Devotional Hours Within the Bible

"The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" Jeremiah 17:9

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." Psalms 139:23-24

It takes courage to pray this prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart!" Not...

Psalms 139:17-18

"How precious also are your thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with you!"

We like to know that people are thinking about us. Even a postal card coming in the mail some morning from a friend far away, saying only, "I am thinking of you," brings you a strange uplift. You were sick...

Psalms 122:1-2

"I rejoiced with those who said to me - Let us go to the house of the LORD! Our feet shall stand within your gates, O Jerusalem."

The title of this Psalm is suggestive. It is called a Song of Ascents. Whatever the origin of the title may have been, it is pleasant to think of a true life - as a series of...

Psalms 121:1-2

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains; where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."

"I will lift up my eyes." We ought to train ourselves to look up. We grow in the direction, in which our eyes turn. We become like that on which we look much and intently. We were made to look up. Man's upright form indicates this. The Greek word for man...

Psalms 118:22-23

"The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes."

There is a strange Jewish legend of a stone that was originally meant for an important place in the building, but was misunderstood and rejected. It is said that when Solomon's temple was building, all the stones were brought from the quarry, cut and shaped ready for the...

Psalms 110:3

"Your people shall be willing - on Your day of battle. Arrayed in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the dawn, you have the dew of your youth ."

"In that day of battle, your people will serve you willingly. Arrayed in holy garments, your vigor will be renewed each day like the morning dew." (NLT)

The "Your day of battle" means the time when the king's hosts are set in order for...

Psalms 107:2

"Let the redeemed of the LORD say so!"

There is a duly of keeping silent. There are times when we would better not say anything. There come thoughts and feelings into our hearts, which we would better not speak out. There are moments when silence is golden. But there is also a duty of speech. God has given us our tongues to be used. The...

Psalms 103:2

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits!"

Every part of our being should join in praising God. The song of praise we sing - should not be a solo, a duet, or even a quartet - but a full chorus, the feelings, the affections, the mental powers, the tastes, the desires - all mingling in harmony and praise. There are some who praise with their voices - but not with their

Psalms 103:1

"Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name!"

These is not a single sad note in all this Psalm - it is all joy. There is not a sentence of petition in the Psalm - it is all praise. And have you noticed that there are in the Bible very many more calls to praise - than to prayer...

Psalms 97:11

"Light is sown for the righteous; and gladness for the upright in heart."

LIGHT is one of the commonest words in the Bible. It means cheer, joy, life; whatever is bright and beautiful. Christ is light. We are to walk in the light of holiness. We are to shine as lights. Light is promised in all our darkness -...

Psalms 90:12

"Teach us to number our days aright - that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

"They are slipping away - these sweet, swift years;Like a leaf on the current cast,With never a break in the rapid flow;We watch them as one by one they goInto the beautiful past."

What have we put upon the little white pages of the days of...

Psalms 90:1

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations!"

We might translate it thus: "Lord, you have been our home in all generations!" Almost the sweetest of all words, is home. Home is the place of love, where love is at its best. It is the place of confidence. We do not have to be always on our...

Psalms 84:1-2

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God!"

"You must have the bird in your eye - before you can find it in the bush." One who has no love for flowers, will walk through fields and gardens filled with flowers and never see one of them. One who has...

Psalms 72:1-2

"Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice."

In the seventy-second Psalm, we have a wonderful description of the ideal king. "The historical occasion of the Psalm is to be kept in mind. A human monarch stands in the foreground; but the aspirations expressed are so far beyond...