UPDATEDToday’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by then (2013) staff of Remnant Westside Church in Manhattan, was first posted on September 25, 2013. It has been updated.
Devotional Thought for This Morning
“Man’s Finiteness and God’s Holiness”
Psalm 90:3-12
You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. 7 For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90 continues with a contemplation of the frailty and limitedness of man. In comparison to the eternal nature of God, the writer exclaims that we experience only 70 or 80 years of life. Even our toils and troubles dissipate in time. For the psalmist, this leads him closer to God rather than away from him. Man’s finiteness and God’s holiness that provokes his wrath when men persist in sin should cause us to seek the wisdom of the Lord.
The Word tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Here, in this Psalm, we see how we are powerless before God. We are limited, but He is eternal and infinite. Gaining wisdom involves both the consideration of God’s power, anger, and wrath, as well as asking God to teach us wisdom.
As God’s creation, we should desire to walk rightly before our Creator. God is to be feared because we do not control Him or dictate who He is. So, this morning, let us consider what it means for us to fear the Lord and ask God for wisdom to walk rightly before Him. As it says in James, if we lack wisdom, we should ask for it.
Prayer: One glimpse of you, Jesus, is better than seeing anything the world has to offer. You fulfill my expectations with your goodness and precious love, and my heart and soul are filled with your Spirit. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Revelation 11
Lunch Break Study
Read Philippians 4:4-7: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Questions to Consider
- What is this passage really about?
- Based on this passage, what are some synonyms for prayer?
- How is your prayer life? What are some practical ways for you to grow your prayer life? Is there something today that you are particularly anxious about? What activities do you resort to when you’re stressed out? How far down the list is prayer?
Notes
- There’s a children’s praise song that goes like this: “I’ve got joy, down in my heart, deep deep down in my heart.” You can almost imagine that this is a song that is constantly on the heart of Paul as he exhorts the Philippians to rejoice! In the same breath, Paul mentions that being anxious is the opposite of being joyful.
- It’s interesting to note that there are many synonyms to prayers (supplication, thanksgiving, letting your requests be known to God). You could almost translate verse 6 as “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, pray and pray and pray and pray!”
- Pray
Evening Reflection
Luke 24:32: “They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’”
Dear God, I delight in your Word and my passion is to love you more. Every day, as I abide with you Jesus, my heart burns, for you are my awesome Advocate, and my Friend who is altogether lovely.
Let us cry out to God, so that your family, work, and ministry (small group, cell group, family group, etc.) would come alive.