Daily Devotionals

Read Revelation 21:4; 22:3, 5

What gives a widow courage as she stands beside a fresh grave?

What is the ultimate hope of the disabled, the amputee, the abused, the burn victim?

How can the parents of children who have brain damage or physical handicaps keep from living their entire lives totally and completely depressed?

Why would anyone who is blind or deaf or paralyzed be encouraged when he or she thinks of the life beyond?

How can we see past the martyrdom of some helpless hostage or devoted missionary?

Psalm 27:7–12

While David’s first response to fear wasn’t a panicked plea for help, he didn’t live in denial. He merely chose to celebrate God’s power to recall His past triumphs. Eventually, however, David did ask the Lord for what he needed. No longer panicked, he expressed his desires with intense emotion.

Psalm 27:4–6

When fear has us in its icy grip, we quickly turn toward self-preservation. We hope to avoid loss, escape pain, or cheat death. Not David! His composition, preserved for us as Psalm 27, gives priority to eternal matters. Verses 4–6 revolve around the idea of David’s desire to maintain constant, intimate fellowship with his Lord.

Psalm 27:1–3

As David faced his fears and expressed them to God in Psalm 27, he began with worship, celebrating the power and faithfulness of his God.

Declaration of Praise

The key to the entire song is verse 1. It consists of two similar sentences, each ending with a rhetorical question.

Psalm 27:1–14

Psalm 26:9–12

As David concludes his song about the grinding pain of unjust treatment and his chosen responses, he then commits to patience.

    1. Resolved: I will patiently stand and wait for relief (vv. 9–12)

Psalm 26:8

David's prayer for protection while enduring mistreatment didn't merely ask God for help; the king's song included a commitment on his part.

    1. Resolved: I will be faithful in public worship (v. 8)

O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house
And the place where Your glory dwells.

Psalm 26:4–7

King David knew the sting of unjust treatment as keenly as anyone in history. To keep mistreatment from undermining his relationship with God, he put some resolutions into a song. Having committed to remaining open before the Lord and to remembering His love, David committed to letting God be the judge of others' sin.

    1. Resolved: I will refuse the temptation to get even (vv. 4–5)

Psalm 26:2-3

As David endured unfair treatment despite his doing what was right, He cried out to God in the verses of Psalm 26. As we read his anguished lyrics, we will uncover some resolutions David made which kept him (and will keep us) from slipping into bitterness and resentment during times of mistreatment.

Psalm 26:1

If I were asked to give a popular title to Psalm 26, it would be: "How to Do Right When You've Been Done Wrong."