has been taken from Saul and given to David.  Through both this movie and its soundtrack, we are reminded that we, like David, must keep our focus on God, our fortress, strength, defense, and mercy!

“Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! Let them flow away as waters which run continually; when he bends his bow, let his arrows be as if cut in pieces. Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun. Before your pots can feel the burning thorns, He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, as in His living and burning wrath. The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, so that men will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely He is God who judges in the earth.’”  Psalm 58:6-11 (NKJV)

When I was a kid, my friends and I entertained ourselves by prank-calling people.  We would call folks and ask if their refrigerator was running.  When they said, “Yes!” we would say, “Hope you can catch it!”  We got many laughs knowing an unsuspecting department store operator was paging “Amanda Hugginkiss” on the loudspeaker. Of course, those were the days before “Caller ID” and long before maturity on our part. One of my friends called me once and asked if we had something to get blood out of the carpet, “…lots of blood."  

Blood is one of those things that stain. Often permanently.  As a young believer, I never understood the imagery of being “washed” in the blood of Jesus.

“So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’” Revelation 7:14b (NKJV) (Revelation 1:4-6)

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 (NKJV)

Today’s passage is the first time we see the idea of “washing in blood” in the Bible.  But the image of washing here does not denote cleansing.  The word “washing” (or bathing in some Bible translations) is meant to describe the level of intensity of the Lord’s judgment.  So, is there any connection to the imagery of New Testament believers who have been washed in the blood of Jesus and the righteous (of David’s day) whose feet were washed in the blood of their enemies?  Perhaps.  Remember that while Jesus knew no sin, He paid the penalty for the world’s sin.  

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin (lit: sin offering) for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

Through Jesus’ shed blood, which led to His death, God’s vengeance laid upon Him was fully accomplished to the extent that David prayed toward his enemies.  While blood typically renders things unclean, the blood of Jesus is the evidence of justice fully served.  The presence of Jesus’ blood on our “garment” (soul) is evidence of how we no longer need cleansing.  His resurrection testified to God’s approval!

“They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me; into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. - Selah - My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth.”  Psalm 57:6-11 (NKJV)

Today’s psalm is subtitled in my Bible, “A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.”  1 Samuel 22 records that incident.

“David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him. Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.  Now the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.”  So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.” 1 Samuel 22:1-5 (NKJV)

Apparently, David was not the only Israelite Saul wanted dead because, when word got out that David was hiding in a cave, many people showed up at his doorstep - "cap in hand."  The real miracle may have been how people with no resources easily found David while Saul, who had the kingdom at his disposal, could not!  

At that point, David had a decision to make.  Was he going to shoo away the discontented, indebted, and distressed crowd?  He had every right.  Undoubtedly, David was concerned that such a crowd might draw unwanted attention to him. For instance, one of the people might have desired Saul’s ransom or a chance to get back into the king’s graces by passing along David’s whereabouts.  But David had compassion on the crowd, as a shepherd would naturally be inclined to do.

Today’s passage shifts from David’s joy over his deliverance from Saul to how David’s faith was strengthened by God’s deliverance.  David’s kingdom may have been scabby at that point, but he was no longer alone.  It is amazing how even the most humble community can be so comforting!  Furthermore, David declares a new day ("awaken the dawn") where he would sing the praises of the Lord to "the nations.”  Indeed, his next move was to send his father and mother to Moab, traditionally bitter enemies of Israel.  But David had an ace up his sleeve.  His great-grandmother was a young Moabite girl named Ruth, who married a righteous Israelite, Boaz.  And like that, the true testimony about Israel’s God had (again) come to the Gentiles.

“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? All day they twist my words; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather together, they hide, they mark my steps, when they lie in wait for my life. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God! You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book? When I cry out to You, then my enemies will turn back; this I know, because God is for me. In God (I will praise His word), in the Lord (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Psalm 56:3-11 (NKJV)

Today’s psalm is subtitled "When the Philistines Captured David in Gath".  There is only one instance in the Bible where David was at the mercy of the Philistine King in Gath, so we can safely assume that instance was the deliverance about which David was singing.  Perhaps, it helps to refresh ourselves of that story.

“Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, ‘Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?’ Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, ‘Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?’” 1 Samuel 21:10-15 (NKJV)

Why should David be concerned to the point of faking insanity?  It helps to remember a story from deep in David’s past, featuring his victory over a bully from Gath.  Sometimes God’s “safe harbor” is in the presence of our enemies. (Psalm 23)

“And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, ‘Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.’” 1 Samuel 17:4-9 (NKJV)

God’s Word was that David would someday be king, and nothing that stood between David and his kingdom would kill him.  God’s Word can be trusted!