Perceive: This psalm is almost identical to part of Psalm 40:13-17. Most scholars believe this was helpful to sing by itself or in conjunction with longer songs. In this song, David seems to have a stronger sense of urgency and wants God to hasten to his rescue. It is an urgent prayer for help. This type of reaction to his adverse circumstances demonstrates his resilience. He wants God’s hand to lift him up not the hand of his enemies to bring him down (1-3). In the second section of this psalm, he again asks God to hasten his relief and encourages others to be glad in the Lord (4-5). Throughout David’s experiences, he demonstrates his commitment to lean in and rely on the Lord.
 
Practice: Godly people in this world often experience threats, disappointments, or disruptions in our lives, and unfortunately, we can let our emotions get the best of us. It is an adverse aspect of life that we can let other people break our hearts and fill us with emotional pain. The next time you have someone attack you, criticize you or threaten you, cry out to God and ask Him to hasten to your rescue. Because this psalm is short, it makes a great song to quote or pray back to God when you’re short on time and long on need.
 
Pray: Lord, help me with my breaking heart and shore me up. Hasten to my emotional rescue. 

This devotional challenge comes from The Heart of a Lion - King David of Israel and is available on Amazon.com

Perceive: This is another messianic psalm in which David asks God to rescue him from his enemies. It contains three main sections. In the first section, David recounts his suffering which comes from four main sources: his foes, his folly, his family, and his faith (1-12). In the second section, he makes his supplication known to God regarding his enemies, and then regarding himself (13-29). In the third section, David goes back to a song where he praises God for hearing his prayers and saving his people (30-36). David is experiencing a great deal of emotional pain as he cries out to God.
 
Practice: It is unfortunate that we may have to suffer for our faith in Christ and His resurrection. However, this should also cause us to look forward to the day of evils destruction and where justice will prevail. Like David, sometimes we will be scoffed at, humiliated, insulted, mocked, and misrepresented. If your situation seems hopeless, keep in mind both David and Jesus suffered at the hands of ungodly people. When people hurt us the greatest, we need to access God the most. He hears even though He may seem silent. Always stay the course no matter how terrible things look or feel.
 
Pray: Great and mighty God, help me with my pain today. Hear my prayer and vindicate me in front of my spiritual enemies. I know You hear the needy and You do not despise people who are prisoners.

Perceive: In this psalm, David remembers the strength and provision of His God. It contains six sections. Section one calls for God to arise and His assembly exhorted to sing filled with joy (1-6). Section two describes the glory of God as he marched through the wilderness and as He conquered armies and scattered kings (7-14). Section three describes the ascent to the mountain of God and gives a messianic statement quoted in the New Testament (15-18). Section four describes God as a deliverer that shatters His enemies (19-23). Section five describes the procession that is ascending the mountain of God (24-27). The last section asks God to show Himself strong on behalf of His people and ends with singing praise to God (28-35).
 
Practice: This is considered a messianic psalm since verse 18 is quoted in Ephesians 4:8. God loves to set His people free and then crush the enemy in the process. When you gain the salvation of the Lord, you are gaining freedom from the penalty of your sin which is death! If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will enjoy the benefits of His grace and mercy. Those who reject Him will receive His justice and wrath. Jesus Christ is Lord of the living and the dead. If you have not given Him total control over your life then today is the day you should humble yourself and surrender your life.
 
Pray: O Lord, thank You for Your love and care especially regarding spiritual enemies. Lead me in my life, all my life. I believe in Jesus that He lived, died on the cross, and arose from the dead. I give You total control.  I surrender all. 

Perceive: In this psalm, David tells of the joys of following God, and praises him for sustaining his creation and producing a bountiful harvest. It contains three sections. In the first section, he describes the blessings and forgiveness of men who come before the Lord (1-4). In the second section, he describes how God answers prayers with His power that forms mountains, stills the roaring seas, exists everywhere, makes the sun rise, and the sun set (5-8). In the third section, he describes the attributes of God for watering the earth, making things fertile, and causing plants to grow (9-13). David is expressing thankfulness for His many blessings.
 
Practice: This harvest psalm clearly glorifies God as reflected in the beauty of His creation, as well as the control He has over all of life, including personal details. Seeing God in everyday living and knowing He controls nature enables us to understand more of His character. It is a sign of His love and provision for each of us. The more we recognize nature as God’s gift to us, the more we can appreciate the simple pleasures of life. For example, when we sit down to eat a simple meal, or to watch the sun rise, or the sun set, knowing God as the great provider should make us more grateful and in turn more generous.
 
Pray: Thank You for Your touch of nature on the earth. Like life, some scenes are more breathtaking than others. Help me to see Your hand in my everyday living and then be thankful for everything You provide it.

​This devotional comes from The Heart of a Lion - King David of Israel and is available on Amazon.com

Perceive: In this psalm, David rebukes wicked rulers and calls upon God to destroy them and avenge the godly. It may have been written while he was in exile, or early in his reign in Hebron, or even later when he was dealing with getting the country put back together after Saul's poor leadership. It contains three sections. In the first section, David cries out against the wicked rulers of the day. They pervert justice, they lie and refuse to listen to reason (1-5). In the second section, he calls for their punishment to destroy their voice and to make them disappear (6-9). In the final section, he describes how the godly will rejoice when they see justice and the righteous reward (9-11). It is a prayer for justice from a just Judge.
 
Practice: History contains numerous leaders with a skewed sense of justice. For David and us, these psalms are a great form of prayer when someone takes justice into their hands. Today we see people exercising their authority and power with little accountability. When the world acts with a corrupt set of leaders, it is easy to lose hope for long-term justice. However, God loves justice. When despot leadership takes advantage of their power, rest assured the Lord will have the final say and action. If not in this world, He most certainly will in the next.
 
Pray: Thank You, Lord, for exercising justice and ultimately holding leaders accountable. We live in dark times. Help us with our sense of justice. edit.

​This devotional comes from The Heart of a Lion - King David of Israel and is available on Amazon.com

Perceive: In this psalm, David expounds the foolish unbelief of those who reject God. As an example of a foolish nation that rejects the Lordship of God, Warren Wiersbe writes, "The boasting of the Assyrians is a good example.  Verse 5b describes the scattered corpses of a defeated army after God’s great victory. For a body to remain unburied was a great disgrace in the ancient Near East, even an executed criminal was supposed to have a decent burial (Deut. 21:23; see 2 Kings 23:14; Ezek. 6:5)."[i] This psalm has two main sections. In the first section, David describes the mind of a fool (1-3). In the second, he describes the care of his God (4-6).
 
Practice: Throughout the Bible we see individuals, and even nations act foolishly in the face of a powerful God. Atheism is foolishness and often leads to destructive patterns of behavior. Far too often people say there is no God to cover up their sinful acts, to find an excuse to continue in sin and ignore the Word of God. Some very intelligent people are fools in the eyes of the Lord. “For the wisdom of the world is foolishness before God.” (1 Corinthians 3:19).
 
Pray: Great and mighty God, help me to live my life as an open book to the world and especially to anyone who rejects Your sovereign rule over the lives of men.

​This devotional comes from The Heart of a Lion - King David of Israel and is available on Amazon.com


[i] Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed., pp. 191–192). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.

Perceive: In this short but concise psalm, David describes the kind of wickedness that is in the hearts of those who routinely promote rebellion against God. David views God’s faithfulness, justice, and loving-kindness in contrast to the sinful hearts of men. It has two main sections. In the first section, David describes attributes of the Godless; they have no fear of God, they are conceited, they are deceitful, and they love to plan evil deeds (1-4). In the second section, David describes some of God's characteristics in contrast to the Godless: He is loving, faithful, righteous, just, protective, and life-giving (5-12). Essentially, David calls upon the Lord to bless the godly and humble the wicked.
 
Practice: The way a man deals with the difficult situations and problems in life are in direct proportion to his accurate understanding of who God is and how he acts for His people. In this psalm, David gives us a great picture of God. He is faithful, righteous, and just. His love extends to the heavens, His faithfulness to the skies, His righteousness to the heights of the mountains, His judgments to the deepest part of the sea. We should not fear the evil that seems to surround us, because we have a God who loves us and is continually working to judge evil and humble those who constantly rebel against His authority.
 
Pray: Lord, please continue to show Yourself to me and give me a deeper and stronger appreciation for who You are and how You act.ere to edit.

​This devotional comes from The Heart of a Lion - King David of Israel and is available on Amazon.com

Perceive: In the third section of Psalm 31, David continues to express his faith in God despite his many troubles. He loved to speak with great confidence in the Lord through trusting Him in dangerous times. He knows the Lord will save him from his enemies (14-18). Even in disturbing and often difficult circumstances, he is thankful for the goodness of God and his unfailing loving-kindness (19-24). His courage and strength grew by seeing the faithfulness of God as his situation changed and the glory of God’s light shone.
 
Practice: When we feel like life is out of control, we should consider the words of David in verse fifteen, “My times are in your hand.” David had a strong belief that every one of his circumstances is under the rule and authority of God. This concept is important for us to remember as well. Knowing that God loves and cares for each of His citizens, enables us to have faith in times of great testing and impossible circumstances. Unfortunately, difficult times make it easy to take matters into our hands, when instead we need to submit our lives into God’s hands.
 
Pray: O great and mighty God, into Your hands I submit my life. Help me see You at work in the difficult and discouraging situations that are facing me on a daily basis. 

This devotional comes from The Heart of a Lion - King David of Israel and is available on Amazon.com

Perceive: In this psalm, David expresses confidence in God during deep distress. David's hope for seeing God's love fulfilled is the backbone for this psalm. Three times he mentions the Lord's loving-kindness (7, 16, 21). Verse 5 is quoted in the New Testament by Jesus on the cross and Stephen just before being stoned to death (Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59). It contains three main part. This devotion covers the first two. In the first section, David asks the Lord to listen to his cry and rescue him from his enemies, who worship false gods (1-8). In the second section, he describes his physically weakened condition, and the evil plans his enemies are conspiring (9-13). David uses exaggerated language to reflect his heart as he pours it out to God.
 
Practice: In verse six, David mentions those who worship idols immediately after he commits his entire life to the Lord. Unfortunately, even in his time, the people of Israel and Judah were still worshipping idols over the Lord God. Things have not changed much through the centuries. As a serving man of God, we can let things rob God of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him. Idols today include wealth, material possessions, success, fame, and one’s personal image. If you are letting an idol interfere with your devotion to God, sooner or later He will work in and through your life to expose and purify your heart.
 
Pray: Lord, if there is an idol in my life, please gently expose it to the light of Christ and the light of Your word. ere to edit.

​Perceive: This may have been a psalm that helped keep the Israelites focused on the Lord God and not on the god Baal who was believed to be in control of the weather and fertility. In this psalm, David calls the reader to worship the Lord in response to the wonders of creation and the unique power of storms. David attests to the great power of the Lord’s voice through several means of nature. It contains three main sections. In the first section, he calls for the worshiper to refer to the cause and source of the Lord in worship (1-2). In the second section, he describes attributes of the Lord's voice upon the waters, in thunder, as majestic, able to break cedars, shake mountains, and strip forests (3-9). In the third section, he describes how the Lord reigns at the flood, and gives strength and blessings to His people (10-11). This psalm is a fabulous testimony regarding ways to hear the voice of God.
 
Practice: Throughout the history of the world, the Lord has revealed his power through acts of nature. His first catastrophic act of power was the world flood in Genesis chapters 6-9. Later, the author of Romans points out the world is without excuse because God continually reveals Himself, so people are without excuse (Romans 1:20). Like then, His power is available to us when we feel weak and needy. Are you feeling weak or in need of His power and presence?
 
Pray: Lord, help me in my hour of need. I am weak and in need of You to strengthen my resolve and my desire to obey Your word.