June 15 – Psalm 86

June 15 – Psalm 86

Dear Father, we come before You in praise and with thanksgiving for You give us our ‘But God’ moments. You orchestrate our lives for Your glory. May we in our quiet time recognize You for who You are: our Lord God, the God of Israel.

First, do your own quiet time and 4R journaling.  When you are completed, come back here for the lesson.

Request Gods’ help

Read  Psalm 86

Record a verse that stands out to you

Respond to God

This Psalm is perfectly titled, “Great is Your Steadfast Love.”  Over and over David is remembering that God is steadfast in His love, and he is solidly sure of it.  Where does his assuredness come from that brings him to his own ‘but God’ moment (verse 15)?

Take some time to list out what you see in these verses.  I will start:  In verse 8, there is acknowledgement that no one is like Him.  Then, in verse 12, he gives thanks with his whole heart, not just part of it.  What else do you see?

In my trials and my darkest days, it is good for me to lay out all that God is and all He has shown of himself to me already. And I have the right as His child to plead my case, to ask for His attention and to praise Him.  David shows us how it’s done.  In verse 1, he asks God to listen and answer him, and then gives Him evidence as to why. He is telling God that he is walking in His ways thus asking Him to preserve Him.  He trusts God to save him, His servant.  And in verse 7, he states that God does in fact answer Him.  He is so sure. We can break it into some tidy groups here. In verses 1-7 he is requesting God’s attention. In verses 8-13, he is testifying to who God is and in verses 14-17 he is asking, pleading, for God to rescue him from his plight.  There is such strong faith and trust in these verses.

The key verse in this line of thought is verse 11.  David prays for God to teach him His ways.  David wants to live a life that is pleasing to God, a life that is as godlike as possible.  Because he wants to BE God? No, because he wants to walk in the truth of God so that he can be united with Him.  What a statement.  What a life choice. When we desire a life that closely resembles God, we know for certain His love is steadfast and true.

I can picture David remembering back to Moses as he interceded for his people, as he is now interceding on behalf of himself.  He remembered that God was steadfast then, thus He is steadfast in his now.  When we realize just how big God is, we have the courage, strength, and know how to ask the big things and to ask with big faith.  When we take the time to remember who and what God is, we can start to take comfort in His faithfulness in it and we will know for certainty that God will be in our corner.

“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O Lord.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

Psalm 36:5-7

(Further Reading: Numbers 14; Romans 7:15; James 1:5-18)

O God so merciful, we praise You for You are steadfast.  In You we find refuge, in You we find rest.

What’s next?

As the Spirit leads, in the comment section below, share what He has laid on your heart.

Then join us again tomorrow for the next commentary.

My Verse: Psalm 86:15, “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”