Open the Bible UK Daily

Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? PSALM 10:1 It’s hard enough to pray when the wicked seem to be winning, because that’s really discouraging. But how in the world are you going to pray when God seems far away? At one time or another, we have all experienced this feeling of being far from God, so it is helpful for us to hear that someone like King Dav...

Why does the wicked renounce God? PSALM 10:13 Wickedness is not a new phenomenon; it only takes new forms. In one generation, wickedness is clothed in hypocrisy. But in another generation, wickedness is clothed in defiance. Once you see this, it will help you in praying through the issues of our day. In 1980, about 11% of the UK population regularly attended church. Today less than 5% of the UK po...

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ROMANS 1:18 “What if there really is a God?” Most of the time, the wicked manage to suppress this disturbing thought. But the wicked can never really escape this question, and here’s why... Since the wicked are made in the image of God, and they live in a wo...

The wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” PSALM 10:4 God has given us a fascinating insight into the heart of a wicked person, who constantly tells himself or herself that there is no God. This is an active pattern of thought. We sometimes talk about preaching the gospel to yourself, telling yourself what God has done for you in Christ. But the wicked person keeps tell...

But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands. PSALM 10:14 Even though he knows that God sees everything, David spells out in this prayer what the wicked person is doing. He gives us a profile of the wicked person and shows us what wickedness looks like. Pride: “The wicked boasts of the desires of his soul... He says in his heart ‘I shall not be moved’” (...

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none. PSALM 10:15 There is no doubt what this prayer is about. It is all about wicked people. It is about evil that seemed to David to be coming in like a flood. It is an outpouring of the grief and distress that a godly person feels when evil becomes rampant. When David sees evil multiplying in the land, he tak...

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. MATTHEW 7:7-8 Pray because when you seek Jesus, you will find Him. There will be times when you feel that nothing much is coming of your prayers. This is a promise to help you persevere. Ask and go...

My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. MATTHEW 26:39 Another reason to pray is that this was the practice of Jesus. Jesus went to a solitary place to pray when He came to the hour of greatest trial (26:36-46). The Bible tells us that Jesus prayed the same thing three times. He was wrestling and so He went back to the Father again and...

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. HEBREWS 4:16 Prayer may be the most underused gift that God has given to His people. One reason to pray is that God invites you to come to His throne of grace. John Bunyan said, “God has more than one throne...”. The throne of grace is very different from the throne of judgment. God invites you to come to the throne of grace. How often...

We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. HEBREWS 4:14 If we have an important conversation, we are often grateful to have someone else with us. Is there someone who can come with us who knows the person better than we do? This is how Moses felt when God sent him to speak to Pharaoh. God sent Aaron, the High Priest, with him. Who will go with us when we...

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. HEBREWS 4:16 You have a direct audience with Almighty God every time you pray. Where can we learn this holy art of prayer? God has given us an entire book of prayers in the Bible—the Psalms. One reason we have been given the book of Psalms is to help us in our praying. The Psalms are a training manual for prayer. In the book of Psalms,...

Draw near to the throne of grace. HEBREWS 4:16 Spontaneous prayer is a marvellous gift, but when things are really important, we rarely trust spontaneity. If you work in sales, you try to understand your client’s needs in order to recommend a product that will be helpful to them. You research their website, you learn about their business, and you prepare a presentation that is adapted to the parti...

Draw near... HEBREWS 4:16 Prayer is a holy art that is better caught than taught. The best way to learn to pray is to start praying. But there are some things that can be learned. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a little book called Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible, in which he said, “It is a dangerous error... widespread among Christians, to think that the heart can pray by itself... Prayer does no...

This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. DEUTERONOMY 33:1 Chapter 33 gives us the last recorded words of Moses. The whole chapter is full of blessing. Moses was raised in the palace of Egypt. He was surrounded by opulence and wealth. Is that what it means to be blessed? Around age 40, everything changed for Moses. He had to leave Egypt, an...

“The things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” DEUTERONOMY 29:29 How do you make your way in a world where God has kept so much secret? You live with what God has kept secret by trusting what He’s revealed. Here are seven promises that belong to you. 1. The future of your children: You don’t know your child’s future, but you know that God has been faithful to you. “The pr...

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God.” DEUTERONOMY 29:29 Faith lives with unanswered questions. Grasp this and it will help you when you are having trouble making sense of life. Here are seven secrets that belong to the Lord. 1. The future of your children: Will they marry? Will they be happy? Will they prosper? These questions were surely in the minds of those who heard Moses on the verg...

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” DEUTERONOMY 29:29 All of life is divided into two parts. There are things that God has kept secret, and things that God has revealed. God keeps some things secret: You should expect to face questions you cannot answer. Don’t be afraid...

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” JOHN 10:27 When you know who Jesus is, you will see what it means to follow Him. 1. Jesus is the true prophet. Following Him means believing His Word. To be a Christian means that the words of Jesus define truth for you. You give up the right to say, “Jesus says this, but I think that.” You place yourself under the authority of the Wor...

“He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” REVELATION 19:16 Even the greatest king in the Old Testament, David, failed in his calling and found himself hanging on the mercy of God. This is the position every true Christian leader is always in. So, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son. Because He is “God with us,” He carries all authority in Himself. In His humility, Jesus does...

“It shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes.” DEUTERONOMY 17:19 The king will have his own political philosophy. He will have his own vision and values. He may lean to the left, or to the right, but he must allow the Word of God to rebuke him and correct him. The Word of...

“When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law.” DEUTERONOMY 17:18 Nobody else in Israel was required to write out the book of the law by hand. But the king was given such great trust and such great responsibility that when the king was crowned, his first task was not to rule the nation, but to learn how to rule, and he was to begin by writing o...

“Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” 1 CORINTHIANS 10:12 If God has given you a position of authority and responsibility, you must be particularly aware of these temptations, because these are temptations that all leaders face: 1. Power: “He must not acquire many horses for himself” (Dt. 17:16). Most leaders would like to have more power. But God says to be very careful a...

“The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.” DEUTERONOMY 17:12 God’s people are to hold their leaders in honour. If a person shows contempt for leaders in the church, we don’t put them to death, but it may be necessary to put them out of the church. The S...

“You may... set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose.” DEUTERONOMY 17:15 Leaders are to be qualified in character and ability. Moses gives us seven marks of a godly king, and all of them are reflected in the New Testament qualifications for deacons and elders. 1. The king must be anointed by God (17:15). “Pick out from among you seven men... full of the Spirit” (Acts 6:3). 2. The kin...

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. 1 PETER 2:9 We live in a fallen world where even the best leaders are sinners in the process of being redeemed. So, when God gives authority, He spreads it out. No one person could hold all four offices of leadership. The priest could not be a king. The prophet could not act as the judge. Christopher Wri...