- Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Psalm 25:16-18 – As with many of the psalms, we see David in a season of persecution, but we aren’t given the details on exactly what season of his life the psalm is referring to. What we know is David felt overwhelmed by his own mistakes and felt surrounded by hateful enemies. David longed to be out of this place and onto the holy path towards the Lord. He pleads with the Lord to turn to him in his loneliness and affliction and to bring him out of such distress he was in. David wanted a change of path and to be forgiven of all the wrongs he had done that may have caused him to find himself on this troubled path. Know this is something God was willing to do for David and is something God is willing to do for us as well, for we see Him do so all throughout scripture. God is a forgiving God, but what we also see is God expects the forgiven to live walking His righteous path. Think about Jesus’ final words to the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.” Forgiven fully, but still expected a change in her life to be on God’s rightoues path. Know then your story has a God who will wholly forgive. Every sin, every shadow, every dark chapter of your path can be fully forgiven by the Lord. What He expects though in return for such forgiveness of our sin is for us to turn away from sin now in our life. To instead live holy, set apart from sin, just like the example Jesus gave us when He walked the earth. Take joy in the fact that the Lord turns to us in our sin, and take joy knowing He has made a path for us to follow that leads us away from the sin that tears us apart. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2980
- Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. Psalms 25:12 – I see this passage helping a few people today. What we see being spoken here is how to find the answer to the direction to go in your life. You may be at a point in life where you have a big choice to make. Stay dating this person or let them go. Stay working there or find a new place to work. The examples could go on so just fit your situation in the blank. So how do you find the right answer? Well we see here that those who fear the Lord are given the instructions on which way to go. Meaning as we fear God (respect, listen, obey, follow God), God will show us what to do. He’ll make the right choice clear for us. Now if you’re anything like me who’s a hardcore planner, this can be difficult to hear at first because it’s trusting that God’s going to work all this out and we may know nothing as to how He’s doing it. But truly, who could plan your life better, you or God? If you want your direction, start with your devotion. Begin fearing God with your life and watch as God begins to clear the fog surrounding your path revealing His plan for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 398
- Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. Psalms 25:8 – Thank goodness this is how God handles things. If not, we’d all be lost with no hope. I’m so grateful that this verse didn’t say “God only instructs the perfect” or “God only instructs those who have it all together.” For if either of those options were what the verse said, I’d be left out alone with no help from God. But the God we serve says He’s willing to work with and instruct sinners like me and like you in the path to Himself. That He wants people like us who aren’t perfect and don’t have it all together coming to and following Him. That’s the beauty of our God. So if today you’re looking at your life and see the faults we think would disqualify us from following God know those are the very things God says He can work with. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 784
- The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Psalm 25:14-15 – Closeness and friendship with God is an option for us. We have something that beautiful offered to us. What’s our role then in making this a reality in our story? It’s keeping our eyes solely fixed on Him with an undivided heart, hearing what His commands are and following that lead. We can judge the depth of a relationship by how much your thoughts and time are given over to them, such we can do here with God. How much is He captivating your daily thoughts? How much is searching for Him the goal of your eyes? There is a richness to our walk with God that’s available if we seek Him fully, let’s lean into that available promise. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1742
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