Daily Devotional Thought--From the Psalms

Collect of the Week

O God, You have prepared for those who love You such good things as surpass our understanding. Cast out all sins and evil desires from us, and pour into our hearts Your Holy Spirit to guide us into all blessedness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Psalm 3

¹ O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;

² many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah¹

³ But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

⁴ I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

⁵ I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.

⁶ I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷ Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸ Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah

Devotion

In the name of + Jesus.

“This psalm recounts a dark period in David’s life. His enemies, including his own son (Absalom), have overwhelmed and opposed him. Despite his foes’ claim that David’s sins preclude him from salvation, David remains confident that God will protect and deliver him” (TLSB, p. 848).

Your enemies are mine aren’t nearly the political force that David had against him.  Even his own son sought to usurp his kingly, and God-given, authority.  Imagine the turmoil David must have felt.

Though your enemies are of a different nature, the Devil still puts your sin before you as his exhibit of your condemnation.  The world still puts worldly pursuits in front of you to entice your heart’s own evil desires.  And your own flesh is part of the problem.  That flesh struggles against your New Man, who is there by virtue of your Baptism, and who is strengthened in the hearing of God’s Word and the receiving of His Supper.  David’s enemies were many, and so are yours.

But you and David have the same LORD.  You and David have the same Savior.  He is a shield about you.  As you hear what He has done for you in His death and resurrection, His shame is what you glory in, for there you know your enemies will taste defeat.  And because of the empty tomb, you can lift up your head, knowing that you share in His victory.  As God’s own child, when you cry to the LORD, your prayers are a pleasing fragrance to the LORD.  The Father hears them, and delights in them, as a father delights in his own child’s requests.

Knowing this to be true, with David, though our enemies remain, we are able to lie down and sleep.  And we do, we sleep in peace, knowing the forgiveness of sins is complete in Christ, rejoicing in the promised resurrection, and trusting, that all things are in our Father’s hand.  Salvation belongs to the LORD!  In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Prayer

“You, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God!” Amen (TLSB, p. 848).