Psalms, Psalms, Psalms

By Rick Corum

Psalms, Psalms, Psalms is the third daily devotional book in the series. The author writes from his heart, relating each devotional to a passage of Scripture. The other books in the series--I, Psalmist and More Psalms to our God--have served not only as daily devotional works but also as outreach tools.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886445794

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Day 25

Day 26

Day 27

Day 28

Day 29

Day 30

Day 31

Day 32

Day 33

Day 34

Day 35

Day 36

Day 37

Day 38

Day 39

Day 40

Day 41

Day 42

Day 43

Day 44

Day 45

Day 46

Day 47

Day 48

Day 49

Day 50

Day 51

Day 52

Day 53

Day 54

Day 55

Day 56

Day 57

Day 58

Day 59

Day 60

Day 61

Day 62

Day 63

Day 64

Day 65

Day 66

Day 67

Day 68

Day 69

Day 70

Day 71

Day 72

Day 73

Day 74

Day 75

Day 76

Day 77

Day 78

Day 79

Day 80

Day 81

Day 82

Day 83

Day 84

Day 85

Day 86

Day 87

Day 88

Day 89

Day 90

Day 91

Day 92

Day 93

Day 94

Day 95

Day 96

Day 97

Day 98

Day 99

Day 100

Day 101

Day 102

Day 103

Day 104

Day 105

Day 106

Day 107

Day 108

Day 109

Day 110

Day 111

Day 112

Day 113

Day 114

Day 115

Day 116

Day 117

Day 118

Day 119

Day 120

Day 121

Day 122

Day 123

Day 124

Day 125

Day 126

Day 127

Day 128

Day 129

Day 130

Day 131

Day 132

Day 133

Day 134

Day 135

Day 136

Day 137

Day 138

Day 139

Day 140

Day 141

Day 142

Day 143

Day 144

Day 145

Day 146

Day 147

Day 148

Day 149

Day 150

Day 151

Day 152

Day 153

Day 154

Day 155

Day 156

Day 157

Day 158

Day 159

Day 160

Day 161

Day 162

Day 163

Day 164

Day 165

Day 166

Day 167

Day 168

Day 169

Day 170

Day 171

Day 172

Day 173

Day 174

Day 175

Day 176

Day 177

Day 178

Day 179

Day 180

Day 181

Day 182

Day 183

Day 184

Day 185

Day 186

Day 187

Day 188

Day 189

Day 190

Day 191

Day 192

Day 193

Day 194

Day 195

Day 196

Day 197

Day 198

Day 199

Day 200

Day 201

Day 202

Day 203

Day 204

Day 205

Day 206

Day 207

Day 208

Day 209

Day 210

Day 211

Day 212

Day 213

Day 214

Day 215

Day 216

Day 217

Day 218

Day 219

Day 220

Day 221

Day 222

Day 223

Day 224

Day 225

Day 226

Day 227

Day 228

Day 229

Day 230

Day 231

Day 232

Day 233

Day 234

Day 235

Day 236

Day 237

Day 238

Day 239

Day 240

Day 241

Day 242

Day 243

Day 244

Day 245

Day 246

Day 247

Day 248

Day 249

Day 250

Day 251

Day 252

Day 253

Day 254

Day 255

Day 256

Day 257

Day 258

Day 259

Day 260

Day 261

Day 262

Day 263

Day 264

Day 265

Day 266

Day 267

Day 268

Day 269

Day 270

Day 271

Day 272

Day 273

Day 274

Day 275

Day 276

Day 277

Day 278

Day 279

Day 280

Day 281

Day 282

Day 283

Day 284

Day 285

Day 286

Day 287

Day 288

Day 289

Day 290

Day 291

Day 292

Day 293

Day 294

Day 295

Day 296

Day 297

Day 298

Day 299

Day 300

Day 301

Day 302

Day 303

Day 304

Day 305

Day 306

Day 307

Day 308

Day 309

Day 310

Day 311

Day 312

Day 313

Day 314

Day 315

Day 316

Day 317

Day 318

Day 319

Day 320

Day 321

Day 322

Day 323

Day 324

Day 325

Day 326

Day 327

Day 328

Day 329

Day 330

Day 331

Day 332

Day 333

Day 334

Day 335

Day 336

Day 337

Day 338

Day 339

Day 340

Day 341

Day 342

Day 343

Day 344

Day 345

Day 346

Day 347

Day 348

Day 349

Day 350

Day 351

Day 352

Day 353

Day 354

Day 355

Day 356

Day 357

Day 358

Day 359

Day 360

Day 361

Day 362

Day 363

Day 364

Day 365

About the Author

cover.jpg

Psalms, Psalms, Psalms

Rick Corum

ISBN 979-8-88644-578-7 (Paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88644-579-4 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 Rick Corum

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

As with everything, I give all the glory to my God.

I wish to acknowledge my family—my lovely wife, Ellen, and my

much-loved son, Greg—for their support and encouragement.

Day 1

She put out her hand to the tent-pin, and her right hand to the workman's hammer; and she gave Sisera a blow, crushing his head, wounding and driving through his brow.

—Judges 5:26

Crushing something is most often looked upon as a destroying action, and yet sometimes it is simply part of the process to make things better or more usable. Olives must be crushed for their oil. Even the elements of our communion remembrance are a result of being crushed. Grapes must be crushed to make wine, juice, and jam. Wheat must be crushed to make flour for baking. People also need to be crushed as well. Our old sin nature must be crushed out of us; our self-reliance and self-love must also be crushed out of us if we are to be worthy to be called a follower of Christ.

*****

Heavenly Father, thank You for not abandoning me to my sin. I think how crushed the disciples must have been when they saw Jesus on the cross. Even though they had been told what was going to happen, they still ran away and hid. You used this crushing to create a better, more useful group of men and women for Your glory. Crush me in this way, crush the sin out of me, and make me worthy to be called Your child.

Day 2

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

—Ephesians 6:10–11

Like it or not, we are in a war and the intensity of the battle is growing every day. Satan is using every trick in the book, and we see so many people falling for the devil's lies. The full armor of God is something we can access through the Scripture and prayer. Those that go into battle with such a cunning power know that they must use every tool that God provides them. We cannot defeat Satan on our own. All of our hope is Jesus—nothing else matters and nothing else will be successful.

*****

Almighty God, You have offered me the weapons necessary to defeat Satan. I know that I need them, and I need them now. Your armor is strong, and I know that it will protect me as I go into battle with the evil one. I have the great assurance that with You I will experience victory, without You I will suffer eternal defeat. I want Your armor and will pray and study to know more about it.

Day 3

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it.

—Numbers 23:19

God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow; He never changes. Because He never changes, we can rely on Him always. We can trust His promises and His Word. Because He is always the same, we can truly know Him. When a conflict arises between us and God, guess who has to change? We are constantly changing and hopefully growing; we are influenced by the culture and by peers. Because we are more subject to change, it is upon us to ensure the changes we do undertake are all changes that will glorify our God.

*****

Heavenly Father, You are like an anchor for my soul. Help me to change my life according to Your will, according to Your Word. I rest in the knowledge that You do not change and I can count on Your promises today, tomorrow, and forever. I also know that You never give up on me; no matter how far out of Your will I roam, You allow me to come back to You, to cry out to You and call You my God.

Day 4

And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

—Mark 10:18

Would you say that you are a good person? How good a person would you say that you are? Most of us can say, We are not as bad as some people, or We are not that bad. What does good really mean? One of the definitions of good is to be morally right. This definition is not as clear as it should be, since we need to define morally right. Morals seem to fluctuate with the times and the culture and fall short of God's desire for our morals. The moral standard we adopt is dependent upon whom we want to judge us—the culture or God.

*****

O almighty God, You know all of my heart and all of deeds. You know that I am not a good person, I am a sinner. Try as I might, I fail again and again. My desire is to be good, but my actions usually are not. I love You, O Lord, and hate it when I fail You. The only righteousness that I have is what I have been given through Your precious Son Jesus.

Day 5

The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.

—Nahum 1:7

We certainly do live in perilous times. Crime rates have gone through the roof, disease is running rampant, social unrest and military conflicts abound, and political intrigue fill the news today. It's not only the world news that can impact us; high divorce rates, job loss, the change of our culture, and even divisiveness within the church can frighten us. While the world events are scary and saddening, we cannot lose hope. Now is not the time for us to cower in fear or bury our heads in the sand. When we get scared, we just need to remember that we are children of God, and He holds us in the palm of His hand.

*****

O God, You are all-powerful and control all storms on earth and all the storms that come up in my life. I know that Your hand is always holding on to me and that I have nothing to fear. The world around me may be in turmoil, but my soul is at peace. Nothing that happens in this world will ever panic me, for I know that You are always with me. I rest in the sacred hope that You give me for these times.

Day 6

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

—Romans 5:1

Justification is when God makes us righteous, worthy to be in the presence of our God. God will justify us once we confess our sins and put our trust in Jesus Christ for who He is. Only God can justify us. Justification is just the start of our Christian journey. Being made worthy to be in the presence of God requires us to show appreciation of this worthiness. Through this action, we are not to respond as superior to others, for this is being self-righteousness. We have done nothing or could do nothing to be justified. Only through God are we justified.

*****

O holy God, I thank You for making me worthy to be in fellowship with You. I know that it is by the blood of Your son Jesus Christ that You justify me, You allow me to be counted as Your child. Praise to You will always be on my lips. You make my heart leap with joy at Your goodness and love. May I always be a mirror of Your great love to the world around me.

Day 7

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.

—Colossians 1:3

Most people love the darkness and hate the light. We can hide our sins in the darkness. We think that nobody sees the hidden sins. When we are in the darkness, we feel emboldened to do things that we would be ashamed to do in the light. Evildoers find great comfort in being in the dark. Being in the light will help us to grow deeper in God's love; we will realize we cannot hide in the light, and we will not want to hide. The light will strengthen us, and it will warm our heart and feed our spirit.

*****

To my precious King, I want to always be basking in Your holy light. When I am in the darkness, I do things that I do not want to do, and I am ashamed. In Your light, I will dance and sing praises to You and will see how my will may not be aligned with Yours and will make the necessary adjustments. The light will allow me to see You, and I understand that You can see me. The light is where I want to be and where I want to stay always.

Day 8

It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.

—Ezekiel 17:8

True faith will bear fruit. This is not to be confused that our fruit is what saves us. Because we love God, we want to do good things and we long to bear fruit. Bearing fruit is not necessarily doing big things. Small acts of kindness can be an example of bearing fruit. Showing God's love is another way to bear fruit. Yes, giving all your money to God's work or giving up your job and becoming a missionary is a demonstration of bearing fruit, but do not discount the little things. Remember, not all fruits are watermelons.

*****

You, oh my Lord, are great. You have told me how important it is to bear fruit and You told me that the world will know me by my fruit. I realize that You have given me certain gifts and I need to use them for Your glory. I am also aware that there are certain gifts that You have given to others but not to me. Just as everyone's gifts are different, I recognize that everyone's fruit is different. May You find the fruit of my works to be great sweetness in Your mouth.

Day 9

But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

—1 Peter 3:4

God knows your heart, all of your heart. We cannot hide any part of our heart from Him, even the parts that are not pretty. It can be frightening to think not only that God sees our actions but that He also knows our heart. Because God knows our heart, He can also heal our heart. He can push the evil away and He can erase any shame that resides in our heart. He can change our hearts from hate-filled and selfish hearts to loving, giving hearts—hearts for Him. This healing and changing will happen when you let God into your heart.

*****

My most holy God, I know that You created me and that You know me. You know that part of my heart is evil. Even though I often enjoy doing bad things, my soul longs to be good, to please You night and day. Help keep my thought pure and my deeds upright in your sight. I want to be Your servant, O Lord, the best servant that I can be. Even with that, I am not worthy to even gaze upon Your holy beauty.

Day 10

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it.

—Jeremiah 17:9

Do not trust yourself, your eyes, your heart, or even your intelligence. Satan is like a prowling lion looking for souls to devour, and he will use whatever measure that he can. We think we are smart enough to distinguish the works of Satan from the works of God. God has told us to test the spirits to see if they are of Him, and He even warned us that not all spirits are godly spirits. Satan is a deceiver, so study the Word and pray so that you will not be deceived.

*****

Dear God, I know that it is important to be in Your Word, for my own good. I must learn Your precepts to be able to protect myself from the evil one. Satan desires my soul, and he makes promises, but all of his promises are lies. Your promises are true, and I know that You will not fail. Remind me, O God, that I must shelter my soul in You. Only You and Your holy Word can keep me from the grasp of Satan. Keep me safe unto You, my God.

Day 11

And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.

—Acts 16:31

Do you ever wonder what heaven will be like? Sometimes we might think it is a bit presumptuous of us to even ponder heaven. Is thinking about heaven assuming that we will be there someday? Maybe hope is a better word. Well, as believers in Jesus Christ, we can boldly say that we are not presuming an eventual trip to heaven. We know that we will be there someday. How do we know this? It is in God's Word, if we declare with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved.

*****

My soul rejoices in You, my God! Through Your grace and the work of You holy Son, I am saved. I rest in the assurances of Your promises, for all Your words are true. I am living for You now here on earth, and someday soon I will be living with You eternally in heaven. The day I get to heaven is a day that my soul longs for almost daily.

Day 12

I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

—Job 23:12

I think many people do not acknowledge God because He is not the God they want. We have most probably heard people say, My god would not do that, even if it is in God's Word. The culture says that many of the things God condemns means God is wrong. To those of us who love the Lord know that God is not wrong, far from it. The culture represents Satan. Promiscuity is okay in the culture, killing the unborn is okay with the culture—the list is really too long for this page. All of this simply reflects that our God and our culture are not the same thing, and it is our God who will reign forever.

*****

O most holy one, You are my God! Your Word is my law. I will obey You because I love You. I do not care what others might say, what man's laws might say, or what the society might say. It is Your Word that will rule my life forever. All other words will fail, but Yours are forever true.

Day 13

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

—Psalm 118:88

Is suffering proof of God's existence? This is a question that has been circulating around theological and philosophical groups for years. Some people ask, if there is a loving God, how can there be so much evil, pain, and suffering in our world? It is important to remember that we are all fallen, unworthy sinners. Pain and suffering were brought into the world and remain in the world because of sin. Evil typically goes after the less evil people. Just look at Cain and Abel—Cain was evil, and Abel was innocent, yet it was Abel who got killed. God has a plan; we just do not understand it.

*****

Father God, Your Word is true. I know that You have only goodness planned for me. Your ways are not man's way; they are so much higher. I confess I do not understand Your methods. I am fully aware that I do not need to understand Your ways, I simply need to trust You. You are my God, and I am Your most humble and trusting servant. Do with me as you see fit, my holy King.

Day 14

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

—Proverbs 8:17

How relevant is God in your life? Perhaps a better way to phrase that question is: How relevant do you make God in your life? Are you a Sunday Morning Christian, only thinking of God while you are in church or at church activities? Or are you a Crisis Christian, calling out to God when you are in really big trouble and cannot see a way out? A true follower of Christ incorporates their faith into everything they say, think, and do. They don't just say prayers in the morning, at meals, and in the evening; they pray all day. They don't just worship on Sunday, they worship all day in song, word, and deed.

*****

O Lord, You are the very fabric of my life. Without You in my life, I would be totally lost, void of purpose or drive. This world is so wicked, and I cling to You for protection from the evil one. I love You more deeply every day as I study Your Word. I will sing Your praise today, tomorrow, and with my last breath and will sing Your praise forever in paradise.

Day 15

I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.

—John 8:24

You have no doubt heard the expression, You cannot take it with you. We are taught that we take nothing with us when we die, but this is not completely accurate. The one and only thing you take with you from this world after you die is the result of your decision, the decisions you made while you were here on earth, the decision whether to follow Christ or follow the world. This decision has huge consequences and, once you have died, is irreversible. Failing to decide is a decision to follow the world. Do