Daily Reading // Psalm 40:1-17
READY // SILENCIO
Take a moment to quiet your mind and prepare your heart for your time with the Lord.
READ // LECTIO
Read the passage above up to three times aloud. Allow yourself to feel the words as they are read.
REFLECT // MEDITATIO
Now direct your focus on the words, phrases concepts or sentences that got your attention. What is God speaking to you today through His word?
Psalms 40:5 (NKJV) Many, O LORD my God, [are] Your wonderful works [Which] You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; [If] I would declare and speak [of them,] They are more than can be numbered.
Psalms 40:12 (NKJV) For innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; Therefore my heart fails me.
There are four things listed in this chapter that are too numerous to number. They are:
God’s wonderful works
God’s thoughts toward us
Evils
My iniquities
The last two, evils and my iniquities, are pretty obvious. We live in the midst of them every day. They can be overwhelming and demoralizing. They are part of our existence, our experience.
I certainly don’t need to be reminded of the presence of evil or of my own shortcomings.
Just as incalculable are His wonderful works and His thoughts toward us. These things, though innumerable, are far less obvious. I have to be reminded on a regular basis about these.
One way to express the gospel is this: God’s wonderful works and His thoughts toward us have overcome evil and all my sins.
This gospel message needs to have everyday expression in my life. Everyday when I am faced with the discouragement of evil and of my own sin I need to balance it out with the encouragement of God’s wonderful works and His thoughts toward me.
It is my every day gospel.
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Father, I am encouraged today by Your great love for me and Your wonderful works. Let that balance out and even overcome any discouragement I may face. Amen!
Tomorrow’s reading -> Sabbath Reflection