Lent Devotion February 16, 2024 Psalm 52
Each day of Lent read through a Psalm and make it a prayer. I’ll attach a suggested list at the end of this. (It’s not too late to start.)
Larry Thompson was my 7th-grade nemesis. He was old for his age. A 7th grader with facial hair, fully developed muscles, and the bravado of a kid that had spent the last 3 years in junior high school. Most of the teachers gave him a wide berth. And for some reason, he decided to make me his personal target of bullying and persecution.
You know that old advice about just hitting him right in the nose. Doesn’t work when he has you by a foot in height and 50 pounds. I tried it one day. He caught my fist before it came close to making contact, turned and laughed at his peeps while still holding my puny little punch, then proceeded to pound me into the ground.
I can’t tell you how many times I prayed Psalm 52 over him. “Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Vs 1 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin. Vs 5 😊 But he kept beating me up and he kept boasting about it.
Maybe you have a foe in your life who seems to be getting away with murder and boasting about it. Somebody you work with is a complete slacker and you have to carry their load. A sibling has your parent’s ear and you feel slighted. Maybe the enemy is a medical condition or a marriage that is not good. Whatever it is, we all face those boasting bullies sometimes and ask God when He will put an end to it. David is running for his life from the bully Saul.
You know what, sometimes God does, and sometimes He doesn’t. Our job is to continue to trust God and keep our eyes focused on Him. God may be trying to teach us something. God may be trying to teach the people around us something. God may be trying to teach the bully something. We just do what David did. “I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever. For what You have done, I will always praise You.” vs 8-9
Keep trusting God. The bully in your life will come around or be taken out. And the Child of God will always come out on top. It might take a while but eventually, you will make it to high school and Larry Thompson will be repeating 8th grade for the 2nd time. 😊
40 Days of Lent Scripture Reading
Feb. 14 Psalm 51 John 1:1-18
15 52 1:19-39
16 53 1:40-51
17 54 2:1-11
18 55 2:13-25
19 56 3:1-21
20 57 3:22-46
21 58 4:1-20, 39-42
22 59 4:27-38, 43-54
23 60 5:1-15
24 61 5:16-47
25 62 6:1-15
26 63-64 6:16-24
27 65 6:25-40
28 66 6:41-59
29 67 6:60-71
March 1 68 7:1-24
2 69 7:25-44
3 70 7:45-52
4 71 7:53-8:11
5 72 8:12-30
6 73 8:31-47
7 74 8:48-59
8 75 9:1-25
9 76 9:26-41
10 77 10:1-21
11 78:1-39 10:22-42
12 78:40-72 11:1-16
13 79 11:17-44
14 80 11:45-57
15 81 12:1-11
16 82 13:1-17
17 83 14:1-14
18 84 14:15-31
19 85 15:1-17
20 86 15:18-16:4
21 87 16:5-16
22 88 16:17-33
23 89 17:1-5
24 Palm Sunday 92-93 12:12-50
25 90 17:6-25
26 91 18:1-14
27 94 18:15-27
28 Maundy Thursday 95 18:28-40
29 Good Friday 96 19:1-42
30 97 20:30-21:14