Daily Bread
Psalms 4:3-8 NKJV
3 But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly;
The Lord will hear when I call to Him.
4 Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the Lord.
6 There are many who say,
“Who will show us any good?”
Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.
7 You have put gladness in my heart,
More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.
8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;
For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
It was Jesus quoting from Scripture when He told Satan that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God. Jesus likened God’s Word to spiritual food. To ingest it, we read it, speak it, think about it, and act upon it. So here is some good food, and unlike physical food, we can feed on this anytime, with no adverse side effects.
“Know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly.” We are not guessing; we know this. So we can say, Lord, I know You have set me apart for Yourself and not for calamity but for good.
“The Lord will hear me when I call to Him.” That would be worth saying every day. If David can say it as a servant of God, then we can certainly say it as one of His children. Sure beats drowning in doubt about our prayers being heard. The Lord hears me!
Be angry and do not sin. That’s a relief. We can have feelings of intense anger without resorting to sin. As opposed to sinning, we can meditate in our hearts and be still. The fact that meditation leads to stillness indicates we are not meditating on how to get revenge on those who made us angry. This is a solution for anger issues. And tied right into that is to offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. One of the sacrifices of righteousness is to bless those who curse you. Then we put our trust in the Lord and put that situation in His hands.
We believe that it’s the Lord who shows us good. His countenance or His favor toward us causes good in our lives. God can cause us to be glad even more than those people who see material gain and increase. Anyone can be glad when things are looking good, and increase is evident. But we can be glad in the Lord all the time, in seasons of good or lean.
And for those having a problem sleeping, not an uncommon situation for many today. But our daily bread is declaring that we will lie down in peace and sleep because the Lord is taking care of me. He is the one who makes me dwell safely. David faced physical danger, and most of us are not having to believe just to arrive safely through the night. But we can still have things that bother us and steal our sleep. These are the things we give to the Lord. He is the One who is taking care of us.
Daily bread. Daily food from God’s Word that touches many areas of our spiritual and natural life.