Bible Reading
Psalm 56:
1Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
2Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.
3What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
4In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
5Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
7Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
8Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
9When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
10In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.
11In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
12Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
13For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
Devotional
In our lives there are trying occasions when we are obliged to wait. Perhaps a loved one is ill, and we pray fervently for recovery. But we may have to wait through long hours or days before the hoped—for signs of recovery appear. Perhaps we have applied for a job, for admission to a certain college or other institution, or for something else of great importance to us—and we have to wait and wait until the results are known. Perhaps at times we wait with suspense for the result of tests that may influence the whole course of our lives.
In the many situations in which we are required to wait, we can suffer much tension, anxiety, and agony. We can give way to dark fears and can suffer more acutely than if the feared developments had really occurred. But in the times of waiting and suspense that come to us, we do not need to be weakened or overwhelmed. Rather, by God's grace, we can actually be strengthened. When we are tempted to give way to fear, we can put our trust in the Lord. We can find in Him our light and our salvation, the strength of our lives, and the conqueror of our fears. We can rejoice in the knowledge that our Saviour cares for us and that He is with us in His love and power—as we wait.
For January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021, we are planning to post Andrew Kuyvenhoven's
Daylight, a full-year daily devotional, with each month devoted to a particular theme (JanuaryYour Kingdom Come, FebruaryLiving with God, MarchSharing the Suffering of Christ, etc.).
So that we can begin the Kuyvenhoven postings on January 1, we are re-posting until then devotional selections from
Think on These Things, a daily devotional prepared by the late Dr. John H. Skilton, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and for many years Chairman of the New Testament Department at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.
We are indebted to
P & R Publishing and
Skilton House Ministries for permission to use this copyrighted material on the OPC Web site. (P & R held the copyright from 1975 to 2005, at which time they reassigned the copyright to Skilton House.)