- My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the Lord. Psalm 26:12 – While this old hymn certainly wasn’t written during the time of King David, I believe David would have boldly sang it if he knew the words. “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” What we find in the psalm is David separating himself from the wicked that surrounded him. He sees the men who speak only lies, and he see the hypocrites, and he sees the wicked evildoers that are assembling around him. While such individuals and groups are within sight, David is not finding himself within such companies. He has chosen to trust in the Lord and find himself within the holy house of God instead. As a result, his footing is on solid ground in this life and he is unashamed to declare his faithfulness to God even in front of the masses. As we read this psalm, and even think on the lyric of that hymn, can we too say we are placing our footing on solid ground? Or have we found ourselves within the company of evildoers? Have we allowed the influence of those who do not follow God to be a voice in our lives? When we sit with and take in the words of those who do not share the same faith in the Lord as we do, know we aren’t standing on solid ground anymore but are sinking in the sand. While God is certainly calling us to witness to these lost groups, we are not called to give them places of influence over our lives. Instead, find yourself standing among those who lift high and worship the name of the Lord. Separate from the evildoers, stand with the followers of God, and proclaim God’s goodness and Gospel message to the masses so all people can know of the salvation Jesus offers. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2981
- O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Psalms 26:8 – Habitation is defined as the state of living in a particular place. What we’re seeing the psalmist say is that he loves to stay in the house of God. He loves to stay where God is worshiped. He loves to stay where God’s followers stay. This environment is where he wants to stay. How about you? Rather than just taking the verbal answer to that question, if someone had the ability to look back at your life this past year where would they say you “love the habitation of?” Rather than camping out on the regret of how maybe last year we didn’t value time with God like we should, let’s choose to make it a priority this upcoming year. God desires you to desire time with Him; where your heart longs for the fill that comes from time of worship of Him and of fellowship with other believers. Let’s begin to find our home in His house. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 399
- I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. Psalms 26:4-5 – The strength of your walk will be determined by the crowd you stay around. We must be careful not to use verses like this as our reasoning to not be in touch with our communities. Far too often churches use passages like these as excuses to stay within their walls and never reach outside of them. The psalmist isn’t saying to not be around wrongdoers, he is saying don’t let them be the influencers of your life. Don’t sit and take their wisdom and direction as your own. We need to be the ones influencing them not the other way around. So where do you sit with this? Have you used passages like this wrongly to let you not reach out? Have you let the wrong people be your influencers? Make sure people are where they need to be and in the correct position in your life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 785
- O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Psalm 26:8 – He loves to be where God is at. This passage written is easy to relate with, most of the time. While so often we love being close to God, when our hearts lean back after sin we may begin to change that desire for God’s closeness. We think He’s going to come down on us hard or change the nature of our relationship with Him. This though is based on a false representation of Jesus. That’s not how Jesus works. Yes, He’s close when we’re faithful, but He remains faithful and close to us even when our walk isn’t so steady after Him. His closeness isn’t with us to destroy us, it’s to gently guide us back to peace with Him. He isn’t responding to us with hate but with love. While we have this forgiveness let’s live in a way that’s demonstrates a gratefulness for God’s grace, not an abuse of it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac- Daily DEVO 1743
Daily DEVO 