Psalm 33:10-22

Psalm 33:10-22
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;
from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,
he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.
The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you. (Psalm 33:10-22 ESV)

God, it is so easy for me to get things out of perspective. I imagine that my life looks very different from where I sit than where you sit. Help me to spend less time worrying over my best laid plans and more time seeking your guidance. Help me to stop leaning solely on my understanding and put my trust in you; believing that you will make my paths straight (Pr. 3:5). Reveal to me the things that I am tempted to trust in above you. Show me my idols so that I can turn from them and surrender to you. Amen

Psalm 26

Psalm 26
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.
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.
I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord,
proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds.
O Lord, I love the habitation of your house
and the place where your glory dwells.
Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.
But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the Lord.
(Psalm 26:1-12 ESV)

God, help me to not conform my life to the pattern of this world, but to walk in integrity after the example of Jesus (Ro. 12:2). Search my heart and mind and make me aware of the places that need to be surrendered more fully to your transforming grace. Thank you for the friends you have given me for this journey that help strengthen my walk with you instead of tearing it down. Help me to be humble enough to repent when I need to repent, trust you enough to change when I need to change, and be brave enough to proclaim what you’ve done for me when given the opportunity. Amen.

Psalm 7

Psalm 7
O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.

The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.

If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.

I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. (Psalm 7:1-17 ESV)

God, reveal to me the enemies in my life that threaten to tear my soul apart. Today, turn my focus from the sawdust that is in someone else’s eye to the plank that is in my own (Mt. 7:3 NIV). Test my mind and heart and show me the wrong that is in my hand. When my eyes are opened and I come to my senses let my awareness of my sin result in repentance leading to salvation, not pride that arouses your indignation. Help me to humble myself in your sight, that you might lift me up (Js. 4:10). Amen

Psalm 1

Psalm 1
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. (Psalm 1:1-6 NIV)

God, help me not to fall into the slippery slope of sin. I may not have wallowed in sin, but you know the ways that I have tiptoed toward it. Forgive me for the ways that I have flirted with it. Help me to meditate on your law day and night. Let me hide your words in my heart that I might not sin against you (Ps. 119:11). I want to be like a tree planted by streams of water; that never withers, that is always growing and fruitful. I know that there is coming a day when I will meet you face to face and stand before you in judgment. I pray that my life will not be so dead, and empty, and meaningless that it is reduced to chaff that the wind blows away. Watch over my life’s journey and help me to follow in the way that leads to righteousness. Amen.