Walking Through the Psalms“O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all.” – Psalm 104:24 (NLT)“The Genius of Variety” As the psalmist is extolling God’s power and all He has done in Psalm 104, he points out something that God obviously enjoys. Variety. Just look around. God created the elephant and the ant. He made the whale and the shrimp. He formed the eagle a...

Walking Through the PsalmsLet all that I am praise the LORD. O LORD my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty. – Psalm 104:1 (NLT)“Father and King” During a recent sermon, I showed an iconic picture that I love. It’s a picture of President Kennedy sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. It was called the Resolute Desk. It was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford...

Walking Through the PsalmsNote: Wanda and I are going on vacation and may or may not have internet access. So if the devotionals are delayed or I miss a day, don’t panic. We’ll be back! Love you all!!“The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.” – Psalm 103:13-14 (NLT)“A Father’s Dance of Lo...

Walking Through the Psalms“The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.” – Psalm 103:8 (NLT)“A Different Kind of God” Years ago, I had a good friend who was an attorney that I used to play racquetball with and have lunch with from time to time. One day over lunch, we got talking about how attorneys are viewed by the general public. Of course, the common...

Walking Through the Psalms“He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things.” – Psalm 103:4-5 (NLT)“Our Redeemer Has Come!” A friend of ours worked for a number of years in a foreign country with an organization that helps women get out of the human trafficking industry. They take them in. They teach them skills that can help them get jobs. The...

Walking Through the Psalms“…and heals all my diseases.” – Psalm 103:3 (NLT)"God, Our Healer!" Some time back, I read about a woman named Ashley Hallford who had an amazing story of healing. Thirty-two weeks into her pregnancy with her first child, she noticed a lump on the back of her neck that turned out to be a tumor. By the time they did the surgery to remove it, the tumor had spread. She now h...

Walking Through the Psalms“He forgives all my sins...” – Psalm 103:3 (NLT)“Believe the Fact, Not the Feeling” Some of us may need to claim this verse today. Because even though we ARE forgiven, we don’t FEEL forgiven. Maybe we’re still beating ourselves up about things that we’ve done. Or maybe we’re still dealing with the consequences of our sins, and it reminds us of how stupid it was. Or maybe ...

Walking Through the Psalms“Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.” – Psalm 103:2 (NLT)“Don’t Forget to Remember” A great piece of advice I heard one day was from a secular radio station. As I was driving into work, listening to a pop music station, the DJ posed a question to their listening audience and asked people to call in with their response. The...

Walking Through the Psalms“Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a people not yet born will praise the LORD. Tell them the LORD looked down from his heavenly sanctuary. He looked down to earth from heaven to hear the groans of the prisoners, to release those condemned to die.” – Psalm 102:18-20 (NLT)“God Looked Down and Saw YOU!” This passage should make your toes tingle. It was wri...

Walking Through the Psalms“He will listen to the prayers of the destitute, for he is never too busy to heed their requests. – Psalm 102:17 (TLB)“You Have God’s Ear” There was a really cool story some years ago that went viral on social media. At an Eat-N-Park restaurant in Belle Vernon, PA, a 91-year-old man came in for a meal. When Dylan, his server, came over to his booth to take his order, he n...

Walking Through the Psalms“For the LORD will rebuild Jerusalem. He will appear in his glory.” – Psalm 102:16 (NLT)“Turning Broken into Beautiful” Have you ever stood and just looked at the ocean, the mountains, or a sunset, and just MARVELED at God’s creation? Or stood out under a beautiful star-filled sky and tried to fathom how in the world God did it? It’s AMAZING. God’s incredible creative pow...

Walking Through the Psalms“Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly when I call to you.” – Psalm 102:2(b) (NLT)“Answer Quickly, Lord!” I want to invite you to pray this prayer today. I believe it’s a prayer that many of you NEED to pray. This psalmist is modeling for us that it’s okay to be human with God. It’s okay to feel worn out by waiting and frustrated because it feels as if no progress is...

Walking Through the Psalms“I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house and liars will not stay in my presence.” – Psalm 101:7 (NLT)“Throw the Liar Out” When I read this verse today, it made me wonder what kind of “liars” David had dealt with. Some liars, like the ones who like to brag about their exploits and embellish them, are simply annoying. I have no doubt David had his share of those. Li...

Walking Through the Psalms“I will search for faithful people to be my companions.” – Psalm 101:6 (NLT)“The Difference Between ‘Friends’ and ‘Companions’” I have lots of friends. I hope you do, too. I have friends at church. I have friends from the Y. I have friends from cities all around the country where I’ve lived and pastored. I have friends that I’ve grown up with. I have friends I went to col...

Walking Through the Psalms“I will lead a life of integrity in my own home.” – Psalm 101:2 (NLT)“Integrity Starts at Home” Why is it that we often treat the worst, the very people we say we love the most? It’s true, isn’t it? There are some of us who are so well thought of when we go to work or church. We smile, we’re kind, we’re pleasant, and we’re affirming. We tell people how nice they look. We ...

Walking Through the Psalms“For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” – Psalm 100:5 (NLT)“The Generational Faithfulness of God” Do you get worried about the coming generations? Ever look around at everything that’s going on in the world and cringe to think that this is the world your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildr...

Walking Through the Psalms“Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” – Psalm 100:3 (NIV)“We Are His” Sometimes there are words that I’ve read in passages over and over, and then one day they just jump off the page at me. Today was one of those days. I was reading our verse above, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. “His.” God mad...

Walking Through the Psalms“O LORD our God, you answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, but you punished them when they went wrong.” – Psalm 99:8 (NLT)“Love and Discipline” Aren’t you grateful for the love of God? He loves us fully, completely, and unconditionally. His grace and willingness to forgive us are absolutely AMAZING. But are you as grateful for the discipline of God? Discipline ...

Walking Through the Psalms“Moses and Aaron were among His priests; Samuel also called on His Name. They cried to the Lord for help, and He answered them.” – Psalm 99:6 (NLT)“You’re Famous!” I’ve had the privilege of meeting a few “famous” people in my life. When I worked at the Y in Houston, we had a couple of different movie stars visit our Y to work out, swim, and get massages. Back in my athlet...

Walking Through the Psalms"He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness." – Psalm 98:9 (NLT)“The Second Man Always Gets Caught” There is a saying in sports that says, “The second man always gets caught.” What that means is that if a player gives you a cheap shot during a game and gets away with it, the moment you retaliate, YOU will get caught! Smart players learn to leave p...