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Day 1 Psalm 4:2 Devotional

Pray:

Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.

Read:

Psalm 4:2

“How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?”

Understand:

In Psalm 4, we see God asking the enemies of David “how long (will you) continue to turn (My) glory into shame?” In essence, He is asking them “Where are you looking for Glory?” What they were looking to were delusions. In fact, the passage says “These people love delusions.” A delusion is a belief that is firmly maintained, despite being contradicted by what is accepted as reality.

The problem with a delusion is that we tend to look to it for our security; we turn it into a false god, an idol. It’s sad because the delusion of idolatry gives us a sense of rapture; we become excited because we’re exercising command and control over our god. The problem with these man-made idols is that it’s a counterfeit of true worship. Self-made gods we can worship without bowing before the Glory of God.

What do these counterfeit gods look like? They’re things we cherish: vehicles, bank accounts, art work, freedom, reputation, and service are just a few. Most believers know we’re not worshiping God in these things; we understand their limitations. Nevertheless, they have a pull on us. These types of idols are sneaky. They worm their way into our lives as a form of self-worship. These items become a symbol of our own impressive ideals about ourselves. Dan Allender warns us with a poignant reminder of how easily we can fall into the trap of seeking false gods when he said, “His idol-making is a thinly veiled glorification of his desire, but he refuses to face the shameful idiocy of his labor.”

Apply:

All of these gods will eventually fail us. Not only will they fail us, but when we fall they will mock us! Now would be a great time to ponder what is taking the place of God as a priority in your heart. We all have them. Is it image, control, things, pleasure, or reputation? Ask God to reveal anything you’re trusting in more than Him. Will you confess it to Him now? Let go of it and move towards Him. Offer Him your praise and worship!

Live:

(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)  Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.

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