May 20 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Psalm 145:

¹I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
²Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
³Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
⁴One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
⁵I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
⁶And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
⁷They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
⁸The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
⁹The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
¹⁰All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.
¹¹They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
¹²To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
¹³Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
¹⁴The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
¹⁵The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
¹⁶Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
¹⁷The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
¹⁸The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
¹⁹He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
²⁰The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
²¹My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

Devotional

The Lord God hears and answers prayer. He hears the prayers of individuals and He answers prayers of cities and nations. The prophet Isaiah exhorts us: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." That exhortation is meant for individuals. In Deuteronomy 4:7 we read: "For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?" But we must call upon him in truth, from the heart; not merely saying, Lord, Lord with our lips. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth."

The Lord is near unto all that thus call upon him and worship him. They walk with God like Enoch of old. They have fellow­ship with him. John says, "Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."

They have the promise that God will fulfil their desire. Jesus says, "whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do." Of course, their desire is that God's will be done, and what God wills is for their good. So God gives them their desire. They never cry unto him in vain. He will save them. He will deliver them from all evil, and preserve them unto his heavenly kingdom.

He will fulfil the heart's desire
Of those that fear him and obey;
Their cry the Lord will surely hear,
And He will save them when they pray.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee that Thou hast revealed Thine infinite love unto us, and that, like as a father pitieth his children, so dost Thou pity them that fear Thee. We thank Thee that in spite of our unworthiness and sinfulness Thou dost enrich us with Thy divine favors, and that out of Thy ful­ness we receive grace for grace, and that that grace is always sufficient for us. Graciously continue to supply all of our needs and save us by Thy grace. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Isa. 55:6; John 4:24; Gen. 5:24; 1 John 1:3; John 14:3.

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