Jan 23 Daily Rhythm
Morning
Psalm 71:1-3
In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame! In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me! Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
This Psalm has been called the prayer of the aging believer. It is a cry too God for help combined with a recognition of al that God has already done. We are people who can cry in dependence on God because he has proven to be trustworthy. Pray today that you will depend on him in trust.
Afternoon
Psalm 71:4-6
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.
My Praise is continually of you says the Psalmist! Can we say that with confidence? Can we say that our lives reveal his worth? Or do they more often reveal the worth and value of lesser things? Take a moment and confess an area in your life that takes priority over your maker. Ask him to show you his worth.
Evening
Psalm 71:7-11
I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.”
How often does it happen that attackers come up when our strength is spent? Maybe it’s actual people, maybe it’s spiritual warfare and the slings of the devil, maybe it’s just outrageous fortune – when it rains it pours as they say. This will happen in this life. Take a moment and pray that right now God will be preparing you to trust in the only refuge that will always be strong, Jesus Christ our hope.