Feb. 1, 2015: Psalm 95:1-9

We encourage you to read this devotion three times a day.  Start in the morning and reflect upon the morning reflection question. Then in the afternoon, read it again and reflect using the noon question for reflection.  For the evening, take time to ponder how this has resonated with you in the day and reflecting using the evening question.  We offer a prayer with each devotion for you to pray or we invite you to pray what is in your heart.  

Psalm 95:1-9

¹ O come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! ² Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! ³ For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods. ⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth;
   the heights of the mountains are his also. ⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
   and the dry land, which his hands have formed. ⁶ O come, let us worship and bow down,
   let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! ⁷ For he is our God,
   and we are the people of his pasture,
   and the sheep of his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice!
⁸   Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
   as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
⁹ when your ancestors tested me,
   and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

Reflection:  

What good is a heart that is hardened?  Psalm 95 reminds us of “the rebellion,” the

time in the wilderness when the Israelites resisted the will of God and their hearts were hardened.  After roaming around for years in the desert they forgot that God had rescued them and provided for them.  With each passing day, they had a harder time believing in God’s promises and they simply lost faith.  They became less inclined to follow the will of God and their hearts became bitter and hopeless.  How ironic that they had just escaped a Pharaoh in Egypt with a hardened heart, only to find themselves in the same predicament.  Time in the wilderness will do that to us.  It causes us to doubt and question God.  Our wilderness can be any time, place, or situation that tempts us to pull away from God.  And before we know it, we become distanced from God and our hearts become hardened. 

Reflection Questions: 

Morning: Are you in the wilderness?  Is anything hardening your heart on this day?  What has caused you to lose faith in the promises of God? 

Noon:  Connecting with God doesn’t have to be a complicated thing.  What is one simple way that you might connect with God today?

Evening:  God’s ultimate blessing is to give us rest.  What keeps us from truly “resting in God?”

Prayer:  Holy God, help me to reconnect with you through this day.  You are the Rock of my

Salvation, Your Hands are the deep places of the earth and the heights of the hills.  You are my Maker and I am the sheep of Your Hand.  Let me hear Your voice today and let my faith in You be strengthened.  Amen.