Daily Devotional Podcasts

590_His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136) Psalm 136:1-9 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. 2 Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; 4 to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; 5 to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; 6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; 7 to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; 8 the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; 9 the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever; Vs. 23-26 It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever; 24 and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever; 25 he who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever. 26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever. The great nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon was visiting an elderly Christian woman who lived in a tiny, weather-worn home. She had almost nothing—just a few pieces of old furniture, a small stove, and a Bible that looked like it had been opened more than any book should withstand. When Spurgeon asked her how she managed life with so little, she smiled and said, “Oh, Mr. Spurgeon, I am rich. I have a bank note pasted in my Bible.” Curious, he opened it—and found written in her own handwriting, next to Psalm 136, the words, “This is my inheritance—His love endures forever.” She didn’t possess financial wealth, but she held a truth so rich that it shaped her entire outlook on life. She had anchored her soul to the refrain that has echoed through the centuries: “His steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 136 is sometimes called the Great Hallel, the great song of praise. It was sung in the gatherings of Israel, in festivals, in times of thanksgiving, and even in seasons of national reflection. What sets this psalm apart is its unforgettable rhythm—the repeated refrain that appears in all 26 verses: “His steadfast love endures forever.” The Hebrew word behind “steadfast love” is checed—a word so rich that no single English word can capture its fullness. Translators have used terms like mercy, lovingkindness, faithful love, loyalty, grace, and covenant love. It carries the idea of loyalty expressed in compassionate action, especially within a covenant relationship. It is the love that moves God to rescue, protect, provide, forgive, and remain faithful—even when His people fail. And when the psalm says this love “endures forever,” it is declaring that God’s covenant faithfulness and kindness are not subject to the march of time or the wavering obedience of His people. Time changes. People change. Circumstances change. But His steadfast love remains. The psalm opens and closes with a call to give thanks,

591_Remembering our true home (Psalm 137) Psalm 137 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! 6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! 7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!” 8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! 9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! A traveler once described a strange experience he had while waiting in an international airport during a long layover. Everything around him was efficient, bright, and comfortable—restaurants, announcements, familiar brands, even familiar languages. Yet as the hours passed, an unshakable restlessness settled in. He realized that no matter how pleasant the surroundings were, the airport was never meant to be a destination. It was only a place of waiting. The danger was not discomfort, but forgetting that he was meant to move on. If he unpacked his bags there, if he adjusted too well, he would miss his flight home. Psalm 137 emerges from one of the darkest chapters in Israel’s history. Babylon, under the ruthless leadership of King Nebuchadnezzar, had conquered Jerusalem. The city they loved lay in ruins. The temple—the visible sign of God’s dwelling among them—was razed to the ground. The land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was plundered, and its people were carried away by force into a foreign land. This tragedy did not come without warning. God had spoken repeatedly through His prophets. Isaiah and Jeremiah had lifted their voices, pleading with kings and people alike to turn from idolatry, immorality, injustice, and rebellion. Yet they refused to listen. They trusted in rituals rather than repentance, in the temple rather than obedience. They assumed that God’s presence was guaranteed simply because the building stood among them. But when the enemy came, none of these assumptions could save them. God, in His righteousness, handed them over to captivity. Now, hundreds of miles away from home, the people of Israel found themselves living among their captors. Psalm 137 opens with an image heavy with sorrow: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.” Their tears were not merely nostalgic; they were theological. Zion represented far more than geography. It was the place where God had chosen to make His name dwell, the center of worship, the symbol of covenant relationship. As they remembered Zion, their hearts broke afresh. They hung their harps on the willow trees—not because they

592_The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me (Psalm 138) Psalm 138 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; 2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 3 On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. 4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, 5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. 6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. 8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. There is a story often told about a master craftsman who was asked how he could remain so calm while working on an intricate piece of art that would take years to complete. He smiled and said, “I am never anxious about the end, because I trust the design. Every day I simply stay faithful to the pattern I have been given.” Those words echo a deep biblical truth: peace does not come from knowing every detail of the future, but from trusting the One who holds the design. Psalm 138 captures that confidence beautifully, especially in its closing declaration: “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.” It is not the voice of a man who has lived an easy life, but of David, a man well acquainted with uncertainty, opposition, and suffering, yet deeply convinced that God’s purposes cannot fail. This psalm stands in contrast to the lament of the previous psalm. Here, David lifts his eyes above his immediate circumstances and makes a bold declaration of God’s greatness in the midst of all. From the very beginning, he gives reasons for praise, not rooted in vague optimism, but grounded in who God is and how God has revealed himself. David bows toward God’s holy temple and gives thanks to God’s name for his steadfast love and faithfulness, declaring that God has exalted above all things his name and his word. In a world filled with competing claims to power and authority, David affirms that the Lord stands alone, unmatched and unrivaled. The steadfast love and faithfulness of the Lord form the bedrock of David’s worship. Unlike the fickle loyalties of human rulers or the empty promises of false gods, the Lord’s covenant love never wavers. His faithfulness does not depend on circumstances or human merit. God’s name and God’s word are unique in all the earth. His promises do not expire, weaken, or change with time. Scripture repeatedly affirms this truth: all the promises of God find

593_Search me and try me, O Lord (Psalm 139) Psalm 139 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. 19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! There is a story often told about a restorer who was once invited to examine a priceless painting that had hung for decades in a dimly lit wall. To the casual observer, it looked fine—serene, even beautiful. But when the restorer brought a bright light and held it close, the room fell silent. Cracks appeared where none were noticed before. Layers of dirt dulled the colors. Tiny repairs made years earlier, meant to hide flaws, were suddenly obvious. The light did not damage the painting; it

594_Lord, the strength of my salvation (Psalm 140) Psalm 140 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, 2 who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually. 3 They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's, and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah 4 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men, who have planned to trip up my feet. 5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net; beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah 6 I say to the Lord, You are my God; give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord! 7 O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle. 8 Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah 9 As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! 10 Let burning coals fall upon them! Let them be cast into fire, into miry pits, no more to rise! 11 Let not the slanderer be established in the land; let evil hunt down the violent man speedily! 12 I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. 13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence. There is a story often told of a small coastal town that was battered year after year by fierce storms. The houses closest to the shore were regularly damaged, and many people eventually moved inland. Yet one house remained standing, season after season, seemingly untouched by the fury of wind and waves. When asked how his house endured when others fell, the owner replied simply, “I didn’t build it to look strong. I built it to survive storms.” He had anchored the foundation deep into bedrock, invisible to the eye but immovable when the storm came. Strength, he explained, is proven not in calm weather but in crisis. Psalm 140 is written from the middle of a storm. It is not a calm reflection from a place of safety but an urgent prayer rising from danger. David is surrounded by hostility, malice, and violence. Yet this psalm is not primarily about the power of enemies; it is about the strength of God in salvation. David has learned, through years of trials, that survival does not come from clever strategies or personal might, but from a life anchored in the Lord. That is why he can cry out with confidence, “O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation.” David begins with an urgent plea: “Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men.” There is no pretense here, no attempt to sound composed. This is the prayer of someone who knows he is in danger. The enemies he describes are not merely disagreeable people; they

595_Prayer as an offering (Psalm 141) Psalm 141 O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! 2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! 3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! 4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies! 5 Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds. 6 When their judges are thrown over the cliff, then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant. 7 As when one plows and breaks up the earth, so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol. 8 But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless! 9 Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me and from the snares of evildoers! 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely. There is a quiet dignity about an offering. Whether it is placed on an altar, laid gently at someone’s feet, or lifted heavenward in unseen devotion, an offering says something words alone cannot. It declares worth. It acknowledges dependence. It reveals the heart of the one who brings it. In his book Letters to Malcolm, C. S. Lewis observed, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless… It doesn’t change God. It changes me.” Prayer, at its truest, is not a transaction but a transformation. It is not merely asking; it is offering. Psalm 141 draws us into this sacred understanding of prayer—not as a hurried appeal for relief, but as a holy act placed before God like incense on the altar. David begins this psalm with urgency and reverence. He is not casual as he approaches God. “O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you.” His words carry the tone of someone who knows he is standing on holy ground. Then he gives us the controlling image of the entire psalm: “Let my prayer be incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands an evening sacrifice.” David consciously connects prayer with worship, with offering, with the carefully prescribed rituals of the tabernacle. He sees prayer not as background noise to life but as something precious, something God receives. David clearly has the altar of incense in mind. Positioned directly in front of the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, the altar of incense stood closest to the presence of God. According to Leviticus 16, the high priest would take burning coals from the altar and place incense upon them, and the fragrant smoke would rise,

596_He is at my right hand (Psalm 142) Psalm 142 With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. 3 When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. 4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. 5 I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” 6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me! 7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me. There is something about caves that exposes the truth about us. A cave strips life down to its bare essentials. There is no room for appearances, no space for pretence, and no audience to impress. Darkness presses in, silence amplifies every thought, and fear echoes louder than any spoken word. History tells us that during times of persecution, believers often fled into caves, not because caves were safe, but because they were hidden. One such account comes from the early church, where Christians fleeing Roman persecution worshipped in underground catacombs, clinging to faith when the world above sought their destruction. Those places of isolation became sanctuaries, not because of the walls that surrounded them, but because of the God who met them there. Psalm 142 was born in such a place. It is a psalm written from a cave, when David was a fugitive, hunted not by a foreign enemy, but by Saul, the anointed king of Israel. This is not the confident David standing before Goliath with a sling in his hand, nor the celebrated David welcomed with songs and dances. This is David the outlaw, David the misunderstood, David the man whose very life is under constant threat. Psalm 34 and Psalm 57 are also associated with this season, but Psalm 142 stands apart in its rawness. It is described as a maskil, a psalm of contemplation. It invites us not merely to read David’s words, but to enter into his inner world. The psalm opens not with quiet reflection, but with a cry. “With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD. I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.” David does not whisper polite prayers; he raises his voice. There is urgency here, desperation, and honesty. He does not sanitize his emotions before God. He pours out his complaint. The word suggests emptying a vessel completely. Nothing is held back. The injustice, the fear, the confusion, and the pain of being hunted by someone who once promised to protect him—all of it is laid before the Lord. David