April 1
Judges 1:1 to 3:6; 17:1-13
O my Father, my patient
Father, You have loved
April 2
Judges 18:1-31; Judges 3:7
to
Father, salvation is of You – it always has been.
And of course You know the hearts of men. You always have. You have seen the cycles of sin, rebellion,
repentance, and obedience, before we do them.
And yet You respond to repentance with
blessing, and to rebellion with discipline.
Father, I think You do this for two reasons:
It just seems so shocking
that the Danites would act so godless in everything
they do, and their words betray that they carry (in some manner) the knowledge
of You. Father,
please purge these inclinations from me.
You have filled my heart with Your Spirit. Please forgive me for allowing guests into my
heart that should not be welcome. Help
me crush all the idols from my life and serve You
alone. Amen.
April 3
Judges 5:1 to
My Lord, Your Spirit fills
my heart as my mind takes in Your Words.
The reading speaks strongly of Your patience;
or maybe a better word would be forbearance.
Even though Deborah herself appeared to have a clear understanding of
the roll of women and men, she knew in the absence of the obedience of men, God
will raise up women; but woe to the men who have
suppressed the faith given to them. And
since I have been among such men during my lifetime, I ask Your
forgiveness and deliverance from cowardice in spiritual battles. Your patience, Father, shines even brighter
in the account of Gideon. What a paradox
he is! I suppose any of us might have
significant apprehensions in the same situations, but he knew that it was You,
Lord, Who was speaking to him. He knew
but still seemed to lack trust. It is a
mystery to me but I suspect it should not be, considering how dull and
hard-hearted I can be at times. Forgive
my, my Father. Amen.
April 4
Judges 8:1 to
My Father, receive my
giving of thanks this day. Your mercy
saves us every day. You have made us to
be Your children through Jesus Christ. The cross teaches us so much about truth,
justice and mercy. This section of
reading is very sad, Father. The lessons
are good to learn, but they are sad lessons.
We learn once again how evil the hearts of men can be. And we learn once again that Your justice is righteous and certain, even if it is
delayed. These are good lessons for
those who learn them, because they are the ones that point us to the
cross. Only the sacrifice of Jesus can
remove the despair of our evil hearts exposed to the wrath of God. And this is why, Father, that the cross shows
us that Your wrath cannot be secluded from Your
love. Father, may Your
name and holiness be lifted this day in my heart. Fill me with Your Spirit, with love for
others, and the mind of Christ will be revealed this day. Amen.
April 5
Judges 10:1 to
Loving Father, Your
compassions are new every morning. I
love You. You
have forgiven me seven times seventy plus.
Only let me not be a repeat offender,
Lord. Strengthen me against the enemy
and protect me from the rising of my flesh.
There is no rock but You. I am not a rock. But if You plant my
heart firmly in Your truth, my foundation will endure the storms. The account of Jepthah
angers me as much as it saddens me because of his foolish vow. His speech to the Ammonite king seemed so
capable. He does not seem like one who
gives himself to foolish vows. It is
interesting that the name of Manoah’s wife is not
given. She must have been devout though,
because just like the Lord’s resurrection, the angel appeared to the woman
first. This reading, Father, speaks
mostly of Your patient heart that hurts for His
children when they suffer. Your grace
can only be explained by love and Your love is too
wonderful to comprehend; but I love that we have eternity to enjoy it. Be glorified, my Lord, this day. Amen.
April 6
Judges 19:1 to
Father in Heaven, the
account of the dismembered concubine and the brief but destructive war that
resulted is more shocking to me each time I read it. I am sure there are cultural issues that come
into play in this story, but there are certain things that are the same in all
cultures and the influence is the same.
Father, this account teaches me that when men distort the natural
sexuality of the body, it naturally follows that their entire worldview
regarding the value of life becomes distorted.
Murder and other unthinkable acts can become common place. Father, keep me from such loss of control,
regarding holy behavior. My wonderful
Shepherd, protect me from the wolves that may visit the flock, but also from
the wolves that may visit the heart.
Regardless of what men may think, we do not live in a vacuum. Our actions always have consequences, and
when our actions are evil the consequences will eventually and inevitably be
costly and undesirable. Thank You, my
Lord, for Your enduring mercy and limitless love. May all my actions glorify You
this day. Amen.
April 7
Judges 21:1-25; 1
Chronicles 6:4b-15; Ruth 1:1 to
My holy
Father, I praise Your Name. May all the
earth rise in praise to You this day. Hear my heart, dear Lord. You are worthy of all devotion – Your mercies
endure – Your justice is true – and Your salvation
flows from Your throne like a river.
Thank You, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Thank You, God. The reading today spans the entire gambit of
how wicked the hearts of men can be and how gracious they can be when
regenerated by You.
From the foolish vows and behavior of the men of
April 8
Ruth 3:1 to
Father, receive my
adoration this day. While daily
responsibilities compete for my immediate attention – while all of the wounds
of past failures are redressed and the scars of sin try to accuse; Father, may
I pause to rest in You and the finished work of Your
Son. Please forgive my sins and grant
wisdom to prioritize the demands of life in accordance with what is important
to You. There
is cleansing for my mind in the reading today.
After reading the last three months of corruption and chaos alongside
grace and faith, it is stunning to read back-to-back, the accounts of Ruth and
Hannah. Father, I could linger on
circumstances, tragedy, triumph, etc., but I would rather dwell on Your
Providence and Your Sovereign Grace. My
favorite words that I read today are, “the Lord remembered her.” Such is my prayer. Govern my heart, Lord. Amen.
April 9
1 Samuel 2:1-10; Psalms
113:1-9; 1 Samuel 11-21;
Judges 14:1 to
Father, I have read this
many times (about Samson’s apparent naiveties).
And each time I (like others) marvel at how he could be so stupid - so
easily duped. Today it has occurred to
me that I have failed so foolishly at times, even since my conversion; and most
of such times, if read about or viewed by the entire world; would cause the
world to say, “How could he be so stupid?
How could he be so easily duped?”
I am not attempting here to excuse Samson’s atrocious behavior nor do I
excuse mine. Only You
can justify, and You will only justify through Christ, the Just One. Nevertheless, Father, I am thinking: if when
reading such accounts in Your Word, should we not wonder at wickedness in
others a little less and wonder at wickedness in us a little more? And then I am convinced that the Holy Spirit
using the Word will lead us to repentance and the brokenness that eventually
comes to Samson. Amen.
April 10
Judges 16:23-31; 1 Samuel
Today, O Lord, from time
and space, from decay and suffering, will come many shouts of praise to You. Most however, will continue in their digression, moving about in
slumber and blindness – in their endless individualisms. Some will shake their fists toward
heaven. But most simply continue within
the snicker of evil birthed in the confidence of victory in steeling the next
breath – the next heartbeat from you, my Father. Occasionally, the fear will swell, but only
for a moment, because after all, life must go on. And so, the critical suppression of truth is
employed for the ten-thousandth time.
But Your Spirit still moves, and even when the cherubim that frame the
visitation of Your grace seem to have departed from
Your Temple; yet the lost and broken strays continue to be carried one at a
time back into Your flock. Father,
strengthen our arms, lead us to the pillars and consume us for the glory of Your purpose. Blessed
be the Name of the Lord! Amen.
April 11
1 Samuel 6:1 to
Father, this reading
reveals to me more strongly than any other reading just how undesirable
knowledge of Your holiness can be to people who have
no desire to surrender to Your Lordship.
The Philistines tried to appease You with gold
tumors and rats, but they tried to appease themselves by distancing themselves
from the symbol of grace that they could have learned from. Even Your own people wanted to distance
themselves from the
April 12
1 Samuel 10:1 TO
Father, the significance
of Saul’s early disobedience is sobering to me and I should visit with You about that. The
society that we live in is a high-tech, high-stress society – one that is given
to entertainment and competition.
Everything about our culture seems to breed impatience and
compromise. The breakdown of integrity
is acknowledged by all, except in one’s own self. Father, I have yielded myself too many times
to these darknesses, and conducted myself as if I was
the controller of my life. I know this
is sin and I know repentance is required or there can be no real peace in the
days of this life. Saul usurped the
duties of the priest, assuming that he merited access to You
by way of shortcut. In our way of life
in
April 13
1 Samuel 13:23 to 14:52; 1
Chronicles 8:1 to 9:1a
Wonderful father, I never
know about Jonathan’s headstrong ways.
He seems so foolish, and yet there is so much recorded about his faith
in You. He
apparently just can’t stand everyone hiding and trembling – not God’s
people. Perhaps he figures it is better
to die in surrender to God than to live in surrender to the enemy. Father, may this concept find spiritual
application in my heart, for I desire to never give over to the enemy, no
matter how weak or outnumbered I feel. I
also marvel at the faithfulness of Jonathan’s armor-bearer. I am sure the primary objective of his
faithfulness was Jonathan but there are indicators that he also trusted in You,
Jonathan’s God. And even if he thought
it was suicide, he considered his identity inseparable from his duty to
Jonathan even to death. Such lessons as
these, Father, belong in the heart of the Christian – to be completely
surrendered to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen.
April 14
1 Chronicles 9:35-44;
5:7-10;
Lord of my heart – Lord
Almighty – Father of the redeemed, may Your Name be
praised. You are exalted beyond the
heavens. All that You
are is true and holy. You gave the Amalekites every possible chance to repent, but they were a
constant affliction to Your people and showed no mercy
to the weakest ones. You instructed Saul
to kill everything that breathes and everything that does not breathe. You told him to destroy everything. But he did not. He kept the best of everything and his excuse
was religious reasons. How this must
anger You and break Your heart. Father, is it not exactly the same with
sin? Isn’t this literal account also
intended for an allegorical lesson regarding sin and repentance? You have not called us to partial
repentance. You have instructed us to
destroy everything. Forgive me, Father -
far too often the possessions of the Amalekites have
been allowed in my camp. Father, thank You for grace.
Amen.
April 15
1 Samuel 17:1-58; Psalm
144:1-15
Wonderful Savior, I am
thinking again today of how You protect me from the
enemy of my soul. You know the
inclinations of my flesh and You know that I am
outmanned and outgunned. Like David
coming against Goliath in an impossible situation by man’s estimation, Father,
I claim the Name of the Lord Almighty.
David deplored the disgrace incurred by
April 16
1 Samuel 18:1 to
Glorious Lord – Holy
Father, Your Word amazes me everyday.
The layers of depth and truth challenge me to seek You
– to want You – to love You – to know You.
Father, it seems to me that You must have felt
much love for Saul. Rather than leave
him peacefully in sin, You ministered to him in a way
that left him terribly unsettled, and yet he was so committed to himself and to
his sinful ways that he refused to turn.
The gift of repentance was made available to him but he would not
acquire it. Father, may my heart never
harden and cease to be responsive to Your
chastisement. May my love for You be well-plowed, nourished, and seeded for You; and bring
forth fruit for Your kingdom. You knew
what Saul’s reaction would be, but Your love is never
restricted by foreknowledge. O Lord, may the love of David and Jonathan be the love of
those in the body of Christ; and may those considering a relationship with You,
see it and know that it is good. Amen.
April 17
Psalm 5:1-12; Psalm
59:1-17; Psalm 133:1-3; 1 Samuel 21:1-15;
Psalm 34:1-22; 1 Samuel
22:1-5; 1 Chronicles 12:8-18
O great Deliverer –
wonderful Strength of David, blessed be Your Name. Such heartbreaking things are going on with
David, but all of it seems to be forging him into Your
man. His recorded poetic prayers to You indicate that his loftiest thoughts are of You. He is full of Your Spirit and his soul is
overcome with songs of praise and petition.
And he clearly desires others to know You as
the only Source of strength and deliverance.
Many times his prayers are imprecatory, but his actions that followed
such prayers indicated no hatred for his enemies whatsoever. Father, anoint my tongue, as well as my pen
hand. Anoint my heart, as well as my
mind. May all the issues of my soul be
revealed as glorification of You and Your gracious and
mighty works. Even as my faculties begin
to dim and my days on earth wind down; Lord, may all who come around me
encounter an overwhelming draw to Your mercy. Amen.
April 18
1 Samuel 22:6-23; Psalm
52:1-9; Psalm 109:1-31; 1 Samuel 23:1-29
My Father in Heaven, the
reading today reminds me of the emotions and twists and turns of watching a
movie. We watch and we judge the
characters. We employ standards of right
and wrong that actually are written in our hearts. Problem is: we violate those standards
ourselves. But who will judge us? We won’t.
Father, we are so quick to exempt ourselves from the standards we impose
on others. I find that all the
characters in this reading have serious problems. Even the most devout of them, David, admits himself that he knowingly caused the death of the
priests of Nob.
But Father, what seems to elude us is that these characters should not
be a movie screen of defendants that we judge, as much as a mirror that shows
us our own wretched condition. Such
knowledge breaks the proud and brings him empty and helpless to a merciful
Father full of grace and truth; Who saves and makes
all things new. Thank You. Amen.
April 19
Psalm 13:1-6; 17:1-15;
22:1-31; 1 Samuel 24:1-22
How long, O Lord? This was the cry of David when he was in so
much distress from the relentless pursuit of Saul. It seemed only a matter of time and yet David
believed – he believed You, Father. And
his heart reached Your heart. Even though sin would be exposed in him, his
sincere cries and his diligent seeking of You, Father, truly touched You. Indeed, Your
Spirit inspired his words and showed us in such vivid terms Your
salvation through the cross, through Your Son.
Father, may I see such salvation today.
May I know such deliverance today. The forces that oppose You
and regard You foolishly, also seek to discredit You somehow by discrediting me. But who am I?
Your victory rises regardless. It
is not bound by my actions. Lord, may
the enemies of my soul know that I walk by Your
strength, not mine. In fact, may all
know that Your hand covers me and that even in my most spiritually clumsy times,
I will not fall because You lift me and sustain me. Amen.
April 20
Psalm 7:1-17; 35:1-28;
57:1-11; 142:1-7
My Savior Father, these
Psalms are so filled with exhilaration, even as David seems to dip his head at
times regarding his troubles and his enemies.
David never is far from reminding his heart of Your
awesomeness, Your goodness, and Your mercy.
He constantly appeals to and then affirms Your
protection. Even though we know that
David is in physical distress in these Psalms, we often find him praying for
his spiritual well-being. This is
evident in Psalms 35:3. He speaks of
spear and javelin as Your weapons and then he
petitions You with the cry that should be the cry of every soul in every
age. “Say to my soul, ‘I am your
salvation.’” No wonder the word “Jesus”
means The Salvation of the Lord. This is my cry to You, Lord. The cry of my life. I may call to You to spread Your wings over
me, Your nets around me, Your protection and support beneath me, but in the end
there is only one petition that matters.
Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
Thank You, Jesus. Amen.
April 21
1 Samuel 25:1-44; Psalm
18:1-50
Almighty God, what
wonderful love it is that You are my Father. What wonderful mercy that Your Son would so
empty Himself to enter space and time and become flesh. Even before creation, Your
intra-Triune covenant began Your death to rescue the lost – to rescue me. My righteousness fails, but Yours prevails. My
hands are decayed with corruption, but You give me
Yours – Your clean hands. My heart was
that heart of stone – black stone, but Your purity is
imputed to me by faith and You transplant with a heart of flesh. Praise be to Father
– to Son – to Holy Spirit. So many times
I have stumbled, but Your mercy reaches farther and endures
longer than my defeats. And that is why
I know that no matter what happens today; in the morning I will be found
standing once again, solidly on the Rock.
That Rock is Christ! And I love
Him! Amen.
April 22
2 Samuel 22:1-51; Psalm
14:1-7, 53:1-6; 1 Samuel 26:1-25
Our Father, even now I
rejoice and I am glad because of Your salvation to
come out of
April 23
Psalm 31:1-24; 1 Samuel
27:1-12; 1 Chronicles 12:1-7;
Psalm 56:1-13; 1 Samuel
28:1-2; 1 Samuel 29:1-11;
1 Chronicles
My Lord, I wonder at how
weary David must have been when he went to the Philistines. He must have been very tired of running from
Saul. He got Saul off his back, but he
also seems to have drawn considerable negative attention from Achish’s rulers. His
Psalms reveal a man who is very tired at times, stressed at times, and
downright afraid at times. He admits
these things, but he always includes “but” or “when.” In Psalm 40 he says, “When I am afraid I will
trust in You.” He always endeavored to give himself over to Your mercy. As an
autonomous individual, he understood his bankruptcy. All life, all confidence, all hope is in You and You alone.
You are David’s Rock, You are the Word he trusted, and You are the Rescuer that he praised. There seems to be much that is negative in
many of his actions, and yet he seems to always know and affirm Who his Redeemer is.
Father, be praised in all I do and say today. Amen.
April 24
Psalm 69:1-36; 86:1-17;
131:1-3; 1 Samuel 28:3-25
My God, my Lord, You are
all-knowing, all-present, and all-powerful.
This is why it is so awesome that You are
all-loving and all-holy and all-righteous.
In fact, all of these things speak of Your
holiness. Father, I know the first three
cannot be transmuted to Your creation, but You have
made it possible through Your Son on the cross and through raising Him from the
dead, that the fallen sons of men might have the last three. Your mercy endures forever. These Psalms are like precious metals with priceless
jewels mounted within them. So many prophetic utterances, so many revealing deviations, so many
profoundly humbling truths. These
were written by a Spirit-inspired, fallen-but-redeemed man and we should keep
that in our minds. It would also do us
well to join with David, affirming, “I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.” To do
so, Lord, might steal the simple joy of dancing before You. Amen.
April 25
1 Samuel 30:1 to 31:13; 1
Chronicles 10:1-4; 2 Samuel 4:4; 1:1-27
My Father, the reading
today spans an array of emotions. I felt
deeply the comparison between the armour-bearer of
Saul and the Amalekite who foolishly lied to David
about killing Saul. While suicide is not
to be condoned, I still felt much respect for the armour-bearer
who had much fear regarding that which should be feared. Father, our culture today does not foster
respectful of reverent behavior toward elders or toward You. Even within churches today the norm is to
adopt a casual attitude toward You. That grieves me, Father, because even though You have opened access to You through Jesus Christ in the
most intimate way, the fact never ceases: it is still Your kingdom, Your power,
Your glory forever. My Lord, Your
majesty will never cease to be awesome beyond words – and awesome is not
casual. It is natural to react initially
with fear and trembling in Your presence. But it is wonderfully supernatural to rise in
peaceful bliss when You gently pick us up and say, “Do
not be afraid.” Amen.
April 26
2 Samuel 2:1 to 3:5; 1
Chronicles 3:1-4a; 2 Samuel 3:6 to 4:3;
2 Samuel 4:5 to 5:5; 1
Chronicles 11:1-3
Father in heaven, may Your
Name be regarded as holy, and may it begin in this heart in this room. I am reminded this day of those attributes of
Yours that are transmutable and I call to You, Lord
for the creation of a clean heart. May
that heart be so passionate for You that my mind
refuses to entertain the unseemly. My
Father – my Awesome God and Redeemer, in the Name of Jesus, be exalted O Lord;
be praised and blessed in every moment – in every action – in every
thought. When I think of the people that
I have read of in Your Word today, I marvel at the complexity of the human soul
– not complex because of You so much as complex
because of war waged in the depths of each person. And I am reminded as I read, and as I live,
that victory is available; but only from You, and only
through our Lord Jesus Christ. I declare
Your glory, Father!
Amen!
April 27
1 Chronicles
My merciful God, my loving
Father, it is all here! All of the
triumph and tragedy, all of the success and failure, all of the devotion and
apostasy, all of the teaching and rejection (of generations); and there, rising
in the midst of it all is God’s mercy.
We are not a quick people, Father; we are dull. Lord, it is no stretch at all to contemporize
this reading in a very personal way. And
I weep when I read, but I finish with rejoicing, because even through all of
the sadness of how we conduct ourselves toward You, I see two things emerge
with great power; reminding me of Your great purpose. First, I see how Psalm 78 ends and I am
reminded of what You have promised for the future
regarding David’s throne. Second, I read
in the 2nd Psalm “I have installed My King on
April 28
Psalm 16:1-11; 2 Samuel
5:6-10; 1 Chronicles 11:4-9;
2 Samuel 5:17-21; 1
Chronicles 14:8-12; 2 Samuel 23:13-17;
1 Chronicles 11:15-19; 2
Samuel 5:22-25; 1 Chronicles 14:13-17;
2 Samuel 5:11-12; 1
Chronicles 14:1-2; 1 Chronicles 13:1-14;
2 Samuel 6:1-11; Psalm
101:1-8
Father, it seems that the
two Psalms that encase today’s reading are quite different. David wrote both and You
are referred to in both. One (Psalm 16)
is nearly all about You; the other nearly all about
David. In Psalm 16 David is wholly given
to praise of You and acknowledgment of Your
sovereignty. The second one (Psalm 101)
is all about personal commitment. One
looks into the mirror and expresses promises that we know will ultimately be
broken; but the other looks beyond the mirror to the One Who holds in His hands
the person, David, (and the mirror).
Wonderful Father, I believe the first of these demonstrates the higher
virtue in our relationship to You – the virtue of
submission. Commitment is truly a high
virtue, but I know from David’s life (and my own), it does not necessarily
produce obedience. On the other hand,
obedience just naturally follows when one submits in praise to You. Commitment
(Psalm 101) appears to be more self-focused, but praise is more
God-focused. And ultimately, praise –
this abandonment of self-attention – produces a truly committed – truly
surrendered individual who simply obeys without analysis or pre-approval. And so, Father, be glorified and hallowed
this day. Amen.
April 29
2 Samuel 6:12-23; 1
Chronicles 15:1 to
My Lord, this reading has
a sober side to it and a joyous side, but there is always reverence – except
perhaps in the heart of Michal. She seems so sadly pathetic. Father, I don’t completely understand what
came over Michal, but I think I have seen this
attitude before in others – maybe even some in my own heart. Father, purify my mind and heart, as well as
those around me, that we might always have gracious thoughts toward those who
rejoice in You.
Indeed, Lord, I pray we all join with those who are rejoicing. May we all become a community with our union
in Christ and the worship of You. Praise the Lord! The Lord reigns and He is good! Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Father, I don’t know that David was all that
good of an administrator directly, but it seems he knew how to surround himself
with strong managers and skilled organizers.
And David knew much about worship and ascriptions of praise. Thank You, Father, for such inspired leaders,
then and today. Amen.
April 30
Psalm 24:1-10; 65:1-13;
68:1-35; 110:1-7; 19:1-14;
2 Samuel 8:1; 1 Chronicles
18:1; 2 Samuel 21:15-18;
1 Chronicles 20:4
The Lord Almighty, God our
Savior, You are the King of Glory.
Jesus, You have ascended the hill of the Lord –
You dwell in the
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2007 C. E. Briggs