Psalm 69

A Bible Devotion from Psalm 69

Those who Love God will Dwell in Zion

29 But I am poor and sorrowful; let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high. 30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. 31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, which has horns and hooves. 32 The humble shall see this and be glad; and you who seek God, your hearts shall live. 33 For the LORD hears the poor, and does not despise His prisoners. 34 Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them. 35 For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. 36 Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His name shall dwell in it.
Psalm 69:29-36, KJV

For being a king, David lived a very troubled life! The first 28 verses of Psalm 69 are filled with David's pleading to God for help and deliverance from his adversaries. But then, when you think of it, much of our lives are filled with unhappy times whether from sick or dying loved ones or facing the rhetorical onslaught of those around us, some of which we deserve and some we don't.

In the end, as always, we find David praising God and giving all glory to Him. There is something a little different in this Psalm, however, as David gives us insight into what pleases God and also a reason for going through these difficulties.

30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. 31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull.

Why are we here? Our chief purpose is to enjoy God and to serve Him forever. That's not hard to do when everything is going great, but it is an entirely different matter when our whole world seems to be falling down around us. Would God allow that? Yes, He does. Why?

32 The humble shall see this and be glad; and you who seek God, your hearts shall live. 33 For the LORD hears the poor, and does not despise His prisoners.

God uses our own difficulties and our Godly response to them to encourage the humble and the poor; He shows those whose faith is small that He is there for them even in the bad times. That is the second reason we are here; we are here to encourage other Christians and to be a testimony before the ungodly of our faith in God and our hope that God is always there for us and will be until He takes us home in heaven to be with Him forever.

Pray today that your life will be a testimony of praise to God and that you will be filled with hope in God no matter what you face.

Next: Psalm 70 - Let God Be Magnified

More Devotions on the 69th Psalm from my blog, Daily Bible Devotions

Hopeless, verses 1-4

Stumbling Block, verses 5-12

Deliver Me, verses 13-18

Suffering Saints, verses 19-21

Blotted Out, verses 22-28

A Living Heart, verses 29-33

Zion, verses 34-36