MORE THAN A PSALM: 150 Devotionals from the Book Of Psalms

By Don Lowe

More Than a Psalm is a collection of devotions compiled over many years. The reader is encouraged to read the psalm referenced first, then the devotion. Many different styles of introductions are used to lay the groundwork for one theme from the psalm. The overarching theme of the book and of Psalms itself is praise to God in song. Each devotion is a single theme the author gleaned from reading and meditating on God’s Word. The introduction to each devotion is created in such a way to capture the attention of the reader with a familiar quote, song title, or event from history. The following is a sample from the devotion entitled “Why Do the Wicked Prosper?”

Open the daily newspaper and all you see is bad news, right? You read articles about how good people are afflicted with trouble and wicked people seemingly prosper in spite of their godless lifestyles. Gangs running rampant; sexual predators on the loose; corporate scandals, but the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. How can God allow this to happen? Why do the wicked prosper?

It’s really very simple. If you perceive prospering as fortune, fame, and money, the natural conclusion is the wicked prosper. When you see things the way God does, it’s a much different picture. It’s all about your perspective. Do you have a biblical perspective or a worldly perspective?

As the book is written by a layperson and not a biblical scholar, the themes are meant to resonate with any reader. If you’ve ever struggled with reading the book of Psalms, this devotional is for you. The simple themes and easy-to-understand language will touch your heart and help guide you through Psalms.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685708009

Book preview

How to Live a Blessed Life

Read: Psalm 1

According to God’s Word, living a blessed life is simple. It’s all about the company you keep and how you fill your mind. Do you run with those who do not know God or who are following their own wicked ways? Are you seeking advice from those who have no perspective of God or His truth? Is the Bible your only source of truth?

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! (Psalm 1:1 NASB)

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2 NASB)

God’s blessing comes when you are obedient to His Word. Today’s psalm is quite direct and easy to understand. God pleads with you to make His Word the foremost authority in your life and to spend time reading and understanding it so you do not seek the advice of the ungodly or spend too much time with those that do not know God. Yes, you are to tell others about Jesus and need to spend time with them to do that, but you just cannot have those intimate, close friends if they are, as the psalmist says, wicked.

Strive today to examine two things:

Your intake of God’s Word

Your relationships and where you seek advice

If you get these two areas of your life settled, then a blessed life will surely follow.

T

aking Refuge

Read: Psalm 2

There are many wildlife refuges throughout our great country where animals of all kinds are prohibited from being hunted. The refuge is provided to protect them and provide a safe place in which to live away from their enemies.

God provides just such a refuge for you if you’re willing to accept it. Acceptance comes in the form of putting your faith in Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior. Only by doing this can you truly have refuge. Study what the psalmist declares when you proclaim the decree of the Lord. Only by accepting God’s decree and His one and only Son, Jesus, can He become your Father.

If you have not put your faith in Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior, do so this minute so God will say, You are My Son [Daughter], Today I have begotten You (Psalm 2:7b NASB). By doing so you will enter God’s refuge; a safe place where you are protected, blessed, and loved forever.

The conclusion of Psalm 2 says it all: How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! (Psalm 2:12b NASB). Won’t you do that today?

Deliverance

Read: Psalm 3

There was a popular miniseries on television years ago entitled Band of Brothers . It chronicled the history of a group of soldiers belonging to Easy Company. In one episode, the soldiers were encamped outside the town of Bastogne, a stronghold of the Germans. It was the dead of winter, and they were woefully short of food and ammunition.

As they held their positions in a forest outside of the town, the German army pounded away at them with artillery night after night. Their only protection was to dig foxholes and lie in them while waiting for the shelling to cease. Night after night, they waited for reinforcements, held their positions, and endured the worst hardships imaginable. They knew that Bastogne was key to turning the war in favor of the Allies.

As morale sank lower and lower, they held out one hope: that the reinforcements would arrive at any time, delivering them from this impossible situation. As it turned out, they arrived, the German army was taken, and Easy Company went on to capture the famous Hitler stronghold, Eagle’s Nest.

David cries out in Psalm 3 about being surrounded by his enemies and his need for deliverance. But amidst his cry is the assurance that God is a shield about him, and he answers me from his holy hill. David’s hope is built on knowing that God will deliver him and, much like the soldiers of Easy Company, was sustained by his faith in that deliverance.

Maybe many have risen up against you right now, and like David, people are saying, God will not deliver him [her]. Take heart; the God of the universe knows your situation and will guide you through it. God knows exactly what you need and will provide just the right kind of deliverance for you. So call out to Him, Arise, O Lord! Deliver me O my God!

As the soldiers of Easy Company did in WWII, stand firm in your faith and watch what God can do. You’ll be amazed at His blessing when you give your situation over to Him. Live a blessed life today!

Safety

Read: Psalm 4

One of the most basic needs of the human soul is to feel safe. Feeling safe in any given situation is a much-desired state. A well-known psychologist tells a story of the night when he heard a noise downstairs and went to investigate. Unbeknownst to him, his wife woke up a few minutes later, didn’t realize he was gone, and heard him rummaging around downstairs. Thinking he was a burglar, she shut and leaned against the bedroom door to bar entry.

When he had finished his investigation and come back to bed, he found the door wouldn’t open, and his wife began screaming as he pushed frantically against the door, thinking the burglar was in the room with her. She pushed back equally on the door, thinking the burglar was trying to get into the bedroom. Stark terror had gripped each of them during the short period of time it took him to overpower his wife, burst into the room, and find his wife in hysterics over her perceived threat of safety.

Deep down, you know your safety is not always a certainty and that at any given moment, you can find yourself in an unsafe circumstance. What you must do is give this fear to God through prayer. Petition God to answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Be gracious to me and hear my prayer (Psalm 4:1 NASB).

Most of the time, your safety is a state of mind rather than a physical condition. Many lose sleep over things that go bump in the night. Give this over to God and you will find peace of mind, knowing that God will comfort you when you call out to Him. Then you, too, can declare, In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8 NASB).

Protection

Read: Psalm 5

Jesus’s prayer for His disciple and you in John chapter 17 is very interesting. He doesn’t pray for you to be rich or famous or live a long life. He prays for protection for you from evil, specifically the evil one. Scripture records Jesus’s words: I do not ask that you take them out of this world [you], but to keep them from the evil one (John 17:15 NASB).

Today’s psalm, penned by David, is a similar request. Notice the progression of his prayer to God.

Listen to my prayer (give ears to my words).

Look what I am going through (consider my groaning, my cry for help).

I will wait for Your answer (in the morning, I will order my prayer to you and eagerly watch).

David carefully prepares himself for God’s answer before he even utters his prayer request! Once he has prefaced his prayer with the points above, he pours out his heart to God for protection from enemies. What a great model for prayer.

His prayer conclusion punctuates His relationship with God: For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord. You surround him with favor as a shield (Psalm 5:12 NASB). May your prayers have the same fervency of David’s and the same understanding of God’s sovereignty and grace. May they also exhibit the trust David demonstrates in his prayer for protection. Most importantly, once you pray, have the patience to wait eagerly for God’s response.

Mercy

Read: Psalm 6

Whether you realize it or not, you are living at war every day. The enemy constantly sends his mortar shells at you in the form of temptation. Sometimes you lose a battle or two by sinning but must always remember you will win the war. In fact, the war was decided the moment you placed your faith in Jesus Christ.

The United States of America is famous for showing mercy to its enemies. While other countries, when defeating an enemy, put the people under oppression, the US spends countless billions of dollars and efforts to rebuild those countries, restore their economies, and help the citizenry thrive in a free society. The German occupation of Europe in WWII was a perfect illustration of a country that refused to show mercy for its defeated enemy. Prisoners were put into concentration camps, inmates were tortured, women were raped—the list goes on and on.

Mercy comes from a country that was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics, took God at His Word, and became a society of higher morale-redeeming values. This is the influence of God Almighty.

God shows His great mercy for you when you sin and cry out for mercy, as demonstrated by this psalm written by David. David cries to God to show him mercy, knowing full well that God will because of His unfailing love. God loves you so much that He forgives, shows you mercy, and best yet, forgets your sin! David concludes his psalm in grand fashion: For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication, The Lord receives my prayer (Psalm 6:8–9 NASB).

Have you received God’s great mercy today? All you must do is ask. No matter what you’re going through or what war you’ve come from, God will show you mercy, accept your prayer, and lead you in the paths of righteousness. Put your faith in Him and Him alone today.

Unrecognizable Sin

Read: Psalm 7 and 2 Samuel 11, 12

How often you hear of pastors or men/women of God who have fallen from grace. How does this happen? The Bible is filled with stories of God’s people who were Godly yet fell into the deepest of sin. David is one example. A man of God, a leader of God’s people, and he risks it all for an affair with a married woman (Bathsheba). Then he has Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, murdered to cover up his wicked deed. To make matters worse, he doesn’t even recognize the sin. Nathan the prophet has to come later and point it out. How did David miss this?

Casting Crowns has written an amazing song entitled Slow Fade, a story of a father who gives up his family for another woman and is given the opportunity to go back in time and see where it started. Guess what? It started as a sinful thought, not a sinful action! It started when the man decided to go on a business trip, knowing this woman would be there, sparking thoughts of desire.

So how do you avoid this kind of unrecognizable sin? Psalm 7 gives us a good place to start. It must begin with a holy desire for righteousness. Pleading with God daily to reveal sin is the key. David writes to first take refuge in God, asking Him the following:

O Lord my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands, If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life down to the ground And lay my glory in the dust. (Psalm 7:3–5 NASB)

Notice, David states, If I have done this. He is asking for God to show him unrecognized sin. He is willing to accept any consequence, even his life being trampled to the ground.

When you come into God’s presence, ask Him to show you sin, and accept any consequence. You’ll have a righteous attitude, and God can open your eyes to life’s snares. If you haven’t done so, go to God right now and ask Him to show you any sin you do not recognize. God will protect you, keep you from starting a slow fade, and bless your life.

Worshiping the Creator, not the Creation

Read: Psalm 8

God’s creation is so evident to those who take time to look at it. The psalm states that God created everything for all to see: (speaking of God) Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens and the moon and the stars, which You have ordained (Psalm 8:1, 3 NASB).

We, as God’s children, are the caretakers of His creation. Long before Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, or PETA, God ordained that His creation was ours to care for when He said,

You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:6–8 NASB)

What an awesome responsibility we have!

Unfortunately, our culture tends to worship God’s creation rather than the creator Himself. We see animals as having rights, forests as more important than people, and enact laws making sure creation is ruler over mankind.

Certainly, we are responsible that animals are not hunted to extinction or forests are not mowed down where erosion can ruin the landscape. We are responsible to ensure that pollution is kept in check and that animals are not mistreated. That’s all a part of being good stewards of what God gave us. But when we place creation above God’s greatest creation—mankind—we begin to serve the creation rather than the Creator.

God’s greatest creation is man, both male and female! It is crystal clear in His Word that we are His crown jewel. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27 NASB). Animals, forests, and the land do not have this distinction. They were put here on earth for man to rule over and use for his purposes under God’s direction. We should take this responsibility seriously and care for all of God’s creation.

Praising God

Read: Psalm 9, Philippians 4:10–13

Sometimes we get mixed up about praising God. We are very quick to praise Him when there are great blessings bestowed on us or a prayer need is answered in the way we ask. What happens when our prayers are answered no, or something happens in our life that tests our faith? We are not so quick to praise Him during trials or suffering.

We marvel at Paul’s statements in Philippians:

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:10–13 NASB)

How can we as mere humans learn to praise God in every circumstance? By doing what David suggests: I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High (Psalm 9:1–2 NASB).

David highlights all the glorious days of the Lord’s deliverance from Israel’s enemies as well as the persecution suffered at those very same hands. So what’s his secret to contentment? The same as our brother Paul; Praise God and tell others of the wonderful things God has done in your life! It’s amazing the peace that comes over you when you describe the miraculous things you’ve seen God do in your life and the lives of others. Remembering the blessings and deliverances from the past will help you praise God in the trials. Then you will learn to be content whatever the circumstance.

Why Do the Wicked Prosper?

Read: Psalm 10

Open the daily newspaper and all you see is bad news, right? You read articles about how good people are afflicted with trouble and wicked people seemingly prosper in spite of their godless lifestyles. Gangs running rampant; sexual predators on the loose; corporate scandals, but the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. How can God allow this to happen? Why do the wicked prosper?

It’s really very simple. If you perceive prospering as fortune, fame, and money, the natural conclusion is the wicked prosper. When you see things the way God does, it’s a much different picture. It’s all about your perspective. Do you have a biblical perspective or a worldly perspective?

It’s easy to complain as David did, His [speaking of the wicked] ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight (Psalm 10:5 NASB). You may be thinking, I have followed God’s Word, prayed regularly, and go to church weekly, but the wicked are prosperous, and my life circumstances are not what I desire. That, my friend, is a worldly perspective.

Or you can conclude as David,

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror. (Psalm 10:17–18 NASB)

When you have a biblical perspective, you will see the wicked in light of God’s Word and know true prosperity is based on our relationship with God, not the accumulation of wealth or material possessions. This perspective should drive us to our knees, thanking God for Jesus Christ’s wonderful gift of salvation. Instead of envying the wicked, we should be praying for their salvation. Their current plight is leading them to eternal destruction, which is the antithesis of prosperity.

Why do the wicked prosper? They don’t! It’s as simple as that!

Seeing the Face of God

Read: Psalm 11, Exodus 33

Scr ipture states that no one can see the face of God. After Moses received the Ten Commandments, God appears to him in the tent of the meeting. Moses asks God to indicate His approval by going with them. God agrees, and Moses asks something incredible: I pray You, show me Your glory! Moses was asking to see God visibly.

God’s reply is equally incredible:

I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion. But He said, You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! Then the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen. (Exodus 33:19–23 NASB)

How then can we gaze upon the face of God? Psalm 11 gives us some clues. Notice how David indicates that the Lord examines both the wicked and the righteous. He tells us exactly how He sees the wicked and the righteous when compared side by side.

The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face. (Psalm 11:5–7 NASB)

We should desire to be upright, longing for an ever closer relationship with Him. (See/Behold His face.) He will allow us to gaze deeply upon Him and be changed in His presence. Then we can understand what Moses learned in the desert. A face-to-face experience with God does not mean we see Him visibly but that we experience Him more deeply than ever before. Truly, the upright will see His face! Desire righteousness first, and a deeper experience with God is sure to follow.

When What Is Vile Is Honored

Read: Psalm 12

An episode of the TV series 24 depicted what is currently happening in some third-world countries: the systematic capture of the local children for recruitment into the military to fight against each other. The Sudan has been known for ethnic cleansing or the