April 19 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Psalms 42 and 43 belong together. Actually they are one song, one cry for intimate communion with God. The writer must have been in exile; oppressed by enemies, banished from his people—and especially from worship of God. He could not go to the temple, the visible dwelling of God.

What passion this man had for God! How he thirsted for communion with the source of his life! For him, faith was not something he possessed in addition to many other faculties; faith in God was the basic function of his being.

The Bible is a difficult book—and not just because it comes from another culture and through ancient languages. It is difficult because it is so utterly God-centered. The people in this book are God-possessed and God-addicted. Such feelings and such behavior make us ill at ease. We'd rather meet "normal" people.

Chances are, however, that the "normal" people whom we call our friends are mixed up when it comes to religion. Very likely they belong to the masses of people who try to fit God into their ordinary lives. But according to the Bible, we must fit our ordinary lives around our faith in God.

If we suddenly discovered that we have it all wrong, would we have the courage to let our lives become unhinged and transformed? That's what conversion is!

We cannot know God or enjoy him unless he is given the place in our lives that fits him. If God is not our all, we'll end up with nothing.

For the people in the psalms (and, let's hope, for all of us—most of the time), God is the highest good. We join them in honoring God, loving God, enjoying God. As long as we are with God, life is good. But without God there is no life.

Such people also long for the pleasure of the future encounter: "Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight."

REFLECTIONS

Where do you find yourself today: trying to fit God into your ordinary life, or trying to fit your ordinary life around your faith in God? Ask God for the grace to make him your "joy and delight" every day.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.