The Everyday Prayer

 Re:Verse passage – Psalm 46:1-11 (day five)

What’s the plan or action step we can take when life gets hectic?  When we sense and see a world spinning out of control, what do we do?  When we are caught up in confusion, calamity, or uncertainty, what helps us?

In this Psalm the only direction given to the reader is to stop striving. Other versions will translate our action step “be still”. Seems counterintuitive doesn’t it?  We in our humanness and finiteness want to work on it or fix it- Remove (on our own) the tension and terror we often feel.  What is it that we are to learn or know about God? I went through this Psalm and circled the answers to this question. I often read verse one, but then get quickly caught up and frazzled by the next 2 verses. Perhaps the wisdom we can gain is differentiating what we feel from what we know. God is a refuge and strength. We have experienced it (if no other time, certainly when we were born again). He is a present help. He is with us. He is a stronghold. Do you KNOW these things to be true?

 Re:Verse passage – Psalm 46:1-11 (day four)

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (NIV)

I am delighted to write about this Psalm! Psalm 46:10 is often reduced to the phrase, “Be still, and know that I am God,” as if it were merely a call to peace and quiet. But the rest of the verse reveals God’s greater purpose: His name will be exalted among the nations and throughout all the earth. To exalt God among the nations is to know Him and make Him known.

Do we truly know the Lord? Have we sat at His feet, learned His ways, and seen His unchanging character in a fallen world? To “know” God is not merely intellectual—it is to encounter a holy God. Scripture reminds us that holiness matters. God told Moses, “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground” (Exodus 3). Likewise, Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me!” when he stood before the Lord’s holiness (Isaiah 6:5).

We often approach God too casually, forgetting that we stand before the Creator of all things. We are called to “be still” because we are humbled before His majesty, aware of our sinfulness and His glory.

To exalt God among the nations, we must first surrender to Him ourselves. We cannot fulfill the Great Commission or faithfully witness to the world if we neglect repentance, holiness, and worship. God is worthy of praise in all the earth. Will you bow before Him, fight sin, pursue holiness, and make His name known among the nations?

 Re:Verse passage – Psalm 46:1-11 (day three)

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

³ Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. (vv. 1-3)

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Even in the Old Testament, it was clear to God’s people that things would not always be easy. Evil and calamity are ever present (until the Lord makes all things new again) because sin broke what God made. But, right alongside the evil and calamity is the ever-present reassurance that evil, fear, calamity, shame, hopelessness, guilt, grave, and pain do not win. The Psalmists point this out with the first lines of the Psalm. God is always there even when things around us take a turn for the worse.

Jesus then reminds us of the same thing in the New Testament. His words bring a heaviness that reminds us of the fallen nature of this world, but He doesn’t leave it there. “Take heart! I have overcome the world.” What a good reminder from our Savior! He lifts us from the depths of despair to the knowledge that He has won.

Today, as the world reminds you of how calamitous and fallen it is, may you take refuge in the Lord, trusting that He has overcome. Though everything should change and the world should shake to its core, may you trust in the Solid Rock of God today. He has overcome!

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 46:1-11 (day two)

 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High. v. 4

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.     Revelation 22:1-2

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.                                                                         Psalm 1:1-3

 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”     John 7:37-38

Water has always meant life. From the beginning to end of scripture, there has been an aquatic narrative which has helped our understanding of God’s provision and grace. It is a beautiful picture of restoration to see in Revelation how a river of life flows from the throne of God. In our Psalm this week, we are reminded how God is not unaware of the tumult of the world, but he is a comfort in the midst of the storm. He is still life and provision while the world shakes. We can cease our striving only when we drink from the water of life.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 77:1-20 (day seven)

Your way was in the sea
And Your paths in the mighty waters,
And Your footprints may not be known. Psalm 77:19

Following God’s plan is not always easy to see. To illustrate that point, the psalmist Asaph personifies the Red Sea and invites us to view the parting of the waters from the sea’s perspective.

What we see here is that creation itself will always recognize God, even when we do not. Even in the midst of doubt and fear, creation knew who held authority and immediately responded. The sea represented an uncrossable barrier for Israel: the water before them and the army behind them, closing in. God could have consumed the army with the pillar of fire, but instead He wanted to teach a lesson. He made a way where there was no way.

God used creation to showcase His authority and will. He had a plan and a path forward for the Israelites, but they couldn’t see it. So what does He do? He pulls back the sea to show the Israelites that His footsteps were there the whole time.

The next time you find yourself doubting and wrestling with God’s plan, put one foot in front of the other. Walk in His footsteps, and watch Him make a way for you in places you never thought He could take you.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 77:1-20 (day six)

Few things are more difficult than the silence of God. We pray, ache, wait, and wonder if He sees us at all. Psalm 77 gives language to that experience. Asaph cries out in grief, unable to find comfort, and asks questions many believers are afraid to say aloud. Yet the turning point of the Psalm is striking: Asaph does not find peace through an immediate answer or emotional breakthrough. Instead, he remembers.

He remembers the Exodus. He remembers God’s faithfulness across generations. The Scriptures consistently train us to find stability not in immediate experiences, but in God’s redemptive history.

This is why the church gathers, sings, reads Scripture, and comes to the Lord’s Table together. We remember what God has done. And nowhere is this more important than at the cross, where God seemed absent, yet was accomplishing redemption.

The absence of visible footprints does not mean the absence of God.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 77:1-20 (day five)
The struggle is real. The questions are honest. The doubt is tangible. But the meditation is balanced. The promises of God, the character of God, the actions and activities of God, the suffering we encounter and experience, the abandonment and isolation we sometimes feel, and the skepticism we have are not mutually exclusive. They go together. They live in tension with each other. The psalmist holds on to both sides. It is work. It is hard. It is the long game. And that is how time and perspective are portrayed  in the Kingdom of God (eternal). What we feel and what we know are sometimes compatible, and other times at odds with each other.
I like Tim Keller’s words about this tension, “When we meditate, we work the truth down until it affects the heart. This is the key to handling difficulty. The psalmist is not just being stoic and gritting his teeth till the storm passes. Nor is he simply venting his feelings. He redirects his thoughts and feelings towards the truth about God… This is not the work of a moment, and learning it takes a lifetime”.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 77:1-20 (day four)

The writer of Psalm 77 models something that doesn’t often come naturally for us. Even when he feels furthest from God, wondering if God will ever turn his face back towards him and he feels as though God has left him in the dust, he still cries out to him. He continues to seek God’s presence and call upon the Lord, even when it feels as if his prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. All of us have times where we feel far from God, whether it’s due to our own sin, an experience of suffering, or simply a season of feeling spiritually dry. It is in these moments that we’re tempted to throw in the towel on our walk with God, and chase after something that will provide more immediate gratification. But the psalmist models for us: continue to cry out to God even when you’re sure he can’t hear you. Continue to ask, seek, and knock, even when you’re unsure if he’s there to open the door.

How does the psalmist manage to do this at his lowest point? Because he knows the character of God. When he looks back at his life, the evidence speaks for itself. God if faithful. God will provide. God will draw near. This is the importance of remembering what God has done. It’s not for sentimental value; it provides strength for our souls when we feel furthest from God. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If he has been faithful before, which we can testify that he has, then he will be faithful again. Keep knocking.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 77:1-20 (day three)

¹² I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds. (ESV)

One of my favorite things that we do with our kids, almost daily, is a game called “High/Low.” It is a time we set aside during dinner or a car ride to talk about the highs and the lows of each of our days. Each family member is given the spotlight to talk about his or her day. There are times that the highs flow freely and we have trouble coming up with lows. That is allowed (and welcomed!). But there are also days where highs are hard to come by, but lows abound. It is on these “low” days that we take a moment to help our kids find the highs of the day by reminding them to look for how they saw God that day. It may be as simple or easy as saying, “My high today is that I am alive.” Or, “My high today is that we are all sitting here at dinner eating together.”

The point of this time is for us to praise God with our kids for His goodness in our days. It is also a time for us to praise God in the lows and to remind them that God is there with us during both the highs and the lows. Often, we just do not look for Him or see His work right away. The reminder is for them (and me!) to not dwell in the lows but to lift our eyes up to see how God is moving even in the low times. This verse in Psalm 77:12 reminds us to do just that. Remember what God has done and what He continues to do. When we do that, even our lowest days may be seen in a new light.

What are your highs and lows for today?