Daily Bible Encouragement

Psalm 5:7 But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down towards your holy temple. Even in the last few hours I've been reminded again that I'm much more of a sinner than I like to think, as I've seen the consequence of my anger, laziness and selfishness in the lives of those I'm supposed to love most. This verse is the encouragement I need today. Mayb...

Psalm 5:5-6 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; you destroy those who tell lies. The no bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest. Yesterday, we read that 'evil people' are not welcome in God's presence. But who does David mean? Did you assume that he was talking about you? Or were you pretty confident that he meant someone else? Our world assumes...

Psalm 5:4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. Very often, we turn to the Psalms when we want comfort, reassurance and encouragement. We might, perhaps, come to think of the Psalms as the Bible equivalent of a fluffy blanket and a mug of hot chocolate - warm, soothing and restoring. Thank God that his word IS comforting and encouraging when w...

Psalm 5:3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. How do you start your day? Perhaps you're woken by the urgent demands of a small child, and your first conscious thought comes much later on! But some of us wake up to the sound of our own thoughts, and have control over what happens next. What can't you start the day withou...

Psalm 5:1-2 Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament.  Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. What's your prayer life like? What sort of prayers do you tend to pray?  Psalm 5, which we're starting today, gives us a window into David's prayer life. We will see at least 5 'types' of prayer. They're not exhaustive - David prays other things, in other...

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord . How good are you at waiting? We've certainly had lots of practice lately. Waiting for lockdown to be over. Waiting in queues. Perhaps you're waiting for bad news ... illness of a loved one, loss of a job. Or maybe you get most frustrated by the shorter, everyday waits .... waiting for a child to go to sleep, wa...

Psalm 27:13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Throughout this Psalm we have seen David's confidence in God. Remember, he is in the midst of a 'day of trouble', facing hostile armies (v4) and enemies who seek to destroy him with false accusations (v12). Yet he knows he doesn't have to be afraid because God is his stronghold. H...

Psalm 27:12 Do not hand me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. Do you know what it feels like to be the victim of malicious accusations? To be falsely accused of wrongdoing by someone else? Some of us may have had that experience. Many of us have probably done it to ourselves! "I'm so stupid. I always mess it up. I'm a...

Psalm 27:11 Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. In verse 10 we saw David's confidence that God will ALWAYS receive him with open arms. Our world loves that kind of unconditional acceptance, doesn't it? Yet, the world assumes that unconditional welcome also means unconditional approval of whatever we want to and wherever we want go. The world's...

Psalm 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. In verse 9, David makes it clear that the worst thing that could ever happen in his life would be to lose his personal relationship with God. We rejoice in the fact that this can never happen to us, because of the death of Jesus, which makes us God's children.  Here in v. 10 we see that David has that same confidence...

Psalm 27:9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Saviour. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you in life? David’s first priority is seeing God's face; that is, knowing him and being in close relationship with him. So it makes sense that the worst thing David could experience woul...

Psalm 27:8 My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek. 'Seek'. It's not a word we use much in everyday language, unless we have children young enough to play 'Hide & Seek', or we’re reading a Harry Potter book! Harry plays 'seeker' in the Quidditch team. Don't worry if you haven't got a clue what that means! Basically, the Seeker&#39...

Psalm 27:7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. Earlier in this Psalm we thought about how extraordinary it is that a sinful human could ask to come into God's presence and to see his face. In this verse we have an equally bold request: "God, listen to me, and answer me." Prayer is - or should be - an everyday experience for us. But when you think about i...

Psalm 27:6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. As David reflects on what it means for God to keep him safe, notice how his perspective changes.  Even when he is in God's presence, he is still surrounded by enemies, but now he seems lifted up above them. None of his proble...

Psalm 27:5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. If you've been pondering yesterday's verse, you might still be wondering 'Really, David, how would being in God's house help, when you're supposed to be fighting your enemies?' Is it perhaps that the temple is a good, stro...

Psalm 27:4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. What one thing do you most want from God today? Everyone in your house to be cheerful? An uninterrupted night’s sleep?  A calm mind that isn't whirling with anxiety? In this verse we see the 'one t...

Psalm 27:3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. What an incredible thing to be able to say! And this isn't just extravagant language from David ... I doubt that any of us will ever face an army whose sole purpose is to destroy is. None of us will ever be the cause of an all-out war. But David is the King of Israel. T...

Psalm 27:2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Do you ever look around at the world and wonder why, so often, the bad guys win? Evil triumphs. The rich exploit the poor and no-one stops them. Christians die at the hands of their persecutors and there is no justice. We know it shouldn't be like that. The wicked should suffer....

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? Who are you afraid of? Who has the power to take away what you love, or withhold what you want? In this psalm, David is facing personal enemies who want to destroy him. Not many of us will have experienced that kind of targeted personal attack. (Although, sadly,...

Psalm 16:11 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. Psalm 16 ends with a focus on the life that awaits us with God in heaven. Whilst there is joy in knowing God now, David's attention here is on our future joy, when we are eternally in his presence. As we saw yesterday, this Psalm is ultimately fulfilled in J...

Psalm 16:9-10 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. How glad are you feeling right now? Is 'rejoicing' on your tongue? Or is your song today one of lament rather than praise? For some of us, lament is the right response to our current situation...

Psalm 16:7-8 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 shall not be shaken. 'Listen to your heart' - that's the message we absorb from the world around us. Whether or not you're old enough to remember the 1980s classic Roxette song of that name, you’ll recognise the idea. It's s...

Psalm 16:5-6 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. These two verses are a picture of contentment. Was David just having an especially good day when he wrote these words? After all, we know from some of the other psalms we've looked at together that his circumstances w...

Psalm 16:4 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. This Psalm is asking us some hard questions, isn't it?! Where is my refuge? How much do I delight in God and his people? And today's verse is similarly uncomfortable. 'I will not make offerings to other Gods' says David. I'm...

Psalm 16:3 I say of the holy people who are in the land, ‘They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.’ Who are the people you really admire? The ones you love to spend time with? The ones you listen to? The ones whose lives you'd like your life to be a bit more like? David's answer to that question is here in v.3: 'the holy people'. That is, God's people. His fellow-citi...