Scripture Union Discovery Devotional 28 January 2018 – Let Go and Let God
Scripture Union Discovery Devotional 28 January 2018 – Let Go and Let God
OPENING PRAYER
Holy Spirit, may Your comfort today give me renewed hope and cheer (19).
Read PSALM 94 (New International Version (NIV)
1 The Lord is a God who avenges.
O God who avenges, shine forth.
2 Rise up, Judge of the earth;
pay back to the proud what they deserve.
3 How long, Lord, will the wicked,
how long will the wicked be jubilant?
4 They pour out arrogant words;
all the evildoers are full of boasting.
5 They crush your people, Lord;
they oppress your inheritance.
6 They slay the widow and the foreigner;
they murder the fatherless.
7 They say, “The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob takes no notice.”
8 Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;
you fools, when will you become wise?
9 Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?
10 Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?
11 The Lord knows all human plans;
he knows that they are futile.
12 Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord,
the one you teach from your law;
13 you grant them relief from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people;
he will never forsake his inheritance.
15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
19 When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought me joy.
20 Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—
a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?
21 The wicked band together against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my fortress,
and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
23 He will repay them for their sins
and destroy them for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will destroy them.
Reflect – BEGIN YOUR TIME WITH GOD BY CONFIDING IN HIM WHAT IS MAKING YOU ANGRY, AND DON’T HOLD BACK!
The trouble with anger is that it can possess and even hurt us. Unresolved anger mars our relationships, and unexpressed anger mires us in depression. The psalmist is passionate in his outrage and desire for vengeance, but he has learned what to do with his anger. Even as he waxes eloquent against the wicked (4–7), he realizes that this is God’s problem (1–3) and God will deal with it (18,19).
When anger fills our mind and gnaws our stomach, how about letting God be the judge and do the judging (23)? He alone knows all the facts and he alone will set all to rights (Gen. 18:25). What the psalmist doesn’t know (and we do) is that God delays justice to allow time for repentance (2 Pet. 3:9)—and time for us to forgive and learn to love our enemies (Matt. 5:43,44).
APPLY
Look for opportunities today to let anger go and act kindly instead.
CLOSING PRAYER
Lord, You know my angry heart. Help me to lay my anger at the foot of Your cross.
