A Word of Warning

Posted on 2014/03/31 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 7:12 warns: “If a man does not repent, God will whet His sword, He has bent & readied His bow”. Although God is incredibly gracious and patient, we must not think that He will continually overlook our sin. He is patient, but this verse also reminds us that if we do not repent, God is preparing His weapons to use against us.

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Your Test Today

Posted on 2014/03/28 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 7:9 David calls God, “You who test minds & hearts.” The word “test” here means “examine, put to the test; prove, test, try.” This is what God constantly does with us. He tests us Continue reading →

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The Same Judge

Posted on 2014/03/27 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 7:8 says: “The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.” In Psalm 7, David is calling to God because of what he sees as the unrighteous oppression of his enemies. In this verse, he asserts that God will indeed judge those enemies — and remembers that the same God will also judge HIM! (The word translated “vindicate” here is literally the Hebrew word “judge.”)

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Public Vindication

Posted on 2014/03/26 by Shawn Thomas

“Over them return on high.” In Psalm 7, David had been falsely accused by his enemies, and here in the second part of :7 he asks God to return and publicly vindicate him. Many of us can identify with this request.

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“God” or YOUR God?

Posted on 2014/03/25 by Shawn Thomas

David begins the prayer of Psalm 7:1 by saying, “LORD my God …”. In Hebrew this is literally, “Yahweh Elohe”. “Yahweh Elohim” is a familiar Old Testament expression for God: “Yahweh” is His personal name (often translated “LORD” but is the “I AM” personal, covenant name which God gave Moses and used throughout the Old Testament), and “Elohim” means “God.”

But it is significant that David does not use the term “Yahweh Elohim”, but “Yahweh Elohe” — this variation on the ending of “Elohim” means “MY God.” While ostensibly a small change, it has huge implications.

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The Leadership We Deserve (3-24-13)

Posted on 2014/03/24 by Shawn Thomas

In II Samuel 24:1 it says “The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.'” This decision by King David led to punishment by God upon the people. There are many questions, perhaps rightly so, about this episode, but what should be instructive to us presently is that this verse attributes the cause of David’s decision to GOD, who incited him to do what he did regarding the census. God was angry with the people, so He sought an occasion for David to make a poor decision, which would bring punishment upon them.

Among other things, this reflects again upon the concept that people generally get the kind of leadership they deserve. (See previous devotions on Psalm 125:3 here, and I Samuel 12:14 here)

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Holy Gratitude

Posted on 2014/03/21 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 6:8 David says: “Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, for Yahweh has heard the voice of my weeping.” It is interesting (and instructive for us) that David’s response to the fact that God heard his prayer was a call for the workers of iniquity to depart from him. When we have seen God work, holiness should be our response. Unfortunately this is not always the case.

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“Because”

Posted on 2014/03/20 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 6:2 says, “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed.” There is a key word in this verse which may help explain many of the difficult things we face:

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Your Praise: Better Dead or Alive?

Posted on 2014/03/19 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 6:5 David protests to God: “For there is no mention of you in death; in Sheol who will give You thanks?” He is objecting to his potential death, saying in effect, what good would that do? One might submit that there IS remembrance and praise of God after death — we will worship Him in heaven forever! But perhaps David’s point here is that God would not be praised by him PUBLICLY, where people could see and hear and benefit from the testimony of his praise. This serves to remind us that one of the functions of our praise and thanks here on earth is to witness to OTHERS how great our God is.

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Relationship With God 101

Posted on 2014/03/18 by Shawn Thomas

When David cried out to God in Psalm 6:2, he demonstrated for us the most basic nature of a person’s relationship with God: “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed.” In Hebrew it is literally: “Show me favor YHWH, because frail/feeble I. Heal me, YHWH, because they are disturbed/dismayed/terrified my bones.”

While this is in a sense a very simple verse, we find it some of the most basic theology of our relationship with God:

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