Bible League: Living His Word To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.There are only two ways you can lift up your soul. You can lift it up to the biblical God of heaven and earth, as David does in our verse for today, or you can lift it up to an idol (Psalm 24:4). You can lift up your soul to the God who created and transcends heaven and earth, or you can lift it up to an idol that is itself merely a created being. There are no other options, because there is nothing other than God and His creation. What is the soul that is lifted up? According to the Bible, each individual human being is made up of a material side and a spiritual side, a body and a soul or spirit (Genesis 2:7; Matthew 10:28). The soul is that side of every individual person that departs from the body and continues to exist after death (Genesis 35:18; Ecclesiastes 12:7). It is the very core of what it means to be an individual human person. What does it mean to lift up one's soul to the Lord? The phrase indicates that someone has turned away from everything else and has focused the inward core of their very being on the Lord God of heaven and earth. Instead of looking to an idol or something else from within the created order, a person consciously turns to and focuses on God. The Lord God is "high and exalted" and lives in a "high and holy place" (Isaiah 57:15). It is necessary, consequently, to lift up one's soul in order to come before Him. What does one do after lifting up one's soul? The possibilities are many. There could be worship, praise, prayer, petition, confession, and any of a number of other things. In David's case in Psalm 25, it was to petition the Lord to "Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me" (Psalm 25:2). David lifted up his soul to the Lord because he believed that only the Lord could help in his time of trouble. A person lifts up their soul to the Lord God because they believe in faith that He exists and because they want to be in relationship with Him. Lift up your soul to the Lord and come before Him, for He alone is worth the effort. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Samuel 13, 14 2 Samuel 13 -- Amnon and Tamar; Amnom Killed by Absalom NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Samuel 14 -- The Widow of Tekoa; Absalom Recalled NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 20:1-26 Luke 20 -- Jesus' Authority; Parable of the Tenants; Give to Caesar; Marriage at the Resurrection NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion A quarrelsome wife is as annoyingas constant dripping on a rainy day. Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands. Insight Quarrelsome nagging, a steady stream of unwanted advice, is a form of torture. People nag because they think they're not getting through, but nagging hinders communication more than it helps. Challenge When tempted to engage in this destructive habit, stop and examine your motives. Are you more concerned about yourself—getting your way, being right—than about the person you are pretending to help? If you are truly concerned about other people, think of a more effective way to get through to them. Surprise them with words of patience and love, and see what happens. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Revelation 3:20 If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.What is your desire this evening? Is it set upon heavenly things? Do you long to enjoy the high doctrine of eternal love? Do you desire liberty in very close communion with God? Do you aspire to know the heights, and depths, and lengths, and breadths? Then you must draw near to Jesus; you must get a clear sight of him in his preciousness and completeness; you must view him in his work, in his offices, in his person. He who understands Christ, receives an anointing from the Holy One, by which he knows all things. Christ is the great master-key of all the chambers of God; there is no treasure-house of God which will not open and yield up all its wealth to the soul that lives near to Jesus. Are you saying, "O that he would dwell in my bosom"? "Would that he would make my heart his dwelling-place forever"? Open the door, beloved, and he will come into your souls. He has long been knocking, and all with this object, that he may sup with you, and you with him. He sups with you because you find the house or the heart, and you with him because he brings the provision. He could not sup with you if it were not in your heart, you finding the house; nor could you sup with him, for you have a bare cupboard, if he did not bring provision with him. Fling wide, then, the portals of your soul. He will come with that love which you long to feel; he will come with that joy into which you cannot work your poor depressed spirit; he will bring the peace which now you have not; he will come with his flagons of wine and sweet apples of love, and cheer you till you have no other sickness but that of "love o'erpowering, love divine." Only open the door to him, drive out his enemies, give him the keys of your heart, and he will dwell there forever. Oh, wondrous love, that brings such a guest to dwell in such a heart! Daily Light on the Daily Path 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.Colossians 1:19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, Hebrews 1:3,4 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, • having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. Philippians 2:6,7 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, • but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Matthew 8:20 Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, • whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, • and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
Click for Video Devotionals     |