One Day in Your Courtyards

Trip Kimball
God's Word, Psalms Devos_Studies, Personal Faith

The tent (or tabernacle) during the time of Moses, and later the temple King Solomon built, represented the dwelling place of God on earth. Moses was told to build the tent (tabernacle) according to the pattern God gave him (Heb 8:5).

When the people of Israel traveled through the desert wilderness and then into the Promised Land, the tent of God's presence was a place of strength and security for them. It reminded God's people that their God was a living God, present with them, and His protection was more powerful than any army on earth.

You Are Gods

Trip Kimball
God's Word, Psalms Devos_Studies, Leadership

A verse from this psalm is quoted by Jesus when confronted by Jewish leaders about His statement of being one with the Father (John 10:30-33).

Jesus said to them, “Don’t your Scriptures say, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? (John 10:34)

This causes confusion for some people because of a lack of context for understanding it.

I Will Remember

Trip Kimball
God's Word, Psalms Devos_Studies, Personal Faith

It's easy to blame God when things are not going well. We pray and it seems our prayers are going up into an empty sky. Questioning God when He seems far away is common and this psalm echoes that.

A great beauty of the psalms is the open, honest expression of prayer seen throughout the collection of 150 songs of prayer and praise. Sometimes the honesty is surprisingly raw, and it may make us feel uncomfortable when we read them.

A Time for Judgment

Trip Kimball
God's Word, Psalms Devos_Studies, Personal Faith

People have a penchant for judgment. This is true worldwide. We are quick to judge or condemn someone as guilty or wrong. You and me, we all do it at some point.

We look for someone or something to blame when something goes wrong. We are especially quick to accuse or find fault with those who disagree with us or have a different view of things.

Yet, when we are accused, blamed, or condemned, we're quick to claim our own innocence or at least justify ourselves in some way. When our wrong becomes clear, we'll quickly plead for mercy. And yet, we have a hard time extending mercy and forgiveness to those who seek it.

Slippery Places

Trip Kimball
God's Word, Psalms Devos_Studies, Personal Faith

Jealousy is called "the green-eyed monster." The expression was coined by Shakespeare but the emotion has existed since the first humans on earth.

Jealousy or envy includes a range of emotions, all of which bring a sickness of the soul. Left unchecked it breeds greed and lust that are akin to idolatry (Eph 5:5; Col 3:5).

It is a destructive feeling and has no upside. Adam and Eve believed the serpent's lie because they thought God was holding back something good (Gen 3:4-6). Today we characterize it as FOMO—the fear of missing out.

May All Kings Worship Him

Trip Kimball
God's Word, Psalms Devos_Studies, Personal Faith

King Solomon was a great king of Israel. He inherited a united kingdom that endured great struggles before he became king. His father, King David, was given a promise that looked ahead to the coming of the Messiah and an eternal kingdom (2 Sam 7:12-16).

God gave King Solomon great wisdom, along with great blessings. Solomon understood that the Kingdom of Israel was God's kingdom, not his own. This psalm reflects that insight.

You Know

Trip Kimball
Psalms Devos_Studies, Personal Faith, God's Word

Sound bites reign in this day and age. For the most part, sound bites are quotes yanked our of a larger context. They're truncated thoughts disconnected from a whole sentence, conversation, or speech. These brief expressions often give a distorted sense of all that was said.

We all blurt out things we later regret or need to explain, and some of us do this more than others, especially when we allow our emotions or passions drive us.

Save Me, Oh God!

Trip Kimball
God's Word, Psalms Devos_Studies, Personal Faith

We all deal with despair—a sense of hopelessness—from time to time. At times the dark hole of despair may seem inescapable for some of us. Even when someone else's despair appears deeper and darker than our own, we can relate.

The depth of emotion in the Psalms captures great heights of joy and disorienting depths of despair. They paint a picture with words we can all relate to at different times in our life.

This is God's design. His intention. David and other psalmists express for us the heights and depths and in-betweens of life.

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