Bible League: Living His Word God is my strength and power,And He makes my way perfect. Our verse for today is part of a song of praise and thanksgiving that David wrote early in his reign over Israel. The song is almost identical to Psalm 18. God had delivered David from his many enemies, including King Saul and the surrounding pagan nations. He had trusted God that the promise of his anointing by the prophet Samuel would come to fulfillment and the moment had finally arrived. His heart, as a result, was full of gratitude to God. God had been David's strength and power. One translation says, "God is my strong fortress" (NLT). During the period of time between his anointing by Samuel and its complete fulfillment at the time of this song David had gone through many trials, troubles, and tribulations. During it all, God had been his strength and power. God had given him what he needed to prevail over everything that had come against him. God had also been his strong fortress. God had protected David from every attack of the enemies arrayed against him. Rather than writing a song in praise of all his accomplishments, David knew that all the praise, glory, and honor belonged to God. And God had made his way perfect. One translation says, "and keeps my way secure" (NIV). During the period of his ascent to the throne God had made David's way sure and true. That is, God had made sure that David took the right way to get to his goal. There were many obstacles in the way that could have side-tracked him or stopped his progression, but God cleared the path and made the way plain to him. God had also made his way secure. God had made sure that the pathway he took to the top was one that would not fail or lead him astray. Every one of us is on a journey like David. We are moving from the promise of God's call on our lives to the point of its fulfillment. There are many obstacles and difficulties along the way. If we trust in God, then we can count on Him being our strength and power; a strong fortress to protect us from every form of opposition. And we can count on God to make our way perfect. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading1 Kings 12, 13 1 Kings 12 -- Israelites Rebel against Rehoboam; Kingdom Divided; Jeroboam begins Idol Worship NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Kings 13 -- Jeroboam's Hand Withered and Restored; Prophet Reproved NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 24:36-53 Luke 24 -- The Resurrection; Road to Emmaus; Appearances to disciples, Ascension NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion But for those who are righteous,the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them. LORD, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart's desire is to glorify your name. Insight At times the path of the righteous doesn't seem smooth and it isn't easy to do God's will, but we are never alone when we face tough times. God is there to help us through difficulties, to comfort us, and to lead us. God does this by giving us a purpose and giving us provisions as we travel. God provides us with relationships of family, friends, and mentors. God gives us wisdom to make decisions and faith to trust him. Challenge Don't despair; stay on God's path. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Job 14:14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait.A little stay on earth will make heaven more heavenly. Nothing makes rest so sweet as toil; nothing renders security so pleasant as exposure to alarms. The bitter quassia cups of earth will give a relish to the new wine which sparkles in the golden bowls of glory. Our battered armour and scarred countenances will render more illustrious our victory above, when we are welcomed to the seats of those who have overcome the world. We should not have full fellowship with Christ if we did not for awhile sojourn below, for he was baptized with a baptism of suffering among men, and we must be baptized with the same if we would share his kingdom. Fellowship with Christ is so honorable that the sorest sorrow is a light price by which to procure it. Another reason for our lingering here is for the good of others. We would not wish to enter heaven till our work is done, and it may be that we are yet ordained to minister light to souls benighted in the wilderness of sin. Our prolonged stay here is doubtless for God's glory. A tried saint, like a well-cut diamond, glitters much in the King's crown. Nothing reflects so much honor on a workman as a protracted and severe trial of his work, and its triumphant endurance of the ordeal without giving way in any part. We are God's workmanship, in whom he will be glorified by our afflictions. It is for the honor of Jesus that we endure the trial of our faith with sacred joy. Let each man surrender his own longings to the glory of Jesus, and feel, "If my lying in the dust would elevate my Lord by so much as an inch, let me still lie among the pots of earth. If to live on earth forever would make my Lord more glorious, it should be my heaven to be shut out of heaven." Our time is fixed and settled by eternal decree. Let us not be anxious about it, but wait with patience till the gates of pearl shall open. Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Corinthians 15:35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?"1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 1 Corinthians 15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Philippians 3:20,21 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; • who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Luke 24:36,37 While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be to you." • But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:5,6 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. • After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 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. |
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