Psalms Devotional

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 20)

Day 20 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalms 102-103

Evening: Psalm 104

Today’s Devotional Thought:

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12, CSB)

I’m given over to anxiety about myself. I don’t just mean I have a few blue days; I mean that I get very anxious or upset about myself quite often. For example, one issue I’ve often struggle with is sleeping. My insomnia was so bad last year that I had to go talk to a doctor. I’m pretty good at making up my own guilt and shame to condemn myself; I’m a master craftsman of negative thoughts.

This verse has always been one of my greatest comforts in life. In fact, it’s a verse that I encourage anyone struggling with self-esteem, anxiety, or depression to memorize. Especially when we are alone in isolation, our greatest fears are not just about what we think of ourselves. What does God think of me? 

Here’s the Gospel hope for you today: God is overtly gracious to those who turn to Him for forgiveness. If you’ve read this psalm before, have you ever pondered how great this image is? You can’t measure directional indicators: East and west will never touch. They are infinitely apart from each other. God’s promise doesn’t stop there: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him” (v.13). Here’s the dual promise of placing your trust in Jesus Christ alone as your Lord and Savior. You are not only forgiven of your sin; you are brought into God’s family. 

The Father loves you infinitely more than you love yourself. And for those of you struggling with self-esteem, you can immediately understand what great relief that brings you. He doesn’t love you based on your performance. He loves you before creation itself existed. One of my favorite theologians, named Geerhardus Vos, once said, “The best proof that God will never cease to love us lies in that he never began.”

Your heart might be condemning you today, building anxieties and worries in your life. God the Father wants us to cry out to him in our need. His mercy, his grace, his love for us is greater than any condemnation we can create within our hearts.

Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Ways to Pray:

  1. Adoration:  Father, we can cry out to you in any hour with every anxiety because you care for us deeply. You cast out sins beyond what our minds can even apprehend. You are our loving Father who has always loved us from the foundation of the world

  2. Confession: My heart often condemns myself, my actions, or my thoughts. I often want to stay in my own misery for people to feel sorry for me.

  3. Thanksgiving: Thank you that you never turn us away, that you never condemn those who find their identity in their Savior, Jesus.

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 19)

Day 19 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalms 95-97

Evening: Psalms 98-101

Today’s Devotional Thought:

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day” (Psalms 96:1-2 ESV).

A Christian friend once struggled to appreciate the Old Testament because it felt irrelevant to his daily life. Therefore, as a remedy, I suggested reading the Old Testament with an eye on the nature of God. Who is He and what has He done? For yes, our context is very different from ancient Israel, but our God is the same. And I have always found that this God-centered view brings relevant application out of nearly any passage of Scripture.

Psalm 96 is no different:

  • Verse 3: God has glory and His works are marvelous.

  • Verse 4: God is great and worthy of praise.

  • Verse 5: God made the heavens.

  • Verse 6: God has splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty.

  • Verse 7: God has glory and strength.

  • Verse 8: God’s name is glorious.

  • Verse 9: God has the splendor of holiness.

  • Verse 10: God is reigning as King and Judge.

  • Verse 13: God is coming to judge the earth in righteousness and faithfulness.

So during COVID-19, let’s keep our eyes and hearts fixed on God. Who is He? What has He done? And the more we read and pray the Bible with God at the center of everything, the more we’ll overcome our fears, anxieties, and temptations during this difficult season. Everything the Bible says about God was true yesterday, is true today, and will be true tomorrow. Praise the Lord! Therefore, the entire Bible is profoundly relevant for each and everyone of us today because we receive glorious windows into His nature and works.

Ways to Pray:

  1. Your works are marvelous. Let me see them today.

  2. You are great and worthy of praise! Let me worship you more today.

  3. You made the heavens. Let me trust you more today.

  4. You have splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty. Let be love you more today.

  5. You have glory and strength. Let me rely on you more today.

  6. Your name is glorious, O Lord. Let me glory in you and nothing else today.

  7. You are reigning as King, Lord Jesus. Let me submit to your Lordship over my life more today.

  8. Lord, you are coming to judge the earth in righteousness and faithfulness. Thank you and let me hope in you more today.

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 18)

Day 18 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalms 90-92

Evening: Psalms 93-94

Today’s Devotional Thought:

“Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.” (Psalms 90:15 ESV)

If you’ve been following these daily devotionals, you’ve probably noticed that I usually expound one or two verses from the daily reading. But today, I want to guide you through a short, inductive study of Psalm 90.

Find a notebook and something to write with. Then open your Bible (or device) to Psalm 90.

  • Read verses 1-2. What is this saying about God? How is it relevant during COVID-19? Take time for prayers of adoration, praising God that he is “from everlasting to everlasting.”

  • Read verses 3-11. What is this saying about God? What is this saying about humanity and our dealings with God? What is this saying about you and me before God? Does it speak to your struggles or sorrows today? Take time to confess your sin, focusing on your own frailty and God’s glorious sovereignty.

  • Read verses 12-17. In this section, Moses turns from prayers of adoration and confession to prayers of supplication. How many requests does he make? What are they? Write them down. What seems most relevant for your life today? Take time and pray these requests back to God in light of your individual struggles and our global crisis.

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 17)

Day 17 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalms 86-88

Evening: Psalm 89

Today’s Devotional Thought:

“You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves.” (Psalms 88:6-7 ESV)

Experts are telling us that this will be one of the darkest weeks of COVID-19. Many people will test positive for the virus and many will die. So how can we comfort friends, family, and neighbors in the midst of this pandemic? How can we comfort ourselves? Well, Psalm 88 is a beautiful roadmap.

As the inspired “hymnal” of Scripture, the Psalter has many different genres. There are psalms of lament, praise, thanksgiving, celebration, and so on. But most psalms of lament follow this pattern: they start with an expression of pain, confusion, or sorrow before pivoting to hope and confidence in God (see Psalm 13). But Psalm 88 has the distinction of being the “darkest Psalm” in the Bible. It sits in pain, lamentation, and suffering without ever moving to hope. And in the original Hebrew, the final word of Psalm 88 is literally “darkness” (מַחְשָֽׁךְ).

Now, I love many modern hymns. But as a whole, I find great poverty in so much contemporary Christian music (CCM). What ever happened to Christian lamentation? We never give believers an outlet for true lamentation like Psalm 88; everything has to be “positive, encouraging, KLOVE.”

But we can learn so much from Psalm 88 as modern people. We shouldn’t share hope like a hit and run attack, where we toss shallow “hope” at people and move on with our day. Instead, we shouldn’t be afraid to sit in darkness with our friends and family.

But we also shouldn’t leave them in Psalm 88 forever. At some point, we need to move on to verse 1 of the very next psalm: “I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations”  (Psalms 89:1). Then we can move on from there to the the hope of the entire Bible, rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for sinners like you and me.

So Christians should be the very best comforters in the world (though sadly, we seldom are).

  • On the one hand, we can sit with people in darkness. We don’t have to retreat to shallow answers. We don’t have to put shallow bandages on gaping spiritual wounds. Instead, we can be realistic about pain and suffering. And if you think about it, Psalm 88 is really a “Good Friday” psalm because it takes us all the way to the pain, darkness, lamentation, and agony of the cross.

  • But on the other hand, we can lead people out of darkness into a living and abiding hope. Because atheistic materialism or agnosticism can only sit in darkness. They can never offer real hope because we only come from nothing and return to nothing. But the Bible can take us from the sorrow and pain of Good Friday to the the joy and hope of resurrection life on Easter morning.

So during COVID-19, let’s pray Psalm 88 passionately, while never leaving others in darkness forever. And may the Lord grant us wisdom to know when it’s appropriate to lament, and when our lamentation can give way to shouts of joyous praise.

Ways to Pray:

  1. Help me to sit in darkness with others this week.

  2. Don’t let me be too quick to speak or too slow to listen. Give me wisdom to proclaim hope at the right time.

  3. Help me to offer hope to others in this national crisis. Don’t leave us in darkness—show us Christ who is the Light of the World!

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 16)

Day 16 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalms 79-81

Evening: Psalm 82-85

Today’s Devotional Thought:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”  (Psalms 81:10 ESV)

According to this verse, God wants us to root our lives in two realities simultaneously—the past and the future.

First, let’s look at how God wants us to root our lives in the past.

He starts off with a reminder (and don’t we all need reminders): “I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” In other words, he is the redeeming God who brought Israel out of slavery through Moses. That is the great redemptive act of the Old Testament. God points to it over and over again in order to prove his love and faithfulness to a rebellious people. He essentially says, “Remember the past—I’m the redeeming God who brought you out of slavery, gave you the land, and sustained you. Therefore, you can trust me for the future!”

And like Israel, we need to root our lives in the past. After all, redemption from Egypt is nothing compared to redemption from sin, death, and the Devil that was accomplished through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have even more reason to trust God than Israel, which is saying a lot.

So we need to look at history during COVID-19. Yes, we should look at the history of pandemics. Yes, we should look at the history of economic downturn. We can learn so much from history! But more than anything else, we should look at the history of God’s action in the past. What has he done in history? Can we trust him for the future? And the answer is always yes. As one hymn says,

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er,
Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more.

But second, let’s look at how God wants us to root our lives in the future.

He says, “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Don’t you love that image? I imagine a baby bird opening its mouth to its mother to receive sustaining nourishment. And that's probably an apt analogy. God isn't holding back good things from his children. Instead, he promises to nourish and satisfy. And what is the precondition? It's not some great religious work or ceremony. We simply open our mouths and God promises to fill them.

So how do we open our mouths to receive this spiritual nourishment? Well, first we acknowledge our need and inability to sustain ourselves. We really are like fragile baby birds, dependent on our mother for everything. But as we repent of our sins and trust in Jesus for salvation, we come daily with the mouth of faith open, praying,

“You have been faithful in the past. You were faithful to your covenant people when you brought them out of bondage to Pharaoh. And ultimately, you were faithful to your people when you sent your Son to die on the cross for the sins of your elect. I’ve also see your faithfulness in my own life. So as I consider the future, I'm stepping out in faith. I'm opening my mouth to receive your Word. Nourish me. Sustained me. Grow me. Give me life. Give me hope. Give me confidence.”

And of course, Jesus promises to answer these prayers. He says,

“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  (John 4:13-14)

Ways to Pray:

  1. Let me remember your faithfulness in the past.

  2. Let me trust your faithfulness for the future.

  3. Let me open wide my mouth to you each day.

  4. Satisfy me in the morning with your steadfast love through Jesus Christ my Lord!

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 15)

Day 15 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalms 75-77

Evening: Psalm 78

Today’s Devotional Thought:

When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn; do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck.’”  (Psalms 75:3-5 ESV)

How often do we meditate on the power and sovereignty of God? Well, while praying through the Psalms, we confront this reality over and over again: God is God—and we’re not. He is in control—and we’re not. He is sovereign—and we’re not. He knows what he’s doing in the world—and we don’t. Therefore, God says, “When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.”  And during COVID-19—when the earth seems to totter—God is the one who keeps it all steady . He is completely incontrol of what’s happening in the world.

Now meditating on the power and sovereignty of God can elicit a few different responses. 1) Some may begin to doubt the goodness of God. How could an all-powerful God allow this suffering and death? 2) Some may run away from God because all they see is his power, apart from his love and mercy in Christ. 3) But others see the complete power and control of God and are driven to awe and worship, overflowing in peace and joy.

And during this difficult time, I hope we will have this third response. When things seem dark and bleak, the power of God is a beacon. It is a profound source of peace, joy, and hope. After all, it’s not a cruel dictator with all power; it is the loving God of heaven. Therefore, in light of God’s sovereignty, power, and love, we make the same confession as the Apostle Paul:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.  (Romans 8:28-30)

Ways to Pray:

  1. You are God—I am not. You are in control—I am not. You are sovereign—I am not. You know what you’re doing in the world—I don’t. Thank you for being in control!

  2. Humble me with a glimpse of your sovereignty and power. Use this pandemic to humble me and my nation, O LORD.

  3. Give me hope and peace, trusting that you’re in control and are working all for good.

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 14)

Day 14 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalms 71-72

Evening: Psalms 73-74

Today’s Devotional Thought:

“Rise up, God, champion your cause! Remember the insults that fools bring against you all day long. Do not forget the clamor of your adversaries, the tumult of your opponents that goes up constantly” (Psalm 74:22-23, CSB).

Take a moment to look at verses 12-17. Look superficially at these verses, and you can see the amazing works that God has done; an Israelite reading these verses could not help but reminisce the parting of the Red Sea. However, there’s something even deeper in these verses.

—The sea (v.13) was a pagan deity that Canaanites worshipped

—Leviathan was a servant of this deity (v.14)

—Even the sun and the moon (v.16) were worshipped by people outside of Israel

But even with the personalization of the sea, sun, and moon in these verses, it doesn’t end well for any of them. God subjects each of them under his mighty power. This is the reason why the psalmist cries out, “Rise up, God!” You have crushed the enemy gods already! Don’t allow your name to be mocked!

In this present crisis, you might wonder where God is right now; is he going to rise up and do something, especially when he is openly mocked by society. Our thoughts and worries are not far off from the psalmist’s mind. He remembers God’s covenant provision in the past, but now it seem that God isn’t working. Even worse, it feels as if his enemies are winning. Waiting has always been a motif throughout the Bible. Even when the Hebrew Scriptures end, they wait 400 years before another prophet comes.

But it’s with this new prophet that the Israelites hear the arrival of their Messiah.

Sometimes it’s hard to get on God’s time table. We are worried and anxious, and we expect God to work according to our schedule. This is no less true when we are mocked, when God is mocked, when adversity comes. Thankfully, we can see that God did rise up to champion his cause. Jesus Christ defeated death at the cross, and with his resurrection, we have hope of eternal life. May we be reminded today that God is not silent, and that he has climatically spoken in His Son. That truth is enough to give us comfort during Covid-19.

Ways to Pray:

  1. May we remember that you have spoken and championed your cause through your Son, Jesus.

  2. Adoration: Lord Jesus, You have crushed the head of the serpent Leviathan.

  3. Confession: May you keep us from insulting you, expecting you to work according to our schedule.

  4. Thanksgiving: Thank you that you have already championed your cause and that you will champion your cause even in the midst of this pandemic.

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 13)

Day 13 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalm 68

Evening: Psalms 69-70

Today’s Devotional Thought:

“God in his holy dwelling is a father of the fatherless and a champion of widows. God provides homes for those who are deserted He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a scorched land (Psalm 68:5-6, CSB).

Over the past two weeks, you may very well have lost your job, whether that is furloughed or eliminated. It's hard enough to worry about getting sick, but now you also are worried about paying your rent, mortgage, or whatever bills are coming up. I have the Wall Street Journal right next to me as I write this, saying we have lost 6.6 million jobs over these two week. It's pretty hard to find good news at a time like this.

You know, the name Father was not something invented by New Testament writers. We have glimpses of that name for the first person of the Trinity scattered in the Old Testament, but this passage shows us the intimate relationship He has with His children. He alone is the one who provides shelter and prosperity; He is the one who is a Father to those who are spiritual orphans.

We need to be very careful here, because this can very easily be abused. God is not going to make you healthy, wealthy, and wise because you prayed hard enough or sent a check to a preacher. The harsh reality is that people will lose a lot because of this crisis. The Christian life is not one about being in the one percent; it often brings persecution and hardship.

However, the Father offers something beyond spiritual blessings; He wants us to call upon Him! He cares deeply for us, and wants us to call on Him when we are needy. When we're fearful. When we feel that we are about to go bankrupt. Every good and perfect gift comes from him. 

  1. Father, help me to see that my provision in this life comes only from your hand.

  2. Thank you that you are my Father and that I can call to you for help.

  3. Thank you for the greatest gift you offer in your only Son, Jesus.

  4. Adoration: You are the only God that champions those who are oppressed, that brings those from bondage into prosperity.

  5. Confession: I'm sorry that I often act as an orphan who does not call out to you in my distress.

  6. Thanksgiving: Thank you that one of the greatest assurances of my relationship with you is that I can call out to you as my Father.

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 12)

Day 12 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalms 62-64

Evening: Psalms 65-67

Today’s Devotional Thought:

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” (Psalms 62:1)

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.”  (Psalms 62:5)

In verses 1 and 5, David says that he is waiting in silence for the Lord….

But silence is hard in the modern world. We are constantly connected to devices and screens. We almost never sit in true silence, where we have zero input from other human minds. Therefore, I would encourage us to experiment with true silence during this season of COVID-19.

Wake up early when you can be alone (or stay up late depending on your circadian rhythm). Don’t grab your smartphone. Don’t get on social media. Don’t turn on the news. Don’t turn on the radio. Don’t read a magazine or a paper. Just take your Bible, read the day’s Psalms reading, and then literally sit in silence with God for as long as you are able, knowing his holiness, power, love, faithfulness, wisdom, grace, mercy—knowing that God is God and we are not—knowing what he has done for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

But after this intentional time of silence, think about what it means to wait in silence for God daily and hourly. We want to cultivate this spiritual posture of repose toward God all the time. In other words, we should trust God even when we don’t understand what he’s doing in the world. We should trust him to act when he’s ready—according to his sovereign plan.

Ways to Pray:

  1. Lord, my soul is waiting in silence for you alone. From you alone comes my salvation and hope!

  2. Father, forgive me for never truly sitting in silence with you during the chaos of life.

  3. Please give me the desire to sit in silence today; show me what it looks like during COVID-19.

  4. Let me trust your plan, purpose, and timing today, O Lord.

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt

Praying the Psalms During COVID-19 (Day 11)

Day 11 of 30

Today’s Readings:

Morning: Psalms 56-58

Evening: Psalms 59-61

Today’s Devotional Thought:

“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”  (Psalms 56:8 ESV)

This verse should comfort those who are suffering during this season of COVID-19. Does God see? Does he know? Does he care?

First, God counts our sorrows: “You have kept count of my tossings.”

The word “tossings” can also be translated “wanderings” or “sorrows.” God is watching. He knows what we’re facing today. He’s not blind. He’s not unaware of our wanderings. He counts our sorrows. As Jesus says, “Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7).

Second, God collects our tears and writes them in his book: “put my tears in your bottle.”

Isn’t that a beautiful image? When you cry, even if you think you’re alone, God sees and cares. And though this isn’t a literal image, the bottle of tears points to God’s omniscience and loving care for his people. As the Psalmist says elsewhere: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalms 116:15).

Now during COVID-19, nearly everyone is facing a lot of pressure. There is fear, sorrow, suffering, and tears around the world. But thankfully, God sees and cares. And he has demonstrated this by sending his own Son, Jesus Christ. He was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Or, as the Book of Hebrews says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Ways to Pray:

  1. Thanks for keeping track of my wanderings and for loving me unconditionally in Christ!

  2. Forgive me for thinking that you don’t notice or care about the ways I’m suffering today.

  3. Give me opportunities to comfort others who are facing sorrow for whatever reason. Let me notice the tears of my neighbor as you notice mine.

Monday through Friday: Written by Pastor Stern

Saturday and Sunday: Written by Jonathan Hatt