March 15 – Safety and Shelter

“For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.” – Psalm 27:5 (ESV)

Isn’t it true that one of our greatest desires is to live in security? But, we don’t always, and we need protection now and again. The Psalmist, in this song, is seeking help and finds the close presence and fellowship of God. If we read the first verse we find a fitting title; “The LORD Is My Light and My Salvation.” David’s conclusions about the result of such fellowship is that those who abide with God are safe. This is true even if physical harm comes our way but our spiritual life is hidden in his shelter when we are in the midst of trouble in this world. The dangers we face come from both physical and spiritual sources. We may succumb to the results or effects of physical assaults and our adversaries may intend to take us down, they can only affect what is our temporal being. Our spiritual lives with God are safe for He has lifted us out of the danger and sets us upon a high rock well out of the reach of the enemy. The LORD God is our Light and our Salvation, He has promised us that!

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December 1 – Otherwise Too High

“From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” - Psalm 61:2 (NASB)

Although King David was not actually at the end of the earth, it felt like that to him. He was in exile from his city Jerusalem. Perhaps each of us have been in a place away from home that seems like the end of the world for us. Absalom tried to overthrow his father and seize the throne of Israel. Discouraged and exhausted, David needs to be led out of danger to a place of safety. David cries to God and pleads that God would hear and respond to his prayers. He has a specific request that God would lead him to the rock that “is otherwise too high for me.” He asked God to lead him to a rock that was higher than any place he had so far attained and could not do so on his own⸺he needed God to lead him there. God has things to show us, each which are beyond anything we have yet experienced. This is the promise we have that when we need Him, God is here with us, leading us to greater things in our lives and to new promises in our spiritual life we need God to lead us to.

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December 3 – Greater Things

“From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2 (NIV)

Now we know that King David, the one who wrote these words, never did that much world traveling so that he could say he was at the end of the world. He is using a figure of speech common even for us and what he meant was that no matter where he was, God would hear and respond when he prayed to Him.  We can trust this promise and we can trust that God hears us no matter where we are. That is both in location and in circumstances. Our situations may make us feel like we are far from God. We aren’t. We might question if He hears us. He does. David also recognized that God had things to reveal to him which were beyond anything he had yet experienced. He asked God to lead him to a rock that was higher than any place he had so far reached. This is true in our case too. God has things to show us, each which are beyond anything we have yet known. This is the promise we have that when we need Him, God is here with us leading us to greater fulfillment in our lives. 

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October 2 – Building On What Is Solid

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock…. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”  Matthew 7:24, 26  (NASB)

Matthew 7 has these words in the Sermon on the Mount – Jesus' first recorded public sermon.  Jesus is concluding by telling those listening what the consequence of their behavior will be. There is a difference between those who believe in Jesus and follow His teachings; and those who say they believe but do not follow Him.  The illustration in Matthew 7:24-27 compares a wise and foolish man. If wise, we will be certain our belief has a solid foundation in truth, in God’s Word. If so, our faith will withstand the onslaught of the world’s storms from the enemy of our souls.  The unwise and self-centered have as a foundation for their belief based own their own reasoning which is weak and not sturdy.  When challenged by false teachings, lies, and temptations from Satan, what a foolish man builds his beliefs on will be destroyed and washed away. The wise trust the rock-solid foundation of God’s truth. It will not fall when attacked. We don’t build on shifting thoughts and ideas which seek to please only ourselves. Such will be a great fall because those who believe the enemy’s words will not know it is coming.  

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August 4 – Standing On Firm Rock

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Psalm 40:2 (NIV)

This verse reveals for us the promise of what the Lord does for those who respond to His loving invitation of eternal life. This is a Psalm written by King David and in it David affirms God’s goodness in rescuing him from some trouble.  David certainly did often find himself mired down in circumstances where He needed to trust his Lord God for deliverance.  We trust that you who follow this blog have found yourself on the “firm place to stand” that the psalmist had found. Our verse does not tell us exactly what it means by “firm place to stand” But the next verse explains that many will “put their trust in the Lord.”  So, that is where the firm place is found – it is in trusting the Lord.  If you are trusting in the Lord for all your needs, material and spiritual, that is a firm place to stand. If you are not certain you are standing on a firm place, you can find it by trusting what God has said in His Word.  Let's thank God today for providing  and setting us upon that rock – a firm place in Him.

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May 6 – Between A Rock and A Good Place

“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.”  - Deuteronomy 32:4 (NASB)

We might be finding ourselves between the familiar rock and a hard place these days.  The promises we contemplate today are that God is The Rock, whose work is perfect – without fault. God’s ways are just and God’s faithfulness is without injustice. God is righteous and upright. These words are from the Song of Moses which he spoke before the assembly of the people of Israel. The occasion was the commissioning of Joshua, Moses’ successor. This word, “The Rock” represents the stability and permanence of God. These promises of who God is and of His perfection in all things are also true for us today. We might well be facing some difficult hard places in our lives.  But being between this Rock and our hard place today we are actually blessed because our Rock is God Almighty.  He is with us, on our side and we can find safety in God as our refuge, our Rock of Salvation. Let’s today, rest secure on our Rock for it is where God has placed all of us who have believed the Gospel, our secure place is on Him today and forever.

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April 24 – How Shaken Are We?

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”  -Psalm 62:1-2  (ESV)

When we need help how do we find it?  God has promised it but sometimes we fail to see that because we are so busy trying to work things out for ourselves.  So many today find themselves in major crises as our world has been turned upside down by the evil of panic and the onslaught of unbelieving leaders trying to solve their crisis with their own wisdom.  So many need help.  They need salvation from the shook-up world.  As they try to return to normal, their failure to turn to Him who can help delays what is needed.  How about us?  Our promise today is that if we look to no other source but God and if we calm ourselves down and be silent, God will give us the wisdom that will keep us safe in our world by keeping us is our safe refuge.  God promises if we trust in him alone and look to him, waiting quietly, we will not be greatly shaken.  Perhaps shaken a bit at first but not to the point of destruction of our life.  Only God is our solid rock and our salvation in the face of this panic. 

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January 19 - Dealing With Sticky Ground

“I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry.  He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”  - Psalm 40:1-2 (NASB)

Have you been crying much lately?  Maybe not you but some of us have because it is part of our walk to encounter difficulties so severe that we end up crying out to God for relief.  Our steps do not always stay on the road and out of the bog, do they?  Truly, if we do not watch the steps of our feet, we might wander too near the edge and slip into the mud, the miry clay.  It is difficult for us to move forward when our footing is so uncertain.  When we sin, mourning and grieving and weeping over our condition is expected.  Here's what we are to do.  Cry out in prayer with confession and repentance.  We wait patiently for the Lord to respond because we are promised that He is inclined – that is, God intends to hear our prayer and does.  He promises that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9  He will not leave us bogged down. He will bring us out of the muck and mud and set us on a firm place where we can trust our footsteps.  Let’s trust God today and the next time we find ourselves off the path.

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August 25 – Where We Stand

“He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.  He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the Lord.”  Psalm  40:2-3 - (NASB)

Our verses today give us a vivid description of what occurs when we place our faith in Jesus Christ.  We are saved from where we were, the pit of destruction,  and set on the solid footing of a rock.  This is the immediate result of accepting God's offer of salvation.  What is the 'miry clay'?  It is where our life was trapped by our sinful nature and the sinful practices we indulge in.  But our promise is that in Christ, we are now standing on a firm place.  God replaces what was our practices with a new song of praise to God.  Yes, friends as we trust in Jesus as our Savior we can and will experience real peace and also the assurance that God will always be with us.  He has promised us that He is a firm place for us to stand. We can trust Him to always care for us.  Our lives will be a testimony for others to see and give them reason to trust in the Lord. 

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February 7 – Our Rock Forever

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  Trust in the Lord forever,  for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”  Isaiah 26:3-4   (ESV)

We have considered the promise found in the third verse of Isaiah 26 previously.  It is a blessing and encouragement to  know that if we keep our minds on God, the result from Him is perfect peace.  Today we look at the next verse and promise.  God is telling not just to keep our minds on Him but to trust Him and do that forever.  That means we are never to stop trusting our Lord and what He has called us to, doesn't it?  If we come to God through our belief in Jesus Christ and if we have received forgiveness for our sins leading to eternal life we begin to trust Him and His word.  Why?  Because the Lord God is an everlasting rock.  Described as a rock, He is the foundation of our faith and trust that will last forever and we can put our faith and trust in Him for as long as He is our rock.  He promises to always be our Rock, our Stronghold, and our Refuge.  We find this promise throughout His Word the Bible.  

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January 23 – A Forever Rock

“Trust in the Lord forever,  for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”  Isaiah 26:4 (ESV)

We hear a phrase often that goes something like, “Things change,” or “Times have changed.”  There is truth in this but it does not mean that our faith and trust in our God has to change. We who have accepted Jesus as our Savior have received eternal life which has come to us by faith and so, we live by faith each day.  This is a reminder that we live by trusting in the Lord day after day and year after year no matter what else changes around us.  As our culture changes in many ways, and unacceptable behavior becomes acceptable, our attitude of trusting God should never end.  Our faith in our Lord God goes on forever because we are His children for eternity.  He has promised to be with us always as long as we live here on earth.  When our life on earth is over God will bring us to live with Him in heaven forever.  He has never and will never change.  God wants us to change by growing in faith and trust according to His word. He is a rock, an everlasting rock.  What he commanded and promised at the beginning of time has not ended or gone out of style.  

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December 1 – Standing on High Ground

“From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”  Psalm 61:2 (NASB)

No matter what we are facing today we have a God who is above and greater than any problem.  David of course was a man who had spent a lot of his time in the outdoors in and area where there were many large rocks.   A rock to him was something strong and solid and provided a firm place to stand.  It also provided a better view of his surroundings.  He writes about the rock that is higher than us.   David knew that when he felt lost, like he was at the end of the earth, God was where he needed to be to find his way back.  David recognized that God was greater than any of His creatures.  We too can recognize the truth of this promise.  If we follow God we will find ourselves on the high ground with Him and God will guide our paths to where we should be.  God knows the answer we need when our heart is about to fail us.  God will never fail us for he will lift us up above our troubles and carry us to where we should be.  He promises to be much more able to solve our problems than we are and when He leads us we will be able to see so much more clearly. 

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Please take a moment to share with friends.

December 1 – Greater Things

“From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2 (NIV)

Now we know that King David, the one who wrote these words, never did that much world traveling so that he could say he was at the end of the world. What he meant was that no matter where he was, God would hear and respond when he prayed to Him. David also recognized that God had things to reveal to him which were beyond anything he had yet experienced. He asked God to lead him to a rock that was higher than any place he had so far attained. This is true in our case too. God has things to show us, each which are beyond anything we have yet experienced. This is the promise we have that when we need Him, God is here with us leading us to greater things in our lives.  

August 4 – Standing On Firm Rock

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Psalm 40:2 (NIV)

This verse reveals for us the promise of what the Lord does for those who respond to His loving invitation of eternal life. We trust that you who follow this blog have found the “firm place to stand” that the psalmist had found. Our verse does not tell us exactly what it means by “firm place to stand” But the next verse explains that many will “put their trust in the Lord.”  So, that is where the firm place is found – it is in trusting the Lord.  If you are trusting in the Lord for all your needs, material and spiritual, that is a firm place to stand. If you are not certain you are standing on a firm place, you can find it by trusting what God has said in His Word.  Let's thank God today for providing  and setting us upon that rock – a firm place in Him.

September 8

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Psalm 40:2 (NIV)

Sometimes, because of the circumstances in our world we might wonder if where we are standing is a secure or safe place to stand – in God it is. Are you not glad that God gave David the gift of expressing praise? We are glad too, that David knew by experience how wonderful God is. Have you believed in Jesus as your Savior? If so, these words are a description of your experience, too. You’re out of the mire, standing on a rock. How wonderful to have a firm place to stand, something solid to believe in. No matter what happens, we do not need to vacillate. Circumstances may change but our God never does. Friends may leave us or disappoint us, but God never does. We can depend on His love and His care for us. Isn’t that like standing on a rock?

January 23

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone. My hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.” Psalm 62:5-6 (NIV)

I’m impressed by the connection between the first and last words of these verses. David begins by speaking of finding rest for his soul – spiritual tranquility. And then he ends by saying, “I will not be shaken.” And in between he is talking about God. We find rest in God and that means an assurance that we are not to be shaken or disturbed. There will be things of a disturbing nature coming to us, but we will not be shaken if we are resting in God’s promises. They are like solid rocks.