Daily Devotional Podcasts

446_Consequences of rejecting God Psalm 14 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. 4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord? 5 There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. 6 You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. 7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. A man on a hiking trip with his friends stood for a moment, gazing at the starlit sky. He murmured, almost without meaning to himself, “Do you really think all of this just happened by chance?” His question lingered in the cold air like smoke from a dying fire. What followed wasn’t a debate but a deep and honest conversation. What if God is real? And if He is, how should that change our lives? Such conversations have echoed in every generation. But Scripture declares a sobering truth. This is the jarring line with which Psalm 14 begins. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” David does not speak here of philosophical atheism, but something far deeper and more dangerous: the practical rejection of God’s presence and authority in our inner lives. There's a difference between questioning God's existence and rejecting Him in our hearts. A questioning heart may still be seeking truth, but a rejecting heart has turned away. And that rejection doesn't just affect what we think; it shapes our morality, how we live. It produces moral rottenness, in the form of corruption, injustice, and spiritual blindness. There’s a form of practical atheism that is even more dangerous than theoretical disbelief. If people profess faith in God, take part in religious observances, and pray regularly, yet if their hearts do not revere him and if they do not acknowledge His presence in their everyday choices, they reveal that they are living as though he is absent in this universe. As Alexander Maclaren said, “To strip Him of His justice and rob Him of His control is the part of a fool. For the Biblical conception of folly is moral perversity rather than intellectual feebleness, and whoever is morally and religiously wrong cannot be in reality intellectually right.” To reject God in our hearts is not merely a philosophical error. It is to become spiritually blind and morally adrift. This is why David goes on to write, “They are corrupt; their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” Without the fear of God, there is no good in man. All noble actions in human life have their source

445_God’s delays are not his absence Psalm 13 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. A young girl planted a seed in a small pot on her windowsill. Each day, she watered the soil and sat by the pot, watching, waiting, expecting. When nothing happened even after a week, she grew restless. Two weeks in, still nothing. She tapped the soil, poked at it gently, and even tried moving the pot to different windows to catch better sunlight. Finally, she gave up. But her grandmother quietly continued to water it. A week later, a tiny green sprout appeared. The seed was never dead—it was just working in silence. Waiting for deliverance can be frustrating, sometimes agonizing. Especially when you feel forgotten. Especially when there is no answer, though you pray persistently, and trust God with your deepest desires. Yet heaven remains silent. Psalm 13 voices this cry. Four times in just two verses, David asks, “How long, O Lord?” The question breathes his feeling of abandonment. Like many of us, when God delays, David starts to wonder: Has God forgotten me? When we are overcome by our foes, we assume God isn’t listening. We confuse His silence for indifference and His delays for rejection. But Scripture repeatedly shows us that God’s delays are not His denials. Often, they are the sign of his deep, loving work in our lives, hidden beneath the surface, preparing us for something greater than we imagined. Jacob’s favorite son Joseph was sent dreams that prophesied his future greatness. He was favored with intelligence, charm, and administrative capacity. He was honest, diligent and obedient. Yet he was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and unjustly imprisoned. For years, his life seemed to spiral further away from God’s promises. Once, it looked like a break might come. He rightly interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker, and the cupbearer was restored to Pharaoh’s favor. But he forgot to intercede for Joseph’s release. Hope turned into disappointment. Two more years passed in that prison. From a human perspective, those years seem to be a waste, a cruel delay. Yet God had his great purposes. If released earlier, Joseph might have gone home to resume his life as a shepherd. But he was destined to save his clan, God’s chosen people, from extinction. During the years in Egypt, including his time in prison, Joseph learned the management of a large semi-royal household, the culture of the palace, the

444_Man’s words vs God’s words Psalm 12 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. 2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. 3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, 4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?” 5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” 6 The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. 7 You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. 8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man. In the early 1940s, World War II was crushing Europe. A young German pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood before his small underground congregation. The Nazi propaganda machine was in full force, filling the airwaves with lies, half-truths, and a twisted version of morality that exalted power, crushed dissent, and redefined evil as good. In the face of that cultural pressure, despite the danger, Bonhoeffer boldly declared, “The Word of God is a sword, and it cuts through every lie.” Psalm 12 reflects not just David’s world, but that of today. Truth is scarce, flattery is a currency, and words are crafted to conceal, deceive, manipulate, and dominate, rather than to bless or heal. In such a world, God’s Word remains the only trustworthy anchor. The psalm begins with a cry of desperation: “Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.” Evil seems so widespread, so unchecked, that it feels like there’s no one left to stand for what is right. Yet there are always those, like the 7,000 in Elijah’s day, who haven’t bowed their knees to Baal—but they are in hiding. As Proverbs 28:28 puts it, “When the wicked rise, people hide themselves.” In this atmosphere, truth-speaking seems to be almost extinct. “Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.” These aren’t meant to politely pass over unpleasant realities or make the other person feel better when faced with embarrassment. These are calculated distortions and carefully planned flatteries. They arise from a double heart that says nice things to one’s face but conceals cruel and destructive motives. Whether in politics, media, business, or religious circles, words are denied their only true function, of being vessels of truth. They are used as weapons to influence and oppress others. Sound bites and spin are more powerful than facts. Image trumps substance. “With our tongue we will prevail,” they say. “Our lips are with us; who is master over us?” These words reflect arrogant independence, a belief that the speaker reshapes reality with clever speech and persuasive rhetoric. The tongue becomes an idol. But the