“Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.”         Psalm 31:9 NIV

In verses 9-11 David acknowledged a painful truth: his trouble was the result of his sin. This supports the view for Absalom’s rebellion as the setting of this psalm. Bloody violence within his family was the consequence of David’s sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:9-11a). The grief of Absalom’s rebellion was indescribably painful for David, but it was multiplied by the knowledge that his sin was responsible for it. This guilt was quickly draining the life out of David, sapping his strength and eating him from within, all the way to his bones. David cried out to God for mercy because he knew he deserved what he was receiving. He was guilty of the heinous sins of adultery and murder. He wanted the Lord to know how deeply sorry he was for what he had done, hoping that God would see his repentant heart, have mercy, and deliver him. David’s experience shows that even if our calamity is the direct result of our own sin, we can still run to God for refuge and know that He will receive us! It is significant that David’s enemies were still condemning him long after God had forgiven him. But David’s enemies didn’t know the sincerity of David’s repentance or the magnitude of God’s grace. We must never condone sin, but we must be careful not to condemn repentant sinners. Thank God that He is gracious and through the blood of Jesus forgives all our sin!

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, thank You for Your forgiveness of all our sin.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, even though the consequences of our sin are not removed, we stand in awe of Your grace and forgiveness that enable us to face our storms. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Colossians 2:8-15

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“You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.”            Psalm 31:8 NIV

David reminded himself of what the Lord had done for him in his past. We are encouraged to recall the occasions when our Lord has helped us in the past. The fact that we live to face the crisis we may be in at this moment or the crisis we may have to face in the future is proof of God’s faithfulness. The enemy has not been successful in destroying us. God has brought us through every time, as He did with David. He can be trusted. He loves us so much that He gave His Son for us. How, then, can we think that He will not come to our aid? We are more than conquerors through Him. If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31-39)? If we, like David, will do these things, then we, like David, will be able to rest in the Lord. When we empty our hearts in prayer to Him, our fears and doubts will disappear. We will be given God’s glorious peace (Philippians 4:6-7). When we remember His faithfulness in the past and commit our lives to His strong hand, we can fully trust Him with the present as well as the future. Let us rest in the words of Jesus: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29). Our Lord is forever faithful. In the darkest moments of our lives, may we never forget what our Lord has declared to us, and promised us in the light.

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, we recall Your faithfulness to us in those darkest of times.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, like David, we choose to stop and recall Your faithfulness to us in the past, as we face the dark moments of our lives, reminding ourselves of what You declared to us in the light. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Colossians 2:1-7

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“I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the Lord.”        Psalm 31:6 NIV

David turned to God for refuge with the unwavering conviction that the Lord would protect him. He despised those who clung to their worthless idols. These false gods could do nothing to help in times of trouble. They were lifeless, powerless images, unlike the Lord who had personally revealed Himself to humanity and had repeatedly shown Himself to be powerful on His people’s behalf. David’s confidence was also rooted in the past faithfulness of the Lord (verse 7). This was not David’s first confrontation with crisis. He could rejoice in God’s mercy and unfailing love because he had experienced it on previous occasions. The Lord had faithfully considered and witnessed the afflictions he had faced, and He had personally felt and identified with the anguish of David’s soul. The Lord had faithfully delivered David from his enemies, protecting him from every attack (verse 8). In spite of the many attempts of his enemies to stop him, David had prospered. The king was careful to attribute his success to the Lord who had enlarged his influence and kingdom. His feet stood strong and safe, all because of the faithfulness of the Lord. What should we do when we are faced with insurmountable trouble? We should flee to the Lord, realizing that only He can protect and deliver us. We should pray specifically and fervently about our situation. It is the fervent prayer that is effective with God. Pray instead of worry. Pray instead of relying on your own resources. Pray instead of wallowing in self-pity and despair.

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, like David, we put our confidence in You, even in the storm.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, we choose to flee to You, realizing that only You can protect and deliver us from the storms of life. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Colossians 1:24-29

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“Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.”           Psalm 31:5 NIV

After pouring out his fearful heart to God, David committed himself fully to the Lord, leaving the outcome in His hands. His spirit life was in God’s care. Because God is the God of truth, David rested in the assurance that God would do what was right. David expressed that the Lord had redeemed him – ransomed, rescued, released, preserved, delivered him. As David placed himself completely in God’s care, he could never have imagined that Jesus Christ would repeat his exact words as He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins. In His dying breath, the Lamb of God said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46). Bible scholar, Arno C. Gaebelein, stirringly noted how many believers have followed Jesus’ example. These blessed words have been uttered by hundreds of martyrs when the cruel flames consumed their bodies. Stephen said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” When the sentence of degradation was being executed upon John Huss, in response to the words of the Bishop who performed the ceremony: “And now we commit thy soul to the devil”, Huss replied with the greatest of calmness, “I commit my spirit into Thy hands, Lord Jesus Christ; unto Thee I commend my spirit whom Thou hast redeemed.” Then he was carried to the place of public execution and burned to death. These were also the last words of Polycarp, of Bernard, of Jerome of Prague, of [Martin] Luther and Melancthon and many, many others. (Arno C. Gaebelein, The Book of Psalms, p. 141.) May we learn to confidently commit our lives to the Lord, who is forever faithful.

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, with confidence in who You are, we commit our lives and spirit to You.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, not only in the moments of our trials, but each and every day, we confidently commit our lives and our spirit into Your faithful hands. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Colossians 1:21-23

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“Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.”           Psalm 31:3 NIV

As David calls upon the Lord to keep him safe from the threat that looms over his life and kingdom, he expresses full confidence that the Lord will preserve him. He knows that there is no security and safety outside of the Lord. His security in the Lord is seen in his usage of the words rock or strength; fortress or refuge. David used words in the Hebrew language to sing of the security he found in his great God during his years of running from King Saul. Such graphic pictures symbolized both comfort and help in a time of desperation. Saul’s vast superiority in both number and strength was thwarted by David’s God-given ability to hide in the many caves, canyons and rocks in the wilderness. As David looked back on his life, he was able to draw lessons from that period of intense fear that he experienced while on the run from Saul. His hope now rested more firmly in the Lord, and rather than run from his problems with Absalom, he purposed to walk forward in the strength of the Lord. This is very clear even in the word order David uses: “Since you are my rock”. The Lord was being put first as the source, the target, and the point of all David intended to do from then on. David filled Psalm 31 with statements to the Lord that “You are . . .” and he applied them to his situation.

We can do the same. Each time we find a truth about the Lord, we can repeat the truth back to Him – “You are . . .”. For example, we can say to the Lord: “God, You are a Rock – then be my Rock”. “God, You are Strength – then be my Strength”. By forming such a habit we can gain the greatest comfort and strength during times of trial.

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, as we spend time in Your Word we are prepared for anything.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, thank You for who You are, and as we spend time in Your Word, it helps to prepare us to face those challenging times and situations in our lives. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Colossians 1:15-20

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“Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue.”        Psalm 31:2 NIV

David was afraid. He says, “terror is on every side” (verse 13). We can hear the panic in his voice as he cries out to God to rescue him quickly and pull him out of the net. He states that he is in distress (verse 9). He is overwhelmed with sorrow, sighing and grief. These emotions are so strong that they are affecting him physically, making him waste away. He is feeling rejected, even by his former friends. He feels as useless as a broken vessel. But, everything is not doom and gloom for David. He also experiences some highs. He is rejoicing and glad in the Lord’s lovingkindness. He bursts forth in praise because of God’s great goodness that He has stored up for those who fear Him. He blesses the Lord because He has made His lovingkindness known to David even while he was under siege. In a final burst of praise, he encourages all of God’s saints to love Him, be strong, take courage and hope in Him. This psalm is very true of life. David gains the victory, but then the waves of distress sweep over him and he plunges again into despair. Then he gains the victory again. This means that it is very normal, even for the most godly of saints, to feel a gamut of emotions in the midst of severe trials. The key is not to be passive in letting our emotions keep us down. We’ve got to wrestle to process our emotions and gain the victory in the Lord. That is why the psalms are so helpful. The psalmist is often in despair at the beginning of the psalm, but he takes us through the process of fighting his way into the clear with the Lord, even if his circumstances haven’t changed at all.

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, thank You that we can wrestle through our emotions with You.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, knowing that You have emotions, as we do, thank You that we can wrestle with our emotions, with You, knowing that You are with us in these times of wrestling. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Colossians 1:9-14

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“Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue.”        Psalm 31:2 NIV

Somehow, we have the crazy notion that if we follow and obey the Lord, He will protect us from difficult trials. But the Bible repeatedly shows that it is often because we follow the Lord that we encounter various trials. If we blend in with the world, they don’t bother us. But the fact that we follow Christ makes us the special target. Jesus explained this very plainly in John 15:19, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” We need to understand that trusting in the Lord does not insulate us from the rollercoaster of emotions that hit when we face stressful situations. Some spiritual self-help books make it sound as though when you discover the secret of resting in the Lord, you will be perfectly calm even in the midst of the worst possible trials. To the extent that your emotions go up or down as with a rollercoaster, means that you must be lacking in your spiritual life. But look at David’s emotions in the psalm. Remember, he was not a spiritual novice at this point. He was a man after God’s own heart. He was obviously feeling enormous shame, as implied by his repeated prayer that he would not be ashamed (verses 1, 17). Perhaps his enemies were accusing him of being a hypocrite: “He claims to trust in God, but look at what he did with Bathsheba and her husband! Look at his family life – it’s a complete shambles! Some ‘man of God’ he is!” Coupled closely with shame was David’s own guilt, as he acknowledges his iniquity as part of his current troubles (verse 10).

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, in our emotional rollercoaster, we keep our eyes on You.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, when we are on a rollercoaster ride with our emotions, in the times of stress, we choose to keep our eyes focused on You. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Colossians 1:1-8

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“In You, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in Your righteousness.”        Psalm 31:1 NIV

Psalm 31 makes it clear that David knew God in a personal, practical and deep way before he got into this crisis. David recites many attributes of God throughout this psalm. God is a refuge and shelter. He is righteous and will judge righteously. He is a rock of strength. He hears and answers prayer. He is a stronghold and fortress – David’s source of strength. He is the God of truth and of lovingkindness. He is all-knowing and gracious in that He forgives and doesn’t cast off the rejected. He has unlimited storehouses of goodness for those who fear Him, even if they are going through the worst of trials. David didn’t learn all of this about God suddenly and in the middle of this calamity, although, no doubt, he deepened his knowledge of God through this distress. David had begun to know God through His Word as a young boy tending his father’s sheep. So when this crisis hit, David had resources in God to lean on. If we are not in a current crisis, let us take the time to put down roots in the Lord that will enable us to weather the inevitable storms that will come. We do this by spending time alone with God and in His Word, feeding our souls. Let His Word confront our lives with the sin that needs to be dealt with. Then we will be more prepared for the stressful times when they come. If we are already in a crisis and we don’t know God as David did, let us seek Him like never before! He is gracious and will meet us in our crisis, if our heart is right. But the time to prepare for stress is before it hits.

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, help us to prepare for those times of stress by being rooted in You.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, help us, through the power and ministry of Your indwelling Holy Spirit, to prepare ourselves for those times of stress by being rooted in You, through prayer and the reading of Your Word. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

2 Corinthians 1:16-20

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“In You, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in Your righteousness.”         Psalm 31:1 NIV

We live in an day and age when it is all about stress management. Many of us as Christians do not always turn to the living God and take refuge in Him! If we dare to suggest that someone under stress trust in God, we will often be met with scorn, even by fellow Christians. Try this for a stressful situation: a group of enemies have conspired together to kill you. They have instigated a widespread campaign of slander and lies. As a result, your name has become a reproach, even among your neighbours and former friends. When they see you coming, they turn and run the other way. They fear being identified in any way with you, because they figure that your time is short. They don’t want to be implicated by association. As a result, you are struggling with depression. You also realize that many of your troubles stem from your own sin. So, on top of everything else, you’re wrestling with guilt. The whole experience has taken its toll on your health. You don’t have the strength to perform your daily tasks. Your body is wasting away. Wherever you look, it seems that terror is staring you in the face. This is how David describes his situation in Psalm 31. We can’t be certain of the exact situation that lay behind this psalm. Many think that it relates to being rescued from a besieged city because David mentions this in verse 21. But in light of David’s reference to his own sin (verse 10), the belief is that David wrote this psalm in connection with Absalom’s rebellion. To whom do you turn in times of stress?

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, help me to turn to You in times of stress.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, in those trying times, help us to be like David, who took refuge in You during his most challenging and stressful times. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Genesis 9:8-17

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“I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You are the One who has done this.”           Psalm 39:9 NIV

God often uses trials to show us our lack of holiness. Trials should cause us to examine ourselves, to see what God may be trying to teach us. David realized that God was disciplining him and he states a general principle in verse 11: “When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, you consume their wealth like a moth . . .” Why would God consume that which is precious to us? That sounds cruel! The answer is, because we are counting the wrong things as precious. Our hope isn’t fully in the Lord, but in other things. So God has to consume those things to show us that He alone is worth hoping in. David’s final plea is full of mixed emotions. He pleads with God to remove the trial before he perishes (verse 10) and yet he acknowledges God’s right to reprove him, thus showing his submission to God’s hand (verse 11). His final appeal (verses 12-13) increases in intensity. It contains a plea that God would hear his prayer, his cry, and his tears. God grants the request of our hearts, not necessarily the words of our lips. When God disciplines us, it is fine to plead with Him to remove the trial. It is also okay to complain, as long as we do it with a submissive heart that acknowledges God’s right to deal with us as He sees fit. It is not okay to rage defiantly against God and accuse Him of treating us unfairly. The key to growing, through His discipline, is to submit to Him and to ask Him to help us learn the lessons He has for us in the trials.

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, help us to see in Your discipline Your great love for us.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, help us to see that the key to growing through Your discipline is to submit to You and ask You to help us learn the lessons You have for us in the trials. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Daniel 1:8-16

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