5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

Psalm 51

The focus of this Psalm is David's repentance following his sin with Bathsheba.  Relevant for me right now is David's desire for a "pure heart" and to "renew a steadfast spirit".  Additionally verse 12 speaks to me.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 

I continue to have a troublesome attitude about working wholeheartedly as Peter exhorts us to:

¹⁸ Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.  (1 Peter 2:18).

Paul also echoes this same instruction:

⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. ⁶ Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. ⁷ Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, ⁸ because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. (Ephesians 6:5-8)

My Prayer: Lord, Only You are pure and holy - for this and so much more You are worthy of my love, worship, and obedience.  Yet I continue to fail.  I know You love me and You have blessed me (and continue to) so thank so much as I am undeserving.  I come to You now as David has done to seek a pure heart and a renewed spirit - restore to me "the joy of Your salvation".  Please help me Lord so that I can obey my earthly masters as both Paul and Peter exhort me to.

  

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Psalm 50

⁷ “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
    I will testify against you, Israel:
    I am God, your God.
⁸ I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall
    or of goats from your pens,
¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields are mine.
¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴ “Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
    fulfill your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵ and call on me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

...

²³ Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
    and to the blameless I will show my salvation. ”

In the Old Testament the Jews offered animal sacrifice and God because the animals are already his, he indicates here that he needs no sacrifice.  However it is important to remember that the animal may be valuable to people as a food source or otherwise so the offering of an animal while in an absolute sense was not necessary to God, it WAS necessary to show how people deny themselves of something.  Additionally, the Jews could have also denied themselves of something (as an expression of our love for God) through a thanks offering which is said to be something that was not promised but given in addition as an expression of thanks for how God blessed people.

With Jesus we are of course to offer ourselves instead:

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are worthy of ALL praise and You are worthy of MY praise.  You are great and awesome beyond description and You have blessed me well beyond what I deserve.  I come to You now with a humble heart, knowing I am full of anger and this is a sin.  I thank You for all that You are and what You have done but I need You once more this day (and will continue to need You every day) to forgive me for my anger.  Please purify and refine me of this sin and make me Yours.  Help me take my cross and follow You.

15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.

Psalm 49

⁵ Why should I fear when evil days come,

    when wicked deceivers surround me—
⁶ those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of their great riches?  

¹² People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
    they are like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
    and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
¹⁴ They are like sheep and are destined to die;
    death will be their shepherd
    (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).
Their forms will decay in the grave,
    far from their princely mansions.
¹⁵ But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
    he will surely take me to himself.

I often put too much trust in myself or in what I "have".  Of course this is foolish.
 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus - You are ALL that I need.  I confess that I often seek gods other than You and while I thank You that You have already died for my sins I continue to need Your forgiveness for my sin, including my inability to serve my earthly masters wholeheartedly as You ask me to.  Purify me and sanctify me of this Lord Jesus and help me love You first and foremost so that I can become more like You.

For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth.

Psalm 47

For the Lord Most High is awesome,
    the great King over all the earth.

The Lord Jesus Christ is awesome in of course many ways (human words cannot even come close to a description worthy of Christ's awesomeness!) but let me start with a few ways:

- He created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in between > I marvel at this all the time and I should marvel at it more than I do; just look around you at home and in the places you have visited and seen in videos and photographs.
- He created all of us in His image; human beings stand apart from the other creations and we are uniquely created to serve Him
- In my own life, I marvel at the blessings he has trusted me with: family, job, place to live, health, skills, etc. > all of this to both bless me and glorify Him!

My Prayer: Lord, You ARE Most High and awesome!  I am hopeful and prayerful that my description is a sense of my worship of You.  I worship You not only because You are so great but also because I need You!  I sin and I am in need of both purfication and sanctification.  Thank You for all that You have done but please purify me of my sin of laziness and also sanctify me so that I can become more like You Jesus Christ. 

Be still, and know that I am God

Psalm 46

God commands our attention:

- he lifts his voice, the earth melts

- the desolations he has brought on the earth

- He makes wars cease, to the ends of the earth

- He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.  

In Matthew 19:26 Jesus says:

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

...

⁸ Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

 

¹¹ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

My Prayer: Lord, You are great beyond all imagination and it is true that there is nothing You cannot do!  I am of course weak as I am human.  I am weak in all respects and I am weak today in that I fail to serve You and I fail to serve my human masters wholeheartedly - while I know You love me no less...and for this I thank You...I desperately seek Your forgiveness.  Please forgive me and help me serve both You and my human masters wholeheartedly.  Help me be still and know that You are God.   Help me Lord.

You love righteousness and hate wickedness

Psalm 45

This hymn sings the praises of God and among the many virtues of our God:

You love righteousness and hate wickedness (verse 7)

We must be mindful of the greatness of our God...both in absolute terms and in our own lives.


My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are truly great....and You are truly great to me.  I both witnessed Your greatness in the world...and I have witnessed Your greatness in my own life.  I am weak and I fail. I do thank You Jesus for the grace and love You bless me with, and today I seek Your forgiveness for a sinful work attitude in that I fail to serve wholeheartedly.  Help me serve ALL and through this serve You.

In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.

Psalm 44

We have heard it with our ears, O God;
    our ancestors have told us
what you did in their days,
    in days long ago.
² With your hand you drove out the nations
    and planted our ancestors;
you crushed the peoples
    and made our ancestors flourish.
³ It was not by their sword that they won the land,
    nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
    and the light of your face, for you loved them.

⁴ You are my King and my God,
    who decrees^[c] victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push back our enemies;
    through your name we trample our foes.
⁶ I put no trust in my bow,
    my sword does not bring me victory;
⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,
    you put our adversaries to shame.
⁸ In God we make our boast all day long,
    and we will praise your name forever.

⁹ But now you have rejected and humbled us;
    you no longer go out with our armies.
¹⁰ You made us retreat before the enemy,
    and our adversaries have plundered us.
¹¹ You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
    and have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You sold your people for a pittance,
    gaining nothing from their sale.

David laments over how he feels scorned...yet we should know better that God does not scorn or forget us...His love and mercy is always upon us....He does not of course promise us a life free of troubles.

Among many verses that discuss suffering:

¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13)

We must all remember that whatever happens we should be looking for what we can do to glorify God - not question Him.  Of course we can struggle with our faith - that is OK but in the end we should strive to have faith that God is always with us...no matter what our circumstances are.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-8)

My Prayer: Lord, I know You will never forsake me...instead I will scorn You or I will sin and I will through my own doing separate myself from You.  I do this willingly but neglecting You in my daily time with You.  I thank You Lord Jesus that You still love me no matter what I do and will always welcome me back no matter what I do.  Please forgive me now for my weakness and my inability to be bold....to be the man You intend me to be.  Please invade my heart and my life - take me and make me fully Yours.