Devo Dec 12 Psalm 52:1-9

Chapter 52
1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
Why do you boast all day long,
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
2 You who practice deceit, your tongue plots destruction;
it is like a sharpened razor.
3 You love evil rather than good,
falsehood rather than speaking the truth.
4 You love every harmful word,
you deceitful tongue!
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.
6 The righteous will see and fear;
they will laugh at you, saying,
7 “Here now is the man
who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
and grew strong by destroying others!”
8 But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
9 For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.

Meditation
1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and
meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this
word or phrase? How is that related to your current situation? What
does God tell you to do?
3. Are you “flourishing in the house of God”? What is lacking in your
spiritual community? What helps you flourish? How can you offer
more of yourself in church, in your cell group, that you might grow
closer to God and to others as well?

Devo Dec 11 Psalm 51

Chapter 51
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your
sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Meditation
1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and
meditate on this passage? What is your emotion as you read this
word or phrase?
3. As Christians, we know we are sinful. Why then is it so painful to
be confronted with a specific sin? What sin have you been avoiding
talking to God about? Take it to God and experience his forgiveness.