May 11, 2025 Devo

I love this prayer of David for so many reasons. Mostly because it reminds me of how much I NEED God. And I do. I need God’s “tender mercies.” When I read that today, I thought about the verse from Lamentations 3:23 that says God’s mercies are “new every morning.” And I need them every morning! Every single day of my life, I need the tender mercy of God to be patient with me. I need Him to look past my human frailty. I need Him to be merciful with my many shortcomings. I need Him to overlook my mistakes, forgive my sins, and be tender in His correction of me. For any of you who struggle with shame as I do, you get this. I am my own worst enemy, and I beat myself up when I struggle or fall short. “Tender” mercy is a wonderful gift for people like me. It reminds me that God doesn’t give up on me or cast me away. He gently forgives and guides me back. A harsh God would crush a spirit like mine. Thank God, His tender mercy heals and restores me.
I need His unfailing love and faithfulness. I heard an unbelievable story of a man who doctors believed was dying. They told his family he had no chance of survival. He was unconscious, but he later told them he had heard everything they said. Though not a believer, while still in his “unconscious” state, he remembered an old song he heard as a child while attending a local church Vacation Bible School program. “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” He began to sing it out loud! It freaked the doctors out. It freaked his family out. But those words gave him hope in his heart that he clung to. And that hope gave him LIFE! God’s love and faithfulness give me life as well. It’s what I cling to every single day. On days when I don’t feel loved by others or struggle to love myself, I remember: “Jesus loves me, this I KNOW!” God’s love gives me life!
Make David’s prayer YOUR prayer. If you’re struggling today with failure or sin or are just tired of looking at your own flaws and frailty, let God’s tender mercies heal you. God will not be harsh or cruel or hard on you. He’ll be gentle. And that mercy is new every day! Bask in God’s unfailing love and faithfulness. Let Him remind you once again that He is GLAD that He made you and loves you more than you will ever know. If you’ve been stung by rejection, or feeling unwanted or unloved, know today that there is One who accepts you completely JUST AS YOU ARE. You are HIS, and He will never let you go. Cry out to the Lord today as David did. He’ll never hold Himself back from you. That’s God’s Word for you today.