Thursday, June 4, 2026

Opening Scripture

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 1 Timothy 6:6-8

Opening Prayer

Gracious Father, you are our refuge and strength. You are our ever-present help in times of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Almighty God, you are our fortress, our safe place. Help us to delight in you and trust in you today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 18

I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies. The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy with great bolts of lightning he routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God.

All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great. You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.

I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me. You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—to the Lord, but he did not answer. I beat them as fine as windblown dust; I trampled them like mud in the streets. You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me, foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey me. They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.

 The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me. Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name. He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing love to his anointed, to David and to his descendants forever.

Reflection  

The introduction to today’s long passage says: “For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.”

Psalm 18 is presented in 2 Samuel 22 with slight variations. It helps set the context for this song of praise by remembering what happened in the preceding chapters:

• After repeatedly trying to kill David in the book of 1 Samuel, Saul fell on his sword after being critically wounded in a battle with the Philistines. Still, David and his men grieved over the deaths of Saul and Jonathan.
• The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time, but David’s forces grew stronger as Saul’s forces grew weaker.
• After defeating Saul’s forces, David was anointed king over Judah and Israel. The kingdom was united and prospered. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years.
• David’s forces conquered the Jebusites and took control of the fortress of Zion, the City of David, Jerusalem. “David became more and more powerful because the Lord Almighty was with him.” David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.
• David’s army fought and defeated numerous surrounding nations, and “the Lord gave David victory wherever he went.”
• David seduced Bathsheba, murdered her husband, and was rebuked by the Prophet Nathan. There was dysfunction in David’s family from then on.
• David’s son, Absalom, conspired against his father, causing a national crisis. Ultimately, David had to flee for his life, and eventually, Absalom was killed.
• More intrigue and infighting followed, as well as a famine that lasted three years. A bloody debt was repaid against Saul’s descendants.
• Israel had another war with the Philistines, and David became exhausted. His officers urged him to stay back, and then they killed four giants (one with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot).

This is where today’s passage comes in. This poem celebrates the sovereignty and goodness of God in delivering David from a vast array of enemies over many years. It’s a royal hymn of thanksgiving.

David begins by acknowledging the greatness of God, his Rock, Fortress, Deliverer, Shield, Horn, Salvation, Stronghold, Refuge, and Savior. Truly, the LORD alone is worthy of praise!

David recounts his suffering and desperation, as well as God’s miraculous intervention. “The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.”

God has rescued David from numerous attempts on his life and given him victory against much larger armies. God “stormed” against David’s foes, demonstrating His absolute power and authority over all creation.

David also praises God for guiding him in righteousness, “not doing evil by turning away from God.” Though sinful and flawed, David remains humble and faithful. He knows that it is God who enables him to remain king.

Flourishing Habit

Happiness and Life Satisfaction

David’s life, as recorded in the Bible, is literally “an open book.” Scripture offers a detailed account of his successes and failures from beginning to end. His songs are a diary expressing the lyrics of his life. David was “a man after God’s own heart,” yet far from perfect. Today’s psalm is a journal entry, summarizing years of fighting enemies, running from adversaries, trusting God, and leading people. It is a song of gratitude by a victorious warrior-king, who is now at peace.

It is difficult for us to imagine what life was like 3,000 years ago when David was writing these psalms to Yahweh. But then, most of us can’t imagine what it is like for people in many places around the world today. We are incredibly blessed as a nation. The daily struggle for so much of the world’s population is completely foreign to us. The scarcity and rawness of their everyday existence are more akin to King David’s reality than ours.

A person’s sense of “flourishing” depends a lot on their expectations and to whom they compare themselves. Globally, over the last hundred years, poverty and child mortality have gone down while literacy and democracy have gone up; however, that hasn’t made most people feel better about their own situations.

Comparing yourself to someone online inevitably leads to dissatisfaction. Social media platforms foster a “comparison culture” that prompts users to measure their lives against curated images. In that setting, a person’s expectation of what’s required for “happiness” is significantly influenced by marketing.

On the other hand, our work over the years with the Cebecar people in the Central American jungle and the Fulani people in the West African desert creates a very different context for comparison. The “culture shock” that one experiences after spending significant time living with those wonderful people makes even the most modest conditions back home seem extravagant.

In some ways, we’re victims of our prosperity. Our expectation of what we “should have” is largely out of alignment. As we saw yesterday, Choir Director Asaph envied the prosperity of the wicked. It seemed to him that the ungodly had no problems at all. “They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.” That’s an example of “comparison dissatisfaction.”

Are you generally grateful for and satisfied with what you have?

Who do you tend to compare yourself to when it comes to material things?

How is God shaping your perspective in this area?

As our Opening Scripture says, “godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!