Daily Devotional for Sunday, August 11

The Rejection and Request

“O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again,” Psalm 60:1.

I was first introduced to the idea of praying the Psalms by Donald Whitney in his little book Praying the Bible. Although this book does not focus solely on the Psalms, it does spend extensive time in the Psalms, teaching me how to pray them. Since then, many others have taught me the value of praying the Psalms, something I do now every Sunday at the opening of our church services.

Praying the Psalms gives voice to our concerns. Our passage today speaks of God scattering His people because of His displeasure with them. It speaks of being cut off from the blessings and help of God. It requests God to turn and to look at His people again with favor. In modern terms, David prayed for revival and an awakening from the hand of God.

We all feel the need for revival in our country. We all see the great sin and turning from God. We all sense a great rejection of God from the poorest to the richest within our country. This psalm not only teaches us that we should pray for revival, but it also gives us a voice and words to pray for God to act in our land.

Pray this psalm. Although the situation of Psalm 60 is not the same as our situation, there is enough similarity that we can pray for God to turn to us again. We can confess our dire situation. We can pray for Him to save and deliver. We can request Him to give us help from our trouble. Pray the Psalms, and let God’s Word speak for you in prayer.

REFLECTION
“Father, we deeply feel your judgment upon our land; turn to us again to convict us of our sin so that we may be revived and give You proper glory and honor. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Jason Rutherford