The Psalmist declared about David’s God, “My hand will sustain him.”  Jesus is the strong right arm and hand of the Lord.

In the way a foot applied to the piano’s sustain pedal allows the tone to play on and on, so God keeps us going when we have our feet on Jesus, the Rock.  Paul said, “Be followers of me AS I follow Christ.”  He described Christ as being the “cornerstone” of our faith.

DAILY PRAYER:  Lord, my feet are firmly planted on You.  I trust You for strength and wisdom for this day.  I commit this day to You.  Sustain me.

DAILY READING:  Ps. 88-90

Again, the Psalmist declares, “Love [mercy] and faithfulness [truth] meet together;  righteousness and peace kiss each other.”  (Ps. 85:10) More words to prophetically describe our Savior, yet qualities that blend together to characterize an effective Christian leader.

The key to embodying these qualities is to have the Savior living within by His Spirit.  “We have this treasure in these earthen vessels.”  It’s Christ in us , the Hope of glory.

DAILY PRAYER:  Jesus, apart from You, we can do NOTHING.  Live in us today, speak through us today, work Your miracles through us today.

DAILY READING:  Ps. 81-87

Ps. 78 says,”And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.”  God saw in him a powerful combination of these two elements and chose him to be Israel’s leader.

His years of communion with God as he watched the sheep, and his music and protection skills which kept them safe and content, were preparations for becoming a great king and leader for his people.

Seek integrity of heart through devotion to God.  Seek skill through practice and education.  Allow God to prepare you for greater leadership opportunities.

DAILY PRAYER:  Father, prepare us for our callings here in this life.  Lead us to make wise decisions concerning our future.  We give ourselves to You.

DAILY READING:  Ps. 77-80

It seems we wait and wait for what we think should happen, then when God moves, we see the overall wisdom in His timing.  We are glad He did it His way.  He may appear slow, but He;s NEVER LATE!

Take His (our) enemies.  Ps. 73 says, “How suddenly are they destroyed.”  When His cup gets full, He acts.  I trust His cup rather than mine.  Only He knows who the real enemies are. [It’s probably not your mother-in-law]

Our job: trust Him, and wait for Him to move.  Come suddenly, Lord Jesus.

DAILY PRAYER:  Lord, thank You for teaching us to wait upon You.  You know all things.  We see dimly.  We trust You for our future.

DAILY READING:  Ps 73-6

Ps. 69-72 all leave the reader with distinct awareness that these are heavily prophetic of Christ, the Sacrificial Lamb.  The recurring theme of Christ’s undeserved sufferings is pronounced.  How could one so undeserving be the target of such hate and revilement?

It was God’s plan.

So it is in our lives … often the path which incurs pain and suffering is one that yields the fruit God is after in our lives.  The magnified injustices we see in the world around us all point to a coming revelation of God’s supreme purposes in the earth.  We are encouraged to “Lift up our heads … our Redemption draws close.”

DAILY PRAYER:   Father, forgive us for complaining when we experience life’s inconveniences and injustices.  Help us to endure and trust that You work all things for our good.

DAILY READING:  Ps. 69-72

God is just and equitable.  He is not limited to our standards of fairness.  His enemies will taste his wrath, and His saints will enjoy forever His goodness.

As the Psalmist cried, “Let God arise and His enemies be scattered,”  so we trust in His protection and wait for Him to act.  “He will shoot at them with His arrows; they will suddenly be struck down.”  (Ps. 64:7)

Our enemies are not people.  They are the powers of darkness … the devil and his cohorts.  The devil hates it when we praise God.  So, let’s praise God!

DAILY PRAYER:  Father, thank You for Your protection and Your blessing.  We trust and rest in You.  Destroy our enemies as we praise Your Name today.

DAILY READING:  Ps. 62-8

God is a restorer.  The Psalmist cried, “Restore us” when he felt distant from God.

 Let me hear Your loving-kindness in the morning … Teach me the way I should go, to do Your will … Give me new life.  These steps of restoration are found in Ps. 143:8-11

In essence, God shows us our value to Him, He instructs us in what we should do to be restored, then He brings us back to life, better than we were before.

Generally, a restored item has greater value that its original condition.

DAILY PRAYER:  Lord, in Your mercy, restore us to a place of health and life with You.  Forgive us our shortcomings, and make us new again.

DAILY READING:  Ps. 58-60; 143

As Christians mature, they progress from compartmentalizing their prayer times to constantly being in a mode of prayer and communication with God’s Spirit.

Trouble is one of God’s methods of teaching us to depend on Him.  The  Psalmist said, “You have enlarged me when I was in distress.”  (Ps. 4:1)

“Evening, morning, and at noon will I pray and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.”  (Ps. 55:17)

DAILY PRAYER:  Thank You, Lord, for being my constant companion.  I trust only in You for my salvation.  Be near me today.

DAILY READING:  Ps. 52-7

In his song of repentance and restoration after his sin with Bathsheba, David cried, “Grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.”  He needed God’s help to maintain a heart that was obedient to God’s ways.

Again, he says “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.”  (Ps. 110:3)

As he saw the way God’s power and our will related to each other, Paul states, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

We can only be truly willing to do God’s will when we call upon His strength to do it.

DAILY PRAYER:  Lord, we are desperate for You.  Apart from You, we can do nothing.

DAILY READING:  Ps. 46-51

It’s been said, “Men don’t climb – they’re lifted.”  Such was David’s testimony.

Trendy methods of ambitious advancement don’t work for long in God’s Kingdom.  God promotes those who humble themselves, and place the good of others ahead of themselves.  The crucible of day to day challenges reveals those who truly seek God and His ways.  David’s conquest of Goliath could never have been scripted to turn out the way it did.  God elevated David.

DAILY PRAYER:  Lord, You are my glory and the lifter of my head.  I wait for You.  I trust in You.

DAILY READING:  Ps. 40-5