Daily Devotional Thought--From the Psalms

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today's Psalm:


63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;my soul thirsts for you;my flesh faints for you,as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;all who swear by him shall exult,for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

And from the study notes in The Lutheran Study Bible, this fine nugget of Law/Gospel application:
On the run, cut off from God's tabernacle and the capital city, Jerusalem, David turns to God in prayer and praise for His love and salvation. When we are in the "wilderness" and God seems distant, we may find ourselves tempted to focus on our troubles rather than turning to God in faith and confidence. David shows us the way to handle disaster and doubt: meditate on the Lord in prayer and thanksgiving (cf Php 4:4-7). Faith looks beyond the circumstances to the cross of Christ and sees God's love, holding fast to His promises to His children.

And so we pray:
"My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me" (v. 8). Amen