Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Psalm 123:3-4
Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us, for we have endured no end of contempt. We have endured no end of ridicule from the arrogant, of contempt from the proud.
To be treated with contempt is a horrible experience. To be written off as worthless is agonising, and the Bible tells us about many people who knew just how painful it is. Nehemiah certainly had this experience when he worked to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Many scholars think this might be the background to this particular psalm. Nehemiah was convinced that God Himself had commissioned him to undertake the rebuilding of the city, but that cut no ice with Sanballat and Tobiah, who did everything they could think of to ridicule his efforts.
If you have ever been treated with contempt, you will know what a depressing and discouraging experience it is. Very easily it can dominate all of our thinking and make life a complete misery. It can happen to any one of us, so it is good to see what the psalmist did: turn his attention to the Lord. The psalm begins with these words: “I lift my eyes to you, O God, to you who sits enthroned in heaven.”
The psalmist chose to focus his attention on the Lord, and we need to do the same. He alone, the God of mercy, can set us free from our destructive reactions to life and enable us to face our critics with grace and love.
Question
How have you responded to those who have treated you badly?
Prayer
Loving Father, I realise that I need Your loving care every moment of my life. Please grant me Your strength, grace and wisdom today. Amen

Psalm 122:1
I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
This verse has a very special place in British history. It has been used upon the entrance of the monarch at every coronation since that of King Charles 1. Since 1902, Hubert Parry’s magnificent choral setting of the psalm has been sung. It captures beautifully the joy and celebration of this special occasion. The roots of this psalm go back thousands of years, to the time when pilgrims would use these words as they climbed up the hill to Jerusalem and anticipated the incredible joy of worshipping God in the temple. You can sense their excitement as they got closer and closer to the holy city.
There is no building in Christianity which is the equivalent of the temple in Jerusalem. With the coming of Christ, a new covenant was established in which God sought to build a new temple, not with stones or bricks and mortar but in the lives of those who worshipped Him. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”
(1 Corinthians 3:16).
Our circumstances are very different from those of the psalmist, but we can still experience the same joy of meeting together with God’s people for worship. We can still look forward to the experience with gladness and anticipation because, as we meet together, God will be there with us.
Question
What are the things that make you glad to worship with other Christians?
Prayer
Loving God, I thank You for the blessing and encouragement of worship. Help me never to take this privilege for granted. Amen

Psalm 121:1-2
I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
This is one of the best-known and best-loved of all the psalms. The answer to the psalmist’s question is a resounding: “No!” The mountains might look strong and confident, but our help certainly doesn’t come from them – it comes from the Lord. It’s impossible to know what exactly was in the mind of the psalmist when he referred to the mountains. He might simply have been reflecting on their impressive grandeur and strength. But it is quite likely that he was thinking of the fact that people often went to high places like mountains to worship false gods such as Baal. The psalmist wanted to make it absolutely clear that only God Himself is able to meet our needs.
Our God is always on the job. He never slumbers or sleeps. He is continually watching over us. Our family and friends may well be wonderfully supportive and caring. They would do anything for us, but sooner or later they get tired and need to get some sleep. Their support is great, but it’s well short of 100%. God is different. He can be relied upon to be there to support us night and day.
The psalm challenges us all to look hard at our lives and to ensure that we are looking in the right direction for the help that really matters. We need to look to the Lord Himself who made heaven and earth.
Question
Where do you get your help from?
Prayer
Loving God, I thank You for being my constant help and strength. Help me to lean on You today. Amen

Psalm 120:1-2
I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.

I love the psalms because they span the full range of human experience. Some are full of praise and worship, but others burst out with anger and disappointment. However you are feeling, there are psalms that will be just right for you, because God meets us where we are. We don’t need to pretend to be something that we are not. We can come to Him with our struggles, fears, passions and hopes and know that He will understand us completely.
I’ve had the privilege of visiting a number of Benedictine monasteries in England and France. I have been thrilled to live as part of their worshipping communities for a few days of retreat. Every day there are eight times of worship, and you need to know that I didn’t attend them all! Each week all of the 150 psalms are read or sung, and that seems to me a wonderful rhythm of life. What has often struck me is the ruthless honesty of the psalmists. They hid nothing when they came into God’s presence. They told Him exactly how they were feeling and used language that makes us wince at times.
God wants us to come to Him with exactly the same ruthless honesty and to be confident that He will always answer our prayers. He may not answer us in the way that we want or expect, but He will always answer us.
Question
What experience have you had of God answering your prayers?
Prayer
Loving God, I thank You for the privilege of prayer. Help me to place it at the centre of my life. Amen

Psalm 119:1-2
Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.
This is the beginning of what is by far the longest psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible. It is made up of 22 sections, each one of which begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of those sections is made up of eight verses, and the whole psalm is beautifully designed like a piece of intricate tapestry. It is nothing like those psalms in which the psalmist pours out his emotions of anger, sorrow and joy. The whole purpose of the psalm is to declare the blessing of God’s laws, because they are the key to living life to the full. It’s as if the writer sees God’s instructions as being so beautiful that, like a diamond, every single angle of them needs to be identified and celebrated.
When we first hear the word ‘law’ we are inclined to think of restrictions, and no one likes the thought of that. We want to be free to do what we want. But God’s laws are given so that we can be protected from the things that can only damage our lives. The psalmist was convinced that God’s law offered the path to the deepest blessings and joys of life. He summed it up by declaring: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).
Question
In what particular ways have you found God’s laws to be a blessing?
Prayer
Lord God, I thank You that You love me so much that You have given me rules to enable me to enjoy life to the full. Amen