Psalm 56-58

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

There's such an excitement in this psalm. I've been thinking how I lack this energy in my walk with Jesus so often. I need to wake up and take hold of his great promise.

How we all need fresh revelation of God in his rightful place each day so it'll stir us to just worship him for who he is. So it'll make us cry out, "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth."

Ezekiel 47-48, Daniel 1

But Daniel resolved not the defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way...At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.

Daniel and his three friends were taken to Babylon and were being trained in order to enter the king's service. They were young men who were from Israelite royal family and the nobility.

This account tells us that Daniel along with his three friends refused to eat the food that were offered to idols. As a young man, Daniel must have had such a healthy appetite. Yet he resolved not to defile himself. He chose to obey God by keeping himself holy physically and spiritually. I know, as Christians living in this fallen world, it is so easy to compromise with worldly philosophies and practices. But we know that those things are so empty and meaningless and can never satisfy us in any way.

Let us hear God's voice telling us to be set apart for him so that he may cause us to be a blessing like Daniel.

Psalm 47-52

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Just as David needed God's forgiveness and restoration after he sinned against God, let us ask God to renew our spirit this day and to go on with the Lord.

Ezekiel 42-44

"The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin. They may serve in my sanctuary...But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the house of Israel fall into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign LORD. They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices..."

"But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign LORD. They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and perform my service."

I always thought consequences of sin are something physical such as illness, poverty, death, etc. However, the passage describes them as something a lot more painful and horrible. It is the separation from God, from his presence. Being in his presence is a wonderful privilege we shouldn't take for granted.

It is shocking to hear God saying he will still allow sinners to serve him but not to come near and be in his holy presence. It is scary to think that such people exist in churches today. They may seem to be godly and serving God yet they are idol worshipers. And they can go on living like that fooling themselves and others, but God searches and knows our hearts.

Do we think everything is okay just because we are serving at church every Sunday? Let us examine our hearts this day and ask God to get rid of anything that hinders us from being in God's presence. Let us be the faithful servants God desires to come near him.

Psalm 37-41

Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. The are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.

Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me. May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!" be appalled at their own shame. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!"

Yet I am poor and needy; may the LORD think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do no delay.

David wrote so many of these psalms with much sense of urgency. I was reminded from this passage that as a christian living in this fallen world, I should be praying always with a sense of urgency. I believe many of us have a tendency to get way too comfortable with our lives. Are we aware that troubles without numbers surround us at any moment? We are living in the midst of a spiritual warfare. And even though most of us will not experience being in an actual battlefield, we do have enemies that are bent on killing the spirit of joy we have in Christ at every moment and around every corner.

I can only say this for myself, but I don't spend most of my day rejoicing in the Lord. A little complaint here and a little complaint there. A little sighing here and there. They are usually very subtle things that I've come to expect as being a normal way to live. A normal reaction to life. Nothing really wrong with them.

But that is not the way we are to live. We can be full of joy in Christ because he has revealed to us his love and his truth. But we must be fully aware of the "troubles without number" that surround us. There is never a moment when we don't need the Lord. We are poor and needy.

So let's keep our eyes upon the Lord, and make seeking the Lord be the utmost desire of our hearts this day.

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!"

Ezekiel 37-39

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. When I have brought them back from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declared the Sovereign LORD."

During youth and EM service yesterday, God asked me what my desire is. 'What is the utmost desire of your heart? Can you truly say all you need and want is me?' I had to examine my heart. The truth is that I've been desiring other things more than God. I realize how much I want to have nice things and take pleasure in relationships. God is not pleased with that. He wants us to love and desire him more than anything and anyone.

This passage once again talks about how God is going to restore the Israelites because he loves them so much. Again and again he tells them to come back to him. I think God is telling us the same message. Let us turn from our idols and make God our first love.