We were born to know our creator. To search after God and to know Him. From the Fight Club team at Passion City Church comes The Climb, a reading plan through the first 20 Psalms to help you do exactly that. Join us as we begin a new journey of discovering the attributes of God as we fight together for a deeper relationship with Him.
We were born to know our creator. To search after God and to know Him. From the Fight Club team at Passion City Church comes The Climb, a reading plan through the first 20 Psalms to help you do exactly that. Join us as we begin a new journey of discovering the attributes of God as we fight together for a deeper relationship with Him.
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12.8.2023
About this devotional
We were born to know our creator. To search after God and to know Him. From the Fight Club team at Passion City Church comes The Climb, a reading plan through the first 20 Psalms to help you do exactly that. Join us as we begin a new journey of discovering the attributes of God as we fight together for a deeper relationship with Him.
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The Climb (A Journey Through Psalms for Men)
20-day devotional with Fight Club
Day 02
Locked
God is our Refuge
Day 03
Locked
God is Faithful
Day 04
Locked
God is our Relief
Day 05
Locked
God is our Light
Psalm 1
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Devotional
A few years ago, I took a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. Gliding down the Colorado River with billion-year-old rock faces standing impressively on either side of me, I remember feeling an incredible sense of wonder and fear; this was not a journey to be taken lightly. Here’s the thing though; during the week we were on the river, not once did I have to navigate the rapids on my own or climb the cliff walls to the campsite wondering what was around the corner.
I had a guide.
Craig Lutkey is a legend, a real-life cowboy who works as a river guide in the summer and a ski patrol rescue team leader in the winter. He knows the Canyon better than anyone. He’s lived in it for months at a time and would point out things as small as a downed tree or fallen rock that had shifted since his last time through. He knew the best way to go at every turn, and because of him, so did we. I love that the Psalms open with a beautiful reminder of the guide we have in God, and the opportunity we have to follow Him. Yes, as men, we are going to face all kinds of obstacles on a day-to-day basis, but the promise of Psalm 1 is that if we focus on following God’s way, memorizing His routes and listening to His voice, we will be blessed to have God Almighty watch over our course and lead us.
Take heart today in the truth that you are not alone; God is your guide.
Psalm 2
Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Devotional
I was 16, I was underwater, and I was stuck.
In the darkness, I scrambled to keep my head away from the rocks as I reached for anything that could help me upright myself or at least orient myself towards the surface. But every effort to break free of the current was taking more effort than it was affording me relief. I was in trouble.
“Hydraulics form in a river as water flows rapidly over a rock and then recirculates on the other side of it,” our instructor had said, “and if you become trapped in it, it doesn’t matter how hard you swim—you can’t force your way out.”
It was the quickest memory of the safety instructions from earlier in the day, but as soon as it flashed across my mind and I relaxed my body, I shot downward and out to where the water was calm enough for me to surface and grab the breath my body was desperate for.
Here’s the truth. I ended up in a place I should have never been that day because I hadn’t listened. There were rules in place for a reason, but I had believed they were for someone else and that obeying them would have meant giving up my “freedom.” After all, I wanted to explore. Sound familiar? How often, like the people in Psalm 2, do we fear giving up the right to do whatever we want? How many times a day do we see, read, or hear someone telling us that obeying God’s way diminishes our lives? The thing is, there are consequences for this kind of lifestyle. God foresaw our pride and installed Jesus on the throne, not to condemn us, but to offer us the chance to surrender to Him. Just as no effort in the middle of the churning water would have freed me from the hydraulic, we cannot live our lives scratching and clawing our way towards blessing.
Our only refuge is in Jesus—in surrendering to Him and obeying His lead as He sets us in calm waters.
Psalm 3
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”
But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Devotional
I have felt my share of helplessness this year; most of us have.
As men, some of us have cared for loved ones while disease or time ushered them away. We’ve said goodbye to children we never held. We’ve lost jobs we thought were secure. We were betrayed by people in whom we had placed full confidence. Pain isn’t foreign to God. Psalm 3 comes to us from David amid a “hostile takeover,” meaning his son had stolen the kingdom and was searching for David so he could kill him. The one-time king is crying out to God in a moment full of bewildering despair, and yet in the middle of it, he remembers who his God is.
God is a faithful sustainer—THE Sustainer. He does not turn a blind eye to injustice and sweep it under the cosmic carpet. He does not ignore our pain and our suffering that results from sin. He loves the desperate so much that He poured out the wrath due the world onto His own Son so that we could find peace in Him. Circumstances will be difficult and, at times in all of our lives, appear to be unbearable. But God has made way for each of us to find peace in Himself. All we have to do is remember who our God is, and cry out to Him.
He is listening.
Psalm 4
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
Answer me when I call to you,
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
How long will you people turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?
Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
Tremble and do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the Lord.
Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound.
In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.
Devotional
How many quiet moments do you have throughout the day?
How many do you create for yourself? When you have them, what do you immediately do? If you’re anything like me, your hand reaches for your phone, towards escapism. Most of us are one step away from being overwhelmed, and we’ve become addicted to distraction. It makes sense—all day, we’re bombarded with demands for our attention, with the world around us clawing at our minds through our eyes and ears. As Psalm 4 says, we have become enamored with false gods and delusions, forgetting along the way our first love.
God, who is our peace.
God, who is our comfort.
God, who, like a deep breath, brings relief.
Listen to the promise of God in Psalm 4. See how God is our relief from distress and tells us to lie down and sleep with full confidence in His truth. Notice that this peace is not contingent upon our circumstances. Instead, God is telling us that if we prayerfully seek His face and breathe in His presence and love, then no matter what comes our way, we can rest knowing that we are safe with Him. Today, let the peace of God rest on you wherever you are: at work, in the gym, or at home. When you find yourself losing that peace, take a deep breath and remember God’s promise. He will be with you through it all.
Psalm 5
For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.
Listen to my words, Lord,
consider my lament.
Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
with you, evil people are not welcome.
The arrogant cannot stand
in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
you, Lord, detest.
But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
toward your holy temple.
Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make your way straight before me.
Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongues they tell lies.
Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
Devotional
I used to go camping with my dad once a month.
We would pack up everything into our car and head out after he got home from work. Of course, this meant these Friday nights far from the suburbs started with us setting up our tents as the sun was setting and ended with late-night walks in complete darkness. Out there, in an unknown spot by a river or on a flat portion of the woods, I would reach into a familiar pocket of my backpack for an object of unimaginable worth at that moment: my headlamp. After years of tripping on roots, falling down embankments, or having surprise encounters with any number of animals, I had learned the hard way that walking without a light source was a terrible idea.
Psalm 5 shows us how David considered God in the same way. His lament (a cry for help from deep within) over the people seeking to distract him from God’s way is coupled with a trust that God would not leave him to walk that path alone. He saw God as a refuge, a shelter from the attacks, both mental and physical, of the world around him, and he knew beyond doubt that when he cried out to God, God would lead him home to safety. We can bring our fear and anxiety to God; He is our comfort. We can approach Him with our grief and our pain without fear of rebuke. God will always be there to lead us home to Him, protecting and illuminating our path back to Him every step of the way as we declare the praises of His name.
Psalm 6
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, Lord, how long?
Turn, Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from the grave?
I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
Devotional
I can distinctly remember three instances when I was younger when I lied to my parents and got caught.
I’m sure there were more, but these three times are seared into my memory and my conscience. When what I had done came to light, I felt guilty, ashamed, and ultimately helpless.
Though we no longer live under the condemnation of sin and death, we still live in a broken and fallen world where there are real consequences to our sinful actions. When we choose to act on, think about, or desire things that are contrary to God’s holy righteousness, we can find ourselves in difficult situations that infiltrate all areas of our lives. The psalmist understood this reality. He was physically devastated, desperate for God’s kindness and remembrance, and on the edge of despair. And yet, he knew that if God’s answer to our troubles was dependent on our right standing, there would be no hope. So, instead of appealing to man’s strength, he says, “Deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.” God intervenes on our behalf because of HIS character, not ours. Because of His grace, not our goodness. He sustains our every breath because of His praise, not our performance.
God does not magically make our difficulties disappear. This psalm doesn’t end with a 3-step solution. It ends with a man with a shifted perspective. Once again, God has drawn near. He has turned and heard from Heaven, choosing to sustain us through that which should separate us. God is our great sustainer.
Psalm 7
A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.
Lord my God, I take refuge in you;
save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
or they will tear me apart like a lion
and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
Lord my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands—
if I have repaid my ally with evil
or without cause have robbed my foe—
then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and make me sleep in the dust.
Arise, Lord, in your anger;
rise up against the rage of my enemies.
Awake, my God; decree justice.
Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
while you sit enthroned over them on high.
Let the Lord judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.
Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
who probes minds and hearts.
My shield is God Most High,
who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge,
a God who displays his wrath every day.
If he does not relent,
he will sharpen his sword;
he will bend and string his bow.
He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he makes ready his flaming arrows.
Whoever is pregnant with evil
conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit they have made.
The trouble they cause recoils on them;
their violence comes down on their own heads.
I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;
I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
Devotional
I studied engineering in college.
My freshman year was tough. It was the weed-out year, the year where every Professor in every class I took said some version of, “Look to your left, look to your right; at the end of this semester, one of you won’t be studying engineering.” While a bit dramatic, they weren’t that far off on their claims. Towards the end of that school year, in one of our hardest classes, we were notified of a potential scandal undergoing investigation. A group of students had cheated and copied significant portions of each other’s code. Panic set in, and accusations were quickly cast. Everyone felt under attack and unsure of how this would play out. The only proof we had was our work—the individual code we had written for the assignments. If accused, students would turn in their work as their witness, their vindication for their conduct. I hadn’t cheated or copied anyone. My work was my own. So I turned in my code with confidence, knowing it would prove my innocence.
That’s what the Psalmist says here. He’s been accused and is pending investigation. Instead of turning in his code, he turns to God and says, “O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge.” God was his Witness, his shield (v.10), and his righteous judge (v.11). If our hands are clean, no matter what rises up against us, God will be our best source of comfort and exoneration. His Word and His approval are all that we need. If we have that, we can feel at ease leaving the rest in His capable hands.
Psalm 8
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.
Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Devotional
I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Dawn Wall of El Capitan at Yosemite National Park. It was spectacular, stunning, awe-invoking. Something about the sheer immensity of the granite face reached deep into my soul and brought forth an ocean of emotion, namely admiration, at the magnificence of the great God who set the stone in its place and who commanded it to stand there for His glory. I felt my own sense of significance dwindle in the face of such unabashed grandeur. And yet, in that smallness, I felt seen and intimately known. This God who carved the canyons and who ran the glaciers in such a way that El Capitan would one day stand guard as His sentinel for His glory and praise, this is the same God who knew my name and heard my prayers and impressed His affection and attention on my heart. He is the God of the titanic and the tiny, the stunning, and the specific. This God knows my name. He knows my story. He’s walked with me, and I with Him. Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?
As I stood there at the base of the Dawn Wall, the tallest granite rock in the world, I felt as if I could relate with David and his dumbfounded awe of God seen in Psalm 8. It may not be Yosemite for you, but I encourage you find someplace or something that reminds you how big God is.
Psalm 9
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.
I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.
My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
For you have upheld my right and my cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.
The Lord reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.
Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
that I may declare your praises
in the gates of Daughter Zion,
and there rejoice in your salvation.
The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,
all the nations that forget God.
But God will never forget the needy;
the hope of the afflicted will never perish.
Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence.
Strike them with terror, Lord;
let the nations know they are only mortal.
Devotional
One of the most challenging jobs I’ve ever had was the time I spent as a basketball referee.
I know that sounds like an exaggeration because, for the most part, the actual mechanics of being a referee aren’t that difficult. But here’s what I ultimately learned in that line of work: being a fair and consistent judge is tough, even in a pretty straightforward game like basketball. Enforcing the rules moment by moment on people who intentionally or unintentionally choose to break them can be taxing, tiresome, and a thankless job.
Can you imagine how God must have felt as He called forth a good and glorifying creation, only for mankind to “break the rules” and initiate a cycle of sin and destruction? But God isn’t just a cosmic referee, blowing a whistle and doling out penalties or punishments. He’s the only enthroned King of eternity, established and wholly other. He’s not subjective in His judgment; He is objective in every aspect of His character. He is the law, the standard, the rule by which all creation must bend and bow.
In Genesis 3, the Serpent deceived Eve by asking the first question in all of Scripture: “Did God actually say?” Mere verses later, instead of rewriting the situation and starting over, God chooses to do something miraculous. He asks the second question, “Where are you?” In His righteousness, God established His throne for justice. The enemy would not get the final word. God would judge every sin and every deviation from His goodness through the eventuality of the Cross: the death of His Son and His resulting resurrection. Because of the second question, we can have confidence that He is a stronghold for us, a refuge for those who know His name and who put their trust in Him.
Psalm 10
Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”
His mouth is full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
He says to himself, “God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees.”
Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?
But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
Devotional
Have you ever felt like God stands far away?
That when you needed Him most, He was nowhere to be found? Many scholars and theologians believe that Psalms 9 and 10 would have likely been connected as one song, which makes this shout of frustration even more relatable. Remember that Psalm 9 was full of joyous language and praise for God’s righteous judgment. But just verses later, maybe even in the same breath of singing, the tables turn. The God who once brought us joy has now become the source of our vexation, our confusion, and our sorrow. Why is He hard to find? Why is He hidden during times of trouble? Anyone who suffers asks some form of this question, and it’s valid. But that doesn’t mean it has to go unanswered.
Throughout Scripture, we consistently see two truths that on their surface seem to be opposed.
The first is that God is actually closer than we think. He is near to the brokenhearted, surrounding the hurting, and comforting the distressed. The second truth is that God is rare. There aren’t infinite paths to God and because of this, He is hard to find.
But here is where we can find comfort today – these two truths are woven perfectly together in Christ and His finished work. As the only true path, Jesus demonstrates God’s exclusivity and rarity. And yet, through His resurrection, all who call on His name can draw near to God and experience His intimate closeness and relationship.
So why is God hard to find? Because He knows that His infinite worthiness demands His exclusivity, which then compels us to lean more fully into the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus. And when we find more of Jesus, we find more of all that we could ever need. More comfort. More hope. More joy. More fullness. More contentment, even in the hardship.
Psalm 11
For the director of music. Of David.
In the Lord I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
“Flee like a bird to your mountain.
For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart.
When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
For the Lord is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
Devotional
When I was a kid, my dad took me to my first Major League Baseball game down at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta.
I can still remember almost every detail of it; the walk up to the front gate, the hot dog I ate, and how I just knew a foul ball was heading my way any minute. (It wasn’t, and never has been.)
But even more than the game itself, I can remember the walk back to the car after the game—a memory etched into my mind; because it was that walk when I was first aware of my surroundings enough to notice a man asking for money on the sidewalk. I recall so badly wanting to give this man everything he needed, and being devastated when my dad explained to me that while we could help, we couldn’t do all that I wanted. We didn’t have the means necessary to make this man’s situation right. It was, as far as I can remember, my first glimpse of the injustice in our world.
I am at least two decades older now than I was then, and my understanding of the world has developed, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is a voice inside of me that wrestles with the injustices of the world around me. There are days when it seems like we’re losing the battle, and perhaps good doesn’t always win the day.
But here is the good news:
God is still God, and He is in control.
No matter how hopeless the circumstances seem, God refuses to forsake His people. No matter how dire the situation, He is still in charge. Look at Psalm 11, how David had confidence in God despite the circumstances. Is that the kind of faith you have? The kind that sees the broken world around you and believes that there is still a Righteous Judge in Heaven who despises wickedness and violence, who loves and longs for justice beyond what your human heart could desire, and who has the power to set things right? Mind-blowingly, you and I can know this God and be used by Him to bring about justice in our world. So take heart. God is a Righteous Judge, and He will set things in order.
God’s business is putting things right;
he loves getting the lines straight,
Setting us straight. Once we’re standing tall,
we can look him straight in the eye.
Psalm 11:7 The Message
Psalm 12
For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;
those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
Everyone lies to their neighbor;
they flatter with their lips
but harbor deception in their hearts.
May the Lord silence all flattering lips
and every boastful tongue—
those who say,
“By our tongues we will prevail;
our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”
“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord.
“I will protect them from those who malign them.”
And the words of the Lord are flawless,
like silver purified in a crucible,
like gold refined seven times.
You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
and will protect us forever from the wicked,
who freely strut about
when what is vile is honored by the human race.
Devotional
Wake up in the morning, enable cruise control.
Turn on the news, hear an opinion.
Turn on SportsCenter, pay half-attention to a commercial.
Listen to a podcast on the way to work, notice billboards along the way.
Get to work, chat with your boss, your employees and your friends.
Listen to talk radio on the way home from work.
Catch up over dinner with your wife, your kids or your roommate.
Sit in front of the TV for an hour or so.
Turn off cruise control and head to bed.
Another day gone.
How many directions are you pulled in throughout a single day? How many opinions seek to influence your path? How many people are telling you what you need, what you can’t live without? How many hot takes or bits of advice are thrown your way? For most of us, our days are LOUD. They are never-ending streams of information and entertainment meant to capture our attention and focus it wherever the person who paid the most for those 30 seconds wants it. So is it really even a question why we feel “bored, vexed, frantic, embittered and sniffling,” as Tom Howard put it? How is it that we as modern men have become, “a bleak business?”
Psalm 12 answers our question, and although David wrote it thousands of years ago, it provides us with timely words to express some of our frustration. “No one is faithful anymore,” “everyone lies to their neighbor.” These statements could just as easily have been written yesterday about our world. So what are we supposed to do? Do we keep searching for the next best teacher or author to align our lives with, and hope they are the ones telling the truth? No.
God has already given us a North Star in our darkness. Himself in His Word.
We are not meant to wander through life directionless and purposeless, and we don’t have to. We can focus our attention on God and His Word. His very speech is flawless and will protect us from the skewed opinions and outright lies of the world. What God says is trustworthy and worth believing. We can measure everything we listen to in life against it. We can identify the lies in our daily lives, and reject them when they fail to sync up with what God says. Hold on to His promises and trust in His guarantees. He will never lead you astray. This is how we as men will spend our lives well, wringing out every bit of life in the time God gives us as we live following His Word and way.
Psalm 13
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
Devotional
Without thinking too much about it, answer this question:
“Hey man, how are you?”
I’m going to guess you said, “I’m good!,” maybe even, “I’m great!” I’m also going to guess that you’ve answered that way almost every time someone has asked you that question in life, and truly meant it maybe 50% of the time.
The truth is, it’s okay to not be okay.
I spent the first thirty years of my life believing that when I wasn’t okay, that meant something was wrong with me. I wasn’t strong enough, manly enough, not nearly godly enough. I bought into the lie that if I wasn’t out there with a smile on my face and a worship song on my lips then I must not be as close to God as my friends.
But look at Psalm 13.
The Psalms are songs, not theological essays, and they express the psalmists’ honest thoughts and heartfelt emotions. In this song, read how David expressed his anguish to God as he repeatedly asked, “How long?” David was exhausted and weary, and his questions represent a tearful plea for God to be present rather than an actual desire for answers. Similarly, Jesus called out to God in desperation. He told His disciples, those closest to Him, that His soul was, “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
These scriptural accounts validate our human need to express ourselves openly, honestly, transparently to God. But they show us even more than that. Both David and Jesus didn’t merely lament, they went further and declared their willingness to trust in God in the middle of their hardships.
God wants to hear from you. He wants to know when you feel like a ship tossed around by waves in the night. He doesn’t ask you to keep your anxiety or anger from Him, and He doesn’t put a requirement on you to only bring your best attitude to Him. God wants your honesty, and He wants your heart. He longs for you to know that He is your harbor when the winds are calm, and when the sea is raging. It’s when we look to Him as our safety in the storm that our songs ring out in the good times, and the trying. His love is unfailing, and your heart can rejoice in the salvation He purchased on your behalf.
Psalm 14
For the director of music. Of David.
The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
Do all these evildoers know nothing?
They devour my people as though eating bread;
they never call on the Lord.
But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for God is present in the company of the righteous.
You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!
Devotional
I don’t know if you’ve had this feeling, but I’d bet everything that you have. Maybe it was in the quiet of a fresh morning. Perhaps it was in the chaos of a night lived well with friends. It could have been in an arena with tens of thousands. Maybe it was halfway up a mountainside on a hike. Wherever it was, I’d bet that the feeling came upon you so quickly that you needed a second to recognize it, almost like catching your breath. The feeling?
God is near.
I think it’s entirely possible that as Christians, as men of God, we could read Psalm 14 and scoff at the “fools.” How could anyone say in their heart, “There is no God?” How could someone become so focused on the idols surrounding them that they overlook the true God entirely?
How foolish of them. We would never.
(Anyone else just wince?)
How many times this week have you felt the pull of pride tempting you to govern your own life? How often do we choose what we want to do over what God has called us to do? We rebel in big and small ways every day, exercising what Tim Keller would call practical atheism—acting as if we are on the same level or know more about ourselves than God.
This is destructive. When we forgo asking God for His wisdom and guidance and go our own way, we cease to seek after God.
But there is good news.
God wants to be found, and so He does not condemn us for our rebellion. Our internal desire for eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:11) is a reminder that God wants us to search for Him and to find Him. Will there be moments when you realize you have once again strayed from God’s path? Yes, but God is still present and patient with you. His mercies are new each morning, and His grace is sufficient to lead you back to Him. Don’t ever forget that while it is true that being a man after God’s heart means fighting alongside your brothers to draw near to God, He has always already made the first move towards intimacy with you through the sacrifice of Jesus.
God is near to you today, Brother. Rejoice in the salvation He purchased for you.
Psalm 15
A psalm of David.
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
who despises a vile person
but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.
Devotional
I’m not exactly sure when I started watching The Masters.
Unlike some of my friends, I didn’t grow up with a golf-watching dad. My guess is that some spring while in high school, home alone, I turned on the TV and stopped flipping through channels when I heard that familiar piano melody start playing. If you know the one, you can hear it in your head.
I was hooked, and ever since then I’ve looked forward to what I call, “the best week in sports,” every year. I make everyone be quiet when Masters commercials come on, I watch old Masters footage on YouTube reliving tournaments from before I was even born, and my two-year-old son knows that the Masters logo means, “golf game!”
I tell you all of this so you’ll understand what I mean when I tell you that when my father-in-law handed me a pass to Augusta National for the 2017 Masters, I held it as if I was holding the Hope Diamond.
Surely there was nothing more valuable in the world than this piece of paper. This golden ticket would allow me to simply walk into a place I had only dreamed about before that moment.
Here’s the thing: I could have never played my way into Augusta National. And similarly, none of us could ever earn our way into the Holy presence of God.
Look at the requirements listed in Psalm 15 to enter the sacred tent, to dwell on the Mountain of God. Could you make your way through that list and check every box? The stunning truth of the Gospel is that the only One who could have, did, and then He chose to pay the price of entry on your behalf. The righteousness that was on Jesus, His perfect record, was gifted onto us through His sacrifice.
This doesn’t mean that as men of God we don’t try to live out the tenets of Psalm 15. We should do our best to do what is righteous, to speak only the truth, to refuse to slander our neighbors and to properly fear the Lord. But in doing so we should seek to understand our rightful place in the equation of Heaven; that we did not earn our ticket; our entrance was purchased by Jesus and given to us through Him. There was no performance worthy of dwelling in God’s sacred tent. We were invited in through the blood of Jesus.
Thank you, God.
Psalm 16
A miktam of David.
Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Devotional
They’re becoming a thing of the past, but I love a good potluck meal.
I grew up in the Midwest, where you’d be hard-pressed to find a large gathering of people that didn’t consist of a potluck meal, with most dishes made from grandmothers’ recipes being served out of Crock-Pots or passed-down Pyrex pans.
While potlucks can make for good, if not adventurous, meals, it took me a long time to realize that my life and relationship with God is nothing like a potluck dinner. Growing up, I thought that living righteously was a combination of a lot of different dishes – a dash of purity, a spoonful of self-control, a dollop of reading my Scripture. I thought that the goal was to end up with some version of good works mixed with a little bit of God’s blessing. But like David says in Psalm 16, I eventually learned that I am unable to bring any good to the table. Apart from God, I would be a vessel of darkness.
This idea of being utterly empty of good apart from God is hard for us to grapple with because we have a high risk of accepting a disoriented definition of goodness.
The world associates goodness with things like morality and kindness. However, we know from Scripture that which is good is that which glorifies God. And in our sinful, broken flesh, we can’t do that. Not even one inch of our hearts or ounce of our love could glorify God before He redeemed us. In His grace, through His salvation, He has given us the opportunity to both experience and reflect His goodness.
Your relationship with God is not a potluck where you bring your best, and He brings His. No, the good news is God brings the whole meal! He brings every dish, every utensil. He brings the table, the decorations, even the music. He brings it all and invites you to sit down and delight because He is the Source of all good.
Psalm 17
A prayer of David.
Hear me, Lord, my plea is just;
listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer—
it does not rise from deceitful lips.
Let my vindication come from you;
may your eyes see what is right.
Though you probe my heart,
though you examine me at night and test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
my mouth has not transgressed.
Though people tried to bribe me,
I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
through what your lips have commanded.
My steps have held to your paths;
my feet have not stumbled.
I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
Show me the wonders of your great love,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their foes.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
from my mortal enemies who surround me.
They close up their callous hearts,
and their mouths speak with arrogance.
They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
They are like a lion hungry for prey,
like a fierce lion crouching in cover.
Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down;
with your sword rescue me from the wicked.
By your hand save me from such people, Lord,
from those of this world whose reward is in this life.
May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;
may their children gorge themselves on it,
and may there be leftovers for their little ones.
As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.
Devotional
I can remember standing at the bottom of a cave, looking down at a hole barely big enough for a person to fit through, and thinking to myself, “I’m supposed to crawl down into that?”
My friends and I had decided to go spelunking on a random property tucked away in Southern Indiana. Geared up with our headlamps, hard hats, kneepads, and a good dose of youthful courage, we were ready for our adventure. We trekked deep into this network of caves, crawling for a hundred feet on our hands and knees with rocks inches about our heads. Eventually, the rocks opened up, and we came to a cavern. We sat there, regrouped, and then, one by one, we turned off our headlamps. It was absolute darkness. We spent time praying and calling out to God in that cave. And that day, we experienced what it felt like to be hidden from the world.
When David prayed, “Hide me in the shadow of your wings,” he wasn’t repeating some pretty and poetic line he’d heard. He was desperately begging God to protect him and to keep him safe. He was facing danger on every side from enemies who wanted his life, so he needed to know that God could and would make him secure.
Most of us are blessed to not often feel the threat of imminent, physical danger. However, that should not hinder our need to find spiritual safety and security in God.
The enemy is constantly on attack, and his arrows are still coming at us. But thanks be to God that He is our cave, our refuge, and His wings shadow us so that we may feel safe as we are hidden in His presence.
Psalm 18
For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:
I love you, Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I have been saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I am not guilty of turning from my God.
All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.
I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.
The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
You save the humble
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall.
As for God, his way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You make your saving help my shield,
and your right hand sustains me;
your help has made me great.
You provide a broad path for my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
I crushed them so that they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.
You armed me with strength for battle;
you humbled my adversaries before me.
You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
to the Lord, but he did not answer.
I beat them as fine as windblown dust;
I trampled them like mud in the streets.
You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
you have made me the head of nations.
People I did not know now serve me,
foreigners cower before me;
as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
They all lose heart;
they come trembling from their strongholds.
The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God my Savior!
He is the God who avenges me,
who subdues nations under me,
who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from a violent man you rescued me.
Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name.
He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing love to his anointed,
to David and to his descendants forever.
Devotional
Every year, our FIGHT CLUB team puts on a few larger gatherings that we call FIGHT NIGHT. Of the years, I think many would say the best thing we’ve ever hosted was a real, full-scale bull-riding competition…. in our auditorium here at Passion City Church! We planned, prepared, and got everything ready, but when that first bull came in through the back doors, strutting into our building, we suddenly had a new perspective of power.
During the days of David, in Middle Eastern culture, the ox was one of the strongest, toughest, and most dangerous animals.
Often used for agrarian work, oxen were revered and held in high respect as powerful and daunting animals. In that day and age, the symbol of the strength of the ox was best represented in the ox’s horns.
The horns of a wild ox were like iron, sharp and unbreakable. They were a type of severe strength and a symbol of victory in battle and conflict. Three times in this Psalm, David refers to God as his “shield,” and God very much is our shield. He is our defense and our protection. But He is also our horn of salvation. He didn’t sit back and just play defense against the enemy’s schemes. He demonstrated His power, like the power of the horn of the ox, and through His Son, He conquered sin and the grave and destroyed the sting of death once and for all.
God is not only protecting you; He is also brimming with power and authority and strength and He is fighting for you. He is a sure sign of victory, and He uses His “horn” to secure and establish His people through His effective and eternal salvation.
Psalm 19
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Devotional
I can remember when my wife and I were ten thousand feet above sea level, standing on the balcony of the overlook on Mt. Titlis in Switzerland, gazing in wonder at the Alps spiraling up before us. Snow-capped, towering, magnificent peaks. Tears formed in the corner of my eyes, soon to be frozen by the chilled air. At that moment, I was having a revelation that these mighty mountains stood day and night with one purpose: giving glory to a Great God.
Every mountain range of Earth stands straight and tall whether you or I gaze upon their beauty or not. The stars in the heavens shine each night with no concern if they are observed by human eyes. Trees grow, winds whip, and the seas roar with wave after wave, not because of the merit of humanity but because they are motivated to glorify the God who is immensely inspiring!
Have you ever paused and thought about the fact that God is so good, so righteous, so strong, so kind and gentle, so holy, so pure, so caring, and so incredibly creative, powerful, and intentional that the heavens and the sky can’t help but declare and proclaim His glory? The entire universe is captivated by His person and His work, so much so that since the very beginning of time, every single day has poured forth speech, and every single night has revealed knowledge of this great God. And it’s still not enough.
Humans have spent a large amount of effort, time, and focus trying to learn how to master and bend nature to our bidding. What if instead of trying to make creation more like us, we became more like creation?
What if our hearts were so captivated by the immensely inspiring God that every moment of our lives was a symphony of praise and glory?
Psalm 20
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.
Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call!
Devotional
At many points in our lives, we find ourselves having put our trust in something other than God.
That’s the reality of imperfect people living in a broken world. I don’t know what you trusted in, whether it was how much you had in your bank account, the level of responsibility you carried in your job, or what type of family you were raising. For the people back during the times of this Psalm, it’s clear they were trusting in the military might of chariots and the high societal status and good financial security that came with owning horses.
For me, I’m prone to trust in my own self-sufficiency. I’ve grown up fighting to prove to myself that I am strong enough and smart enough to break through any barriers that might stand in my way.
But as David explains, which I can verify from my personal experience, it’s dangerous to trust in anything other than God. Because when we do, we are heading down a path that only has one destination: falling into total collapse.
Though we will all be tempted to misplace our trust, we can take courage that there is a source of full trustworthiness, someone who has never once failed to enact His promises or carry out His Word. In fact, His trustworthiness goes beyond simply following through on His claims. If we put our trust in the Lord our God, Scripture says that we will rise. Don’t miss this. His trustworthiness is actually the catapult that sends us higher and, as a result, closer to Himself. We rise and stay standing, fully secure with both feet on solid, unshakable ground.
Next Day
Devotional Topics
Scripture References
- Psalm 1
- Psalm 2
- Psalm 3
- Psalm 4
- Psalm 5
- Psalm 6
- Psalm 7
- Psalm 8
- Psalm 9
- Psalm 10
- Psalm 11
- Psalm 12
- Psalm 13
- Psalm 14
- Psalm 15
- Psalm 16
- Psalm 17
- Psalm 18
- Psalm 19
- Psalm 20
Further Reading