Skip to main content

Daily Devotion: Psalm 18:36&46

By

Psalm 18:36    "Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip."

Psalm 18:46    "The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted."

May I ask a very blunt question?  Do you believe in the god of luck? Do you believe that it is because of luck that you got through some difficult times?  When asked in this way, most people would say, "No, I do not believe in the god of luck." Yet so many times, we hear someone say, "I sure was lucky to get out of that mess."  May I tell you there is no such thing as luck?  When we asked the doctor what could have caused the mass to form on my wife's brain, he answered, "It's just the luck of the draw." Without hesitation, she looked him in the eye and said, "There is no such thing as luck."

I include these two verses today because they fit together perfectly. David is writing verse 36 as he looked back at one or more particular instances in his life where he could say for a fact that the Lord delivered him from a situation.  There is no way David would say, "I sure was lucky to be able to deliver the lamb from the bear and the lion." There is no way David would say, "I just closed my eyes and flung that stone the best I could and by luck of the draw, it happened to hit Goliath in the one spot where he was unprotected."  No, David said, "You have made my feet steady." You made sure I was on solid ground and you gave strength and direction to me and to that smooth stone."

Why am I stressing these things this morning? Because there is no such thing as a god of luck. David answered this thought in verse 46: "The LORD liveth." Our God is alive! He hears our cries when we call to Him. He knows our deepest thoughts and cares. He sees us in our struggles, just as Jesus saw the disciples toiling in trying to row the boat to the other side of the lake.  "For who is God save the LORD?"  In answering that question, David is quick to declare "The LORD liveth!"  He's alive!  "And blessed be my rock!"  I asked earlier if you believe in luck because for anyone who believes life is filled with lucky or unlucky times cannot truly say, "Blessed be my rock." For you see, if you believe in luck then you are declaring luck to be your god and your rock.  May I steer you away from that to tell you, luck does not exist; but, "The LORD liveth and He is my blessed rock!"

"Let the God of my salvation be exalted."  What or who is the power of your salvation (deliverance)? Whether we talk about eternal salvation into heaven's glory or our daily deliverances, what or who is the power of your salvation?  Is it a matter of luck? Is it because you were smart enough or strong enough, or just happened upon the right decision at the right time?  Or is the power of your salvation based upon the fact that the LORD is our God?  He lives! He is blessed!  If so, let us exalt His Holy Name!

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Devotion: Psalm 88:1-4

By
Psalm 88:1-4  A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. "O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:  (2)  Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;  (3)  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.  (4)  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength" I've said this before and I will say it again (and probably more times before we get to the end of the Psalms) - I love the Psalms because I can surely identify with them. Most Psalms start in a low place and as the writer expresses his thoughts, the Lord begins to lift him up out of that dry place.  Though this entire Psalm is a fervent cry unto the Lord, the Psalmist tells us specifically in three verses that he cried daily unto the Lord. Just a few Psalms ago, we were reminded that God always hears our prayers. ...
Read more

Daily Devotion (Video): I Will Fear No Evil - Psalm 23:4

By
Read more

Daily Devotion: Knowing God By Bearing Fruit

By
Some will notice the title is not “Bearing fruit because we know God,” so to avoid getting sidetracked with that, we can start with the fact that we won’t bear any godly fruit unless our heart has been changed and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Also, to avoid confusion, I’ll be using the terms “bearing fruit,” “good works” and “service” interchangeably.  I took this article’s title from Part 7, of John Piper’s “Look at the Book” session on Colossians 1:9-12. I greatly encourage you to view that short video to get his excellent exposition on this subject.  When I saw the title of the video earlier this year, I got kind of excited because that’s the direction my thinking has gone in the past several years. My thinking was founded Biblically with verses on good works like Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven.” But I couldn’t expand it to expla...
Read more