Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 3)

Day 3 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Today’s Devotional Thought:

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”  (Psalms 16:1-2)

As you read these two verses, notice three aspects of David’s prayer:

  • First, the request: “Preserve me, O God”

  • Second, the rationale: “for in you I take refuge.”

  • Third, the assertion: “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

Today I want to camp out on this third and final aspect. What does it mean to “have no good” apart from God? Well, imagine a scale with two sides. On the one side, you put every good thing you can imagine in this world. On the other side, you put God alone. Which side is better? According to David, God outweighs everything, and nothing is truly good apart from him.

Now this is relevant for our national crisis today. A lot of things we thought of as good have been taken off the scales of life: access to toilet paper on demand (I’m kind of joking), freedom of movement, job security, confidence in the world economy, and our own sense of control. And for many, COVID-19 is currently threatening life itself or the life of a loved one.

But if David is right and we have nothing “good apart from God,” then suffering isn’t what we originally thought. Health, wealth, and prosperity are good but end in despair apart from God. And why? Because we have no good apart from him! Likewise, pandemic and economic downturn are terrible but can end in eternal good if we have God.

So we need to examine ourselves: can we truly say that we have nothing good apart from God? Or do we think that God is good as long as we have something else too?

Ways to Pray:

  1. Preserve me and my family from this virus.

  2. Preserve our healthcare workers and vulnerable members of our community.

  3. Let me take refuge in you alone through your Son, Jesus Christ.

  4. Adoration: You alone are my good—nothing else!

  5. Confession: Forgive me for seeking good in the world apart from you.

  6. Thanksgiving: Thank you for using this national crisis to point me to yourself as my ultimate good.

  7. Supplication: May those who are looking for good from this life discover that there is no good apart from you (see Psalm 17:14-15).