Psalm 115:1-3 “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” The world that does not believe in God spends a lot of time seeking to put Him in a box of their own making. Yet our God cannot and will not be restricted by the opinion of any men no matter their rank or status. We should never be drawn into the boundaries of man’s opinions. Today let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God the Lord! At the same time let us place our confidence in God as He works all things out according to His will.

Psalm 82:3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy Yet as children of God we are called upon to look outside ourselves and see the needs of others. Then move to meet those needs in a Christ-like manner. We all have our own troubles, difficulties and challenges. Yet we need to be reminded that the world does not revolve around ourselves. It needs to revolve around God’s will for our life. As we go through this week let us ask God to open our eyes and heart to see the needs of others. Then seek the needs we can meet within the plan of our God for each of our lives.

Psalm 44:6-8 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah. When faced with the opposition to Gods’ will the writer of Psalm 44 clearly defines his response. First in what he will not do. He will not rest in his ability to use the bow or the sword. In order to do what is right you have to choose to not do what is wrong. Relying upon ourselves as the source of our strength is always wrong! Second, he places all his dependence upon God. It was not that he would never use his bow or sword. But all that he did flowed from this complete surrender of dependence. Thirdly he chose to praise God! Not for what did but for who He is! When we face opposition to God’s plan let us follow this three step plan. Today let us abandon our self-reliance, place our dependence upon Him, and praise Him for who He is! This will assure that when things around us go wrong we will keep going in the right direction!

Psalm 13:4-5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. Have you ever had a really bad day? When you wondered what in the world was going to happen next? Psalm 13 begins by describing such a day. Then the heart of the writer ends by focusing on God’s mercy, salvation and provision. Today, as we face the challenges that can throw us for a loop let us discipline our heart to think rightly about God. Let us remind ourselves of all that God has done in the past and place our confidence in Him to do what is right when our life is going in the “wrong” direction!

Job 31:6 “Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.” We know from chapters one and two that Job did not claim to be perfect. Yet in our verse for today Job, in response to the false accusation of His friends, does claim to be a person of integrity. Integrity has been described as the inward condition of doing what is right when the only one who sees you is God! Are we being men and women of integrity? No matter what else is happening around us, are we maintaining our walk with God in areas within our life that no one else sees. Today, let us examine the focus of our minds, the condition of our hearts and the disposition of our spirit. Let us confess what needs to be forsaken and commit to walk with God in all areas of our life. Especially those areas that no one else sees!