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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 37:34-38
“34 Hope in the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it. 35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a luxuriant native tree, 36 but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found. 37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright; a future awaits those who seek peace. 38 But all sinners will be destroyed; there will be no future for the wicked.”
Understand:
Hope: To eagerly wait; expect; to look forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial, often with a focus of anticipation in a future event.
David is once again encouraging us to set our hope and expectations on the Lord. The injustice we see almost on a daily basis can lead us to think it is hopeless. David wants to reassure us that this kind of thinking is just not the case. For the third time, David reiterates the futility of the wicked. To drive the point home he uses the example of a thriving tree that in the end passes away, and in the space it occupied, one could never tell that there had been such a flourishing tree. It is completely gone and remembered no more.
David really wants us to see that the only hope we have is a life lived for God. We’re here for a season and then we’re gone. The only hope we have is to be found in the Lord. That hope is found in Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1-5 (NIrV)
“We have been made right with God because of our faith. Now we have peace with him because of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through faith in Jesus we have received God’s grace. In that grace we stand. We are full of joy because we expect to share in God’s glory. 3And that’s not all. We are full of joy even when we suffer. We know that our suffering gives us the strength to go on. 4The strength to go on produces character. Character produces hope. 5And hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.”
This HOPE will not disappoint! In fact, it gives us confidence because we know that He who began such a great work in our life will see it through to competition. (Phil. 1:6)
Apply:
So if all of this is true… can you trust Christ despite the injustice you see or may have experienced personally? Can you let go of your own wrath, and trust that God has the situation under control?
What would it take for you to wait and be still before the Lord? Can you trust Him enough not to be foolish?
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.