Psalm 147:10-11 - What makes God happy?

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
     nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
the Lord delights in those who fear him,
     who put their hope in his unfailing love.

In the first two lines, In my head I modernize this verse to this: His pleasure is not in cars or athletes. Humans are drawn to strength and victory. We love to drool over new cars and cheer on sports teams. But God is not impressed by these things. This is not where he finds "delight". He finds happiness in us, in those who fear him, love him and put their hope in him.

Lord, thank you for delighting in us. Please help us to always fear you and put our hope in your unfailing love. Amen.

Psalm 119:81 - Longing, looking and waiting

My soul faints with longing for your salvation,
     but I have put my hope in your word.

This section of chapter 119 uses words like longing, looking and waiting. Are you longing, looking and waiting for the Lord? Or is there something else in your life you are longing, looking or waiting for? It is easy for things and people to take the place of God in our life. Only God satisfies, gives real hope and never fails on his promises.

Lord, thank you for being our unfailing God. Please help us to only long, look and wait for you. Amen.

Psalm 119:50 - Hope and comfort

My comfort in my suffering is this:
     Your promise preserves my life.

This section of Psalm 119 is about the hope and comfort found in the law. As Christians, we also find hope and comfort in the word. Primarily this comes from the knowledge that no matter what we suffer on this earth, as a follower we know our final destination is with God in heaven.

Lord, thank you for the comfort and hope you give us. Please help us to live every day with salvation in our hearts. Amen.

Psalm 119:46 - Confidence from the word

I will speak of your statutes before kings
     and will not be put to shame,

When we know the word, we have confidence to share the word. In this section of Psalm 119, the author talks about knowing the law so well, they can answer one who taunts them, trust in the word, put their hope in the laws, walk in freedom and speak the statues before kings. Knowledge of the word gives us the confidence we need to go about our lives.

Lord, thank you for your word. Please help us to be confident in life and speaking to others about you. Amen.

Psalm 107:14 - Chains

He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
     and broke away their chains.

We all have chains. Chains of addiction, sorrow, pain or trouble. But when we allow God to bring us out of the darkness and into his glorious light, he also helps us break our chains. Chains don't always break overnight and if you are like me, you have a tendency to go back and put the chains back on, but with the hope of heaven in our sight, we know that these chains are not our master and one day we will be made perfect and chain free when we are with God.

Lord, thank you for bringing us out of the slavery of sin, Please help us to continually rely on you to remove our chains. Amen.

Psalm 71:14 - Hope

As for me, I will always have hope;
     I will praise you more and more.

The other day I was in a conversation about the difference between hope and confidence. The difference came down to control. If I can control a situation, I can have confidence in the result. Hope is something we have if we can't control the situation, but hope for a certain result. With God, we may not have control over a situation, but our hope is sure because of his power. Because of him we can always have hope.

Lord, thank you for giving us hope. Help us to praise you more and more. Amen.

Psalm 42:5 - Are you downcast?

Why, my soul, are you downcast?
     Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
     for I will yet praise him,
     my Savior and my God.

It is so easy to let the troubles of the world get us down. There are a lot of things to be disturbed about, personally and on a global scale. But these things do not have to keep us down. God is our hope. He is the solution for all troubles, the salve for all wounds.

Lord, thank you for giving us hope. Please help us to rely on you in times of trouble. Amen,

Psalm 33:18 - The eyes of the Lord

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
     on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

God sees me. He knows my thoughts, my struggles, my opportunities. I fear him and hope in his unfailing love, so I trust him. Sometimes I think I have to beg him for his attention, but I don't have to, he sees me.

Lord, thank you for seeing us. Please help us to trust you. Amen.

Psalm 16:8 - Not shaken

I keep my eyes always on the Lord.

     With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Right now I am working so much, I feel on the verge of a break down. I pray all the time for God to get me through the day. I need to remember, with him at my right hand, I will not be shaken! This whole psalm was just what I needed. God gives us safety, security, instruction and hope for eternity.

Lord, thank you for being at our right hand. Please help me to always keep my eyes on you. Amen.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 - Sleep in death

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

When someone close to us dies, it is painful. Our loss is so great it can be overwhelming. But if the person who died was in Christ, we have hope. We know that they will one day be with God.

Lord, thank you for giving us hope. Please help those grieving for the loss of a loved one. Amen.

Romans 8:18 - The best is yet to come

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

I need to remember...this world is temporary. Our struggles with the flesh and trials in this world are nothing compared to eternity with God in heaven. We might call it delayed gratification. There are so many thing to occupy our brains and bodies here on this earth. If we allow them to, they can at best overshadow our soul's main focus and at worst lead us to the path of destruction and eternal suffering.

Lord, thank you for the hope of  heaven and an eternity with you. Please help us focus on the larger picture and appropriately react to our present sufferings. Amen.

Romans 5:3-4 - Purpose in suffering

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

It's hard to be thankful for suffering, but suffering can produce such good traits. If it weren't for our suffering we would have no need to persevere. Character is built as a result of that perseverance. We are then given hope, which sustains us through the suffering.

Lord, thank you for the gift of suffering and the traits it produces. Please help us to look beyond our current suffering and trust in you. Amen.

Genesis 46:30 - Are you ready to die?

 Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”

This phrase reminds me of my mother-in-law. She was so happy to see her son getting married, she said she could now die. Are we ready to die? For Joseph and my mother-in-law this may have just been an expression, but it's a good thing to think about. Are there things our life which are unsettled? Is there something we can to to settle them? Maybe we need to forgive someone or reunite with a family member. As a Christian, I hope to always be ready to die, to go home to my father. 

Lord, thank you for giving us hope of eternity with you. Please help us to be ready to die. Amen.