The Psalms have brought tremendous comfort and guidance to so many for so long. Join me in taking a fresh look at each Psalm. As you read through them, I urge you to reflect, pray, and apply these devotional bits of encouragement to your own life. Today, we study and reflect on Psalms 100, 101, and 102.
Reflection 1
This Psalm is a great reminder today and every day. Know that God is in control of your life. We can trust Him. We can count on Him. What is your need today? Your God is able to meet your need. He is good, loving, and faithful!
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” — Psalms 100:1-5
Reflection 2
When it comes to your faith development, are you only interested in the good news, or are you also wanting to know the bad news? The Bible says our hearts are “deceitfully wicked.” (Sorry for the bad news.) Left to our own devices, we will do the carnal and ungodly thing. We need to do rigorous self-evaluation and root out all matters of sin, evil, and that which is vile from our lives. Examine your heart with the help of God’s Spirit. Be honest. Confess hubris. Ask God to change how you think, speak, treat others, show compassion, love, and live. He wants to help you change and grow so you can become more like Him. Ask Him now.
“I will sing of your love and justice; to you, Lord, I will sing praise. I will be careful to lead a blameless life— when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart. I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it. The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil. Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.” — Psalms 101:1-5
Reflection 3
God always hears our prayers. I believe He always answers our prayers too. Oftentimes, however, the only answer we want is “yes”. Sometimes His answer is “no” if He knows something will be bad for us. Other times, the answer may be “get to work” if we need to step out in faith. Sometimes, He may be directing us to lean in and believe if we need to trust more. The Bible says we can have confidence that God hears and answers our prayers. We can also be confident that, whatever His answer, He has our best interests at heart. So pray, ask, believe, trust, and know God is with you and for you always.
“Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.” — Psalms 102:1-2