September 4 – Remember, Remember, Remember,

“Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope. -  Psalm 119:49 (NASB)
I have remembered Your ordinances from of old, O LORD, And comfort myself. - Psalm 119:52 (NASB)
O LORD, I remember Your name in the night, And keep Your law. -  Psalm 119:55 (NASB)

Can you consider for a moment what life would be like if you were unable to remember? Memory is critical part of our lives and when we know someone in their later life whose memory is failing them, we understand the critical factor of danger. Perhaps they no longer remember what might hurt them such as a hot pot on the stove. Perhaps they no longer remember their way home. Perhaps even they no longer remember their family or even their own selves. It is tragic. The Psalmist affirms three remembrances in his life and we’ve selected the verses that declare what he remembers. He remembers the word God has given him and from that He has acquired hope. He remembers the ordinances he learned in the past and he is comforted by them. And, perhaps most important and valuable, he remembers God’s name in the night which helps him keep God’s law. Those afflicted with the diseases that rob them of their memory often struggle most at the end of the day as the sun sets. Let us rejoice for it is a blessing when we can remember God’s Word all through each day. 

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June 26 – Praise Morning and Night

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night,”  Psalm 92:1-2 (NASB)

The unnamed psalmist who wrote these words had learned of the benefits that are ours from praising the Lord. It was a good thing to do. God is pleased when we sing praises to the Lord. Some of our songs are about ourselves, what we are doing and how we are feeling. But real praise is about our Lord God. Praising God does not have to wait for any particular time or place. Knowing that it does us good to praise God, we are free to praise the Lord at any time of day or night wherever we are. When we praise God, we are showing our love, adoration, and expressing our thankfulness to Him for His attributes. In our verse the psalmist mentions two times – when we wake up and when we go to bed. In the morning we can start the day by recalling God's love and we can anticipate that He'll show his love during the day. Then in the evening as we retire for the day it is a good time to look back and praise Him for the way he has been faithful throughout the day. We can praise and proclaim His love 24/7.

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December 31 – Watchnight

“Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord!”  Lamentations 2:19 (ESV)

For the final visit on this blog for this year, we are sharing some words and thoughts from “365 Days with C.H. Spurgeon.” Slightly modified for our time this is from Spurgeon’s watchnight sermon on New Year’s Eve 1855. 

“Dear friends, may grace be given unto you, that ye may be able to pour out your hearts this night! Remember, my hearers, it may seem a light thing for us to assemble tonight at such an hour, but listen for one moment to the ticking of that clock!  It is the beating of the pulse of eternity. We hear the ticking of that clock! Each time the clock ticks, death’s footsteps are falling on the ground close behind us. We will soon enter another year. This year will be gone in a few moments. 1855 (2020) is almost gone; where will the next year be spent, my friends? One has been spent on earth; where will we spend the next? But do we know how to estimate our time, my hearers? Do we know how to measure our days? Do we know that every hour we are nearing the tomb? That every hour we are nearing judgment? We do not live stationary lives, but we are always going on, on, on, towards the grave. Do you know where the stream of life is hastening some of you? We who have harkened to the call of God know where we are to be. What shall the end of those be who obey not the gospel of God? We will not have so many years to live as we had last year!”

Spurgeon must have the last word: “Now, my friends, in the highest and best sense, I wish you all a happy New Year.”

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October 22 – When Darkness is a Bright Day

“If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.”  Psalm 139:11–12 (NASB)

It is both normal and expected that we will encounter days of darkness, fear, depression, anxiety and feelings of hopelessness. Our enemy is constantly trying to sink us into such traps and pits. This Psalm of David is astounding when we think of what it says about our God. There is nowhere where God is not. In our verses today we have a promise that darkness, when we encounter it, is unable to separate us from God because God does not experience darkness and we are with Him as He is with us. When we are experiencing the worst of days and the darkest of emotions, God is with us able to turn that darkness into light as bright as a sun filled day. How? By being our Son-filled day. And because to God, darkness and light have no difference. This promises us that we can function and we can be thankful and we can praise God even in our darkest time. God is with us all the time and with Him our darkness is overcome and we are not overwhelmed by it. Our darkness is not dark to Him. 

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November 25 – Never Closed – Always On Duty

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;  To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night,” Psalm 92:1-2 (NASB)

It is Thanksgiving week in the United States. Other countries have similar celebrations at different times.  It is the time of the year when most of us spend a little more time thinking about the benefits and blessings we have from God.  Those who follow Jesus will focus a bit more on offering thanks to God for the gift of His Son.  These words mean that it is a good practice to thank God all the time. It means that it does us good to thank and praise Him. Giving thanks is not just for one day or one season of the year.   Because God is never off duty or on vacation and is a 24/7/365 God, it is good for us to respond in kind and thank God in the morning for His love for us. It helps train our focus on the blessings we receive from Him.  It is also good to thank Him at night for His faithfulness during the day. It makes the day different and strengthens our faith for the next day.  Practicing daily thanksgiving makes a difference in our lives and it makes a difference in our outlook.  Let's make it a habit we practice. 

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August 11 – Singing and Praying

“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.”  Psalm 42:8 (ESV)

What was on the mind of the psalmist as these words were written?  We read often in the Bible of the everlasting, unfailing love of God.  For those of us who are aware of His love it must have an effect on our lives.  This we believe is what the psalmist was thinking about.  He was experiencing the love of God and sees that this was happening daily.   We can experience God's love each day too because His love never fails.  He loved us yesterday and He is loving us today and He will love us tomorrow and forever.   That is His promise to us.  So, what effect did this experience of God's love have on the psalmist?  We notice two results.  God's love inspired the psalmist to sing “His song” at the end of the day and to  pray to God who had been steadfast in His love all day.  Singing His song is singing His praises.   Isn't that what happens in our lives too?  Because of his lovingkindness each and every day we are motivated to sing His praises and to pray to the God of our lives. 

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March 14 – Same God. Same Promise

“I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.” Psalm 16:7 (ESV)

We can be sure that David often realized that he didn't know all the answers. He needed God’s guidance just as we all do. He gives testimony in our verse that God was constantly guiding him. David recognized that when he needed counsel and advice, God was near him to show him the answers to his problems. And he praised God for it.  Did you notice what David said about receiving counsel at night?  Evidently he would lie awake sometimes wondering what to do for the next day about some situation or problem. He looked to God for the guidance and received it. Maybe you do that sometimes? Remember that God is near you then just as He was near David. And, He'll impress upon your heart what to do the next day. Trust him to fulfill this promise just as David did so many centuries ago. Same God, same promise. 

June 26 – Praise Morning and Night

“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,”  Psalm 92:1-2 (NIV)

The psalmist who wrote these words had learned that there was a benefit from praising the Lord. We can have that same experience. Praising God does not have to wait for any particular time or place. We can notice that it does us good to praise God and we can praise the Lord at any time of day or night wherever we are. In our verse the psalmist mentions two times – when we wake up and when we go to bed. In the morning we can start the day by recalling God's love and we can anticipate that He'll show his love during the day. Then in the evening as we retire for the day it is a good time to look back and praise Him for the way he has been faithful throughout the day. We can praise and proclaim His love as it is often said, 24/7, so let's do it starting now.

December 30

“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,’” Genesis 1:14 (NIV)

Have you ever stopped to think where the idea came from to have our time divided into years? As we come to the close of a year, let us think about this. Before anybody ever made a calendar, God provided a way to tell seasons, days and years. God set the heavens in motion and the Earth on its orbit around the sun which repeats again and again. He made the sun, moon and stars to make division of time. So it was God who determined that one year would end and another begin. His word is just as steadfast about our lives. What He has promised He will accomplish. What a great God we have for today and always.