Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

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  October 4th - James 5:9 04.10.2026 2Min.

  James 5:9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! The Bible introduces us to lots of grumbling people. Most famously we hear the people of Israel having a whinge after God had miraculously led them out of slavery in Egypt. They had been there for 400 years and, at last, had been set free by the mighty hand of God. The yoke of oppression had been broken and they were now able to enjoy the sweet taste of freedom. But almost immediately their response was to grumble because things weren’t working out in the way they had hoped. Nothing much has changed. Grumbling continues to consume huge amounts of time and energy in every part of society. You would hope that churches would be a glorious exception to this rule but, sadly, this isn’t true. James is concerned about this and is severe in his words. Grumbling shouldn’t be taken lightly. It seriously damages the spiritual health of a church and God will judge it. You have been warned! How should we respond to all of this? Billy Graham once observed: “Grumbling and gratitude are, for the child of God, in conflict. Be grateful and you won’t grumble. Grumble and you won’t be grateful.” I find this helpful. We have a choice to make, and God’s desire is that we should live our lives with gratitude – gratitude to God for all that He has done for us and an attitude of gratitude towards the people around us. Gratitude is always God’s way for us. Question What are you going to do when you are next tempted to grumble? Prayer Lord God, forgive me for grumbling, and by Your Spirit nurture in me an attitude of gratitude. Amen
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  October 3rd - James 5:7-8 03.10.2026 2Min.

  James 5:7-8 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Waiting sounds easy until you have to do it! As we all know, waiting can be incredibly difficult and demanding, especially if you don’t know how long you are going to have to wait for. Waiting for medical test results, or for a member of the family to make contact or for someone to repay a debt – any of these can sap your energy and leave you feeling exhausted, disappointed and confused. The challenge we have to face is that Christians are called to be a waiting people. We are all waiting for the Lord’s return, and no one can be sure when it is going to happen. The one fact which is definite is that He will return, because that is what He promised to do. Israel is a very hot country, but it also enjoys a considerable rainfall. There are two distinctive times of rain: the early rain which starts in October and the latter rain which falls in May. The farmers there can wait for the rain with confidence, and in the same way we are able to live our lives with the certainty that history is in God’s hands and that, one day, Jesus will definitely return, just as He promised. Question Are you ready for Jesus to return today and, if He doesn’t, are you willing to wait with patience? Prayer Thank You Lord that history is in Your hands. Help me to be ready for Jesus’ return, whenever it happens. Amen
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  October 2nd - James 5:1-2 02.10.2026 2Min.

  James 5:1-2 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. You can almost see the steam coming out of James’ ears, can’t you? He is furious at the way in which the rich people are abusing their position. His very specific gripe is that they have failed to pay their workmen for mowing their fields. For James, this isn’t a little economic problem. This is an evil that has reached the ears of God Himself, and the rich people are heading for certain judgement. The Bible isn’t against rich people. However, God certainly [itals]is[end itals] against anyone who abuses others, and on many occasions, scripture reveals times when rich people have abused their position and exploited others. Wealth, in itself, is a good thing, because it is part of God’s creation. However, we live in a world where the majority of people live in poverty, and about 10% of people live in extreme poverty. Our responsibility is to be good stewards of what God has put in our hands. We need to use whatever God has given us wisely and ensure that the most vulnerable are protected and cared for. James wants us to know that we all have a role to play in sharing God’s good gifts. Question What do you own and how could you use it more effectively to help vulnerable people? Prayer Thank You Lord for all my possessions. I recognise that they have come from Your hands, and I ask Your Holy Spirit to help me to use them in a way that will glorify Your name. Amen
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  October 1st - James 4:13-14 01.10.2026 2Min.

  James 4:13-14 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. We are constantly encouraged to plan for the future. Whether we are looking at our family, our housing, our holidays or our pensions, we are under continual pressure to make good plans. I don’t think James is telling his readers not to do any planning, but he does want to prick the bubble of their arrogance. They thought that their life was their possession and that they could do what they liked with it. Not so, says James. The first consideration should be to discover God’s will. This means that when we do our planning, we should do it on our knees in prayer. We should reflect that our lives are a gift from God and that our families, education, talents and possessions are all part of His gracious generosity to us. In prayer we need to seek His will for the future, so as we make our plans we need to hold them in humility before Him. Seeking to know God’s will is our primary task in life. The reason for that is quite simply because God’s will is, by definition, the best possible future for us. Question Which of your life plans do you need to commit afresh to God today? Prayer Thank You Lord that You love me so much that You always want the best for me. Help me to seek Your will first in all that I do today. Amen
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  September 30th - James 4:7-8 30.09.2026 2Min.

  James 4:7-8 Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Life can often feel like a battleground. There is great evil in the world, and any newspaper will illustrate that in agonising detail. But there is also immense kindness and goodness all around if we have the eyes to see it. Daily life can often feel like a pitched battle between good and evil. James is concerned that his readers should make good decisions as they live on this battleground and that they should give undivided loyalty to God. It is true that the Devil is active and that his entire objective is to destroy. He “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for people to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). However, the really good news is that God is stronger, so we don’t need to live in fear of the Devil. If we resist him, he will flee from us. When Jesus died on the cross, He won the ultimate victory over the power of evil, so our task is simply to claim that victory. Through Jesus’ death on the cross and the knowledge that our sins can be forgiven, we can live our daily lives with confidence. In the name of Jesus we can stand up against all the evil that this world chucks at us knowing that as we come close to God, He comes close to us. Question Given that the Devil is so active and destructive, in what specific ways do you need to resist him? Prayer Lord Jesus, I praise You that because of Your death on the cross and Your resurrection, I can live today with complete confidence. Amen
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  September 29th - James 4:6-7 29.09.2026 2Min.

  James 4:6-7 Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Did you know that God is capable of hatred? Perhaps you think God is so nice that He couldn’t bring Himself to hate anything. However, the Bible is quite clear that God seethes with hatred at times. In Proverbs 6:16, we learn that God hates seven things, and top of the list is pride. God’s problem with pride is that it is a complete rejection of Him. The proud person doesn’t have any need for God but lives a life in defiance of His will, so we read that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. We therefore need to unpack carefully what this word ‘humble’ means, because it is clearly the gateway to true blessing. Humility doesn’t sound too attractive. We have awful images of people putting on an act, claiming to be but a mere worm and totally unworthy. That’s what we can neatly call false humility. True humility is the reverse of pride. The proud person has hands that are so full of their own excellence that they are unable to receive anything from God. The humble person stands in complete contrast and comes to God with empty hands, longing to receive His blessings. Humility is quite simply the key that unlocks the door to the life that God wants us to live. Question Think of somebody in whose life you have seen true humility. What have you learned from their example? Prayer Lord, thank you that You are so eager to bless my life. Help me to come to You today with empty hands, ready to receive whatever You want to give me. Amen
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  September 28th - James 4:2-3 28.09.2026 2Min.

  James 4:2-3 You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Dream for a moment. If you could have anything in the world, what would you choose? A beautiful large home; a yacht; a luxurious holiday; perfect health; world peace? Read on its own, James 4:2 suggests that we just need to ask God and we will get it, but verse 3 makes it clear that we need to ask with the right motive. That means God loves us so much that He doesn’t necessarily give us what we say we want. Imagine for a moment that we did get whatever our selfish desires demanded. Everything would happen in exactly the way we wanted, and at precisely the time that we demanded it. For a brief moment, it sounds like the perfect world. We would be in absolute control. However, the Bible has a technical word to describe such a place – it’s called hell. It’s the place where God is not. Our selfish desires have pushed Him out. What James is telling us is that God, our gracious loving Father, has a better plan. The conclusion is that we need to ask, and keep asking, but ensure that we are asking for the right things in the right way. We need to tune our thinking into God’s thinking so that all we ask for will be a blessing. Question What are you asking God for today? Prayer Lord God our Father, I worship You because You love me perfectly and delight to give me the best gifts. Amen
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  September 27th - James 3:17-18 27.09.2026 2Min.

  James 3:17-18 The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Many churches observe that they have very few people in their 20s and 30s. Whenever I’ve asked people in that age group what they are looking for, one theme dominates: authenticity. They are looking for Christians and churches which ring true because they practise what they preach. James was on exactly the same page and was ruthless in addressing those who say the right words but live a phoney life. What he longed for was truly wise people. Living wisely is attractive in every way. The wisdom comes directly from God, but it has very down-to-earth implications. James draws particular attention to the fact that wise people love peace and go out of their way to make it. The word for peace that James uses here is built on the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom means peace, but much more than merely an absence of conflict and tension. It means the presence of God who brings life and renewal to every part of our lives. He wants us to know His peace in our families, our work, our leisure, our churches and our communities – everywhere. And when God fills us with His peace, He commissions us to be peacemakers, which will result in an amazing harvest of righteousness – everything that is best. Who wouldn’t want that? Question In what situation could you be a peacemaker today? Prayer Loving God, You are the source of all true peace. Give me a longing to be a peacemaker today and the wisdom and strength to be nothing less. Amen
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  September 26th - James 3:3-5 26.09.2026 2Min.

  James 3:3-5 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is incredibly powerful. I recall the story of a young man who had shared some gossip about the local clergyman. Having heard about the rumours, the clergyman, with great gentleness and wisdom, took the young man to the top of the church tower. Once there, he handed him a feather pillow and asked him to rip it open. The feathers floated all over the village and some of them, lifted by the air currents, headed off into the far distance. The clergyman then invited the young man to put the feathers back into the pillow. The young man protested that this was impossible, and the clergyman pointed out that was exactly the same with the rumours he had been spreading. Once our words have been spoken, they have a life of their own. There is no way they can be taken back. Harsh and badly chosen words can wound people for years to come. But well-chosen words can bring life, encouragement and joy for years to come. It is a reminder that we need to be careful whenever we open our mouths. Question Who will you be able to encourage today? Prayer Loving God, help me to speak words today that will bring life, peace and joy wherever they go. Amen
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  September 25th - James 2:15-17 25.09.2026 2Min.

  James 2:15-17 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. You’ve probably noticed that Christians use a lot of words! Preaching, singing, praying and fellowship all involve oceans of words, and that’s fine – as long as those words also translate into action. You can preach the finest sermon, sing the most beautiful worship song, pray the most articulate prayer and enjoy the warmest fellowship, but if godly actions don’t result, it is all a dangerous waste of time. Don’t you love James? He doesn’t ever beat around the bush, instead going straight for the jugular every time. He wants to see every Christian busily involved in turning their fine words into action. He is appalled at the thought that someone who claims to love God could see a Christian brother or sister in need and do nothing about it. It should never happen. There is much poverty in our own society and around the world. It is good to pray for people and wish them well, but we must also take action. Whatever our gifts, we are all able to do something, and if we are serious about following Jesus, we must find what that something is. Question How will you put your faith into action today? Prayer Gracious Lord, forgive me for the times when I have failed to turn my faith into action. Help me to reach out with love to the poor people in my own community. Amen.
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  September 24th - James 2:1 24.09.2026 2Min.

  James 2:1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism. Do you have any favourites? Or do you look at other people in exactly the same way whatever their age, education, wealth, beauty, race or religion, irrespective of whether you know them or not? The first question suddenly got more difficult, didn’t it? We would all be keen to claim that we don’t have favourites, but James points out to his readers that favouritism very easily creeps into our thinking. James describes an agonising situation that could occur in a local church. An obviously wealthy person comes to a service and is welcomed generously and given a good seat. He is followed by a scruffy man, whose poverty is plain for all to see, who is told rudely to sit down or find a place on the floor. In his typically blunt way, James declares boldly that this should not happen. The main reason why favouritism shouldn’t happen is that God doesn’t do it. God welcomes everyone whoever they are, and we are called to do the same. On the face it, this sounds very reasonable and straightforward, but it is in fact very difficult to do because we all have preferences and we all get on with some people better than others. We all have work to do to ensure that our churches reflect God’s heart and throw their arms open to every kind of person, whoever they are. Question What would you do if you saw favouritism taking place in your church? Prayer Lord, forgive me if I have allowed favouritism to creep into my thinking. Help me to welcome everyone in the way that You do. Amen
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  September 23rd - James 1:23-24 23.09.2026 2Min.

  James 1:23-24 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like I love the way James writes, but I’m not sure he would make easy company. He is so incredibly blunt! Here he makes the obvious but powerful point that there would be no use in looking in a mirror if it didn’t cause you to do something as a result. If you learn that your hair looks a complete mess, action is required! Reading the Bible is not like reading any other book. Other books might be entertaining, interesting or informative, but they will rarely change our lives. The Bible is one of the principal ways in which God has chosen to speak to us, so if we merely read the Bible as a beautiful work of literature, we have missed the point. In Psalm 1:3, the writer speaks of the result of meditating regularly on God’s word. He says that those who do this are “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers”. By reflecting deeply on the Bible, we allow God’s wisdom to enter into our ways of thinking and acting. Every part of our lives cries out for God’s wisdom, whether we are looking at our employment, relationships, possessions, leisure or future. God has something to say to us and longs for us to listen. Question What actions are you going to take as a result of reading the Bible today? Prayer Lord, help me to listen more carefully to the Bible and to allow its words to shape my life. Amen
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  September 22nd - James 1:5 22.09.2026 2Min.

  James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Life constantly throws challenges at us. How should I be spending my time and money? Should I move to a different job? How can I resolve the dispute that I’ve got with my neighbour? Should I tell my colleague that he’s annoying me? How should I go about telling my daughter that I think she’s seeing the wrong people? And 1,000 other questions! The Bible focuses a lot of attention on the subject of wisdom in both the Old and the New Testaments. Wisdom is very different from knowledge. You can have all the knowledge in the world but it will do you no good at all if you are not wise. Here, James points to God as the source of wisdom and encourages his readers to understand that God loves sharing His wisdom with us. We learn a lot about wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Solomon speaks of wisdom as a woman who has built her house with seven pillars. For him, the fundamental truth was that “fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Writing about 1,000 years later, James agrees with Solomon. Wisdom comes from God. That doesn’t mean we will immediately become wise when we become Christians. Far from it! But it does mean we have a personal relationship with the One who is the source of wisdom, together with an assurance that He can’t wait to share it with us. Question What do you need wisdom about today? Prayer Lord, please help me to seek Your wisdom with greater determination. Amen
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  September 21st - James 1:2-3 21.09.2026 2Min.

  James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Having problems, trials and difficulties hardly sounds like the best way to create joy – let alone pure joy! So what is James talking about? He’s taking his readers to the heart of the Christian faith, which turns everything upside down. James is not saying that when we face difficulties it’s a bundle of fun. He is speaking to people who knew what it was to suffer for their faith, and he wants them to know that when we place our difficulties in God’s hands, He produces something incredibly exciting. Something which lasts. Something which takes us closer to the heart of God, and that always produces joy. I’m not suggesting you should now go out and tell your friends who are suffering at the moment that they need to burst into joyful song and perform cartwheels in celebration. That would be ridiculous and totally insensitive, so don’t do it! But you can encourage them because God is at work, and as they share their tough times with Him, He will bless them and strengthen them and give them that perseverance which we all need in order to live effective and fruitful lives. Joy is the inevitable and amazing result of placing our lives in God’s loving hands. Question In what ways have you personally experienced joy in times of difficulty, and how could you pass on that encouragement to other people? Prayer Lord Jesus, thank you for the good news that You are with me in every difficulty that I face. Thank you for Your gift of joy even in the toughest times. Amen
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  September 20th - Psalm 137:3-4 20.09.2026 2Min.

  Psalm 137:3-4 Our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? This is an agonising psalm. The people are in exile far from their homes. Sitting by the rivers of Babylon, they were about 1,000 miles from their beloved Jerusalem. In their misery, they couldn’t bring themselves to make music, so they hung up their harps on the branches of poplar trees. However, the local people insisted that they wanted to hear their happy songs. This reminds me of many visits I’ve made around the world where people, especially children, gather round and ask for a song. But the exiles could think of nothing worse. In despair they cried out: “how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” The pain and awkwardness of living in exile is the experience of every Christian. We are here on earth on a very temporary basis. As the apostle Paul put it: “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). God wants us to enjoy our lives to the full and give ourselves completely to life on this earth, but we must always remember that our true home is elsewhere. It is very easy to understand the despair and sadness of exiles, but it is possible to sing the Lord’s songs in a hostile environment. Christians have proved for centuries that it can be done. Hard as our circumstances may be at times, there is always much to sing about. Question To what extent do you feel like an exile? Prayer Loving God, help me to learn what it means to be a citizen of heaven. Amen
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  September 19th - Psalm 136:1-3 19.09.2026 2Min.

  Psalm 136:1-3 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. Those are just the first three verses of this psalm. It has 26 verses in all, and they all end with the refrain “His love endures forever.” You have to feel that the psalmist is trying to make a point! During the psalm, he points to the wonder of God’s creation and the way He had helped the people of Israel through their turbulent history, illustrating the consistent love of God for His people. As a foster carer I learned a great deal about attachment. In order to be secure and develop in a healthy way, every child needs to have a firm attachment to a parent or carer. If that attachment is disturbed and unreliable, there can be serious consequences for the young person which will often continue throughout their life. This psalm is all about attachment. God promises to love His people and to do so consistently forever. The psalmist celebrates the fact that this had been the experience of the people of Israel through the centuries. They could, therefore, look to the future with confidence, knowing that God would continue to love His people and provide for them. This can be our own experience if we live close to God. Just like the psalmist, we can live our lives celebrating God’s consistent love for us. Question How firm is your attachment to God? Prayer Lord God, I thank you that You love me completely and give me the strength to love others day by day. Amen
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  September 18th - Psalm 133:1-2 18.09.2026 2Min.

  Psalm 133:1-2 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It’s always inspiring to see unity at work. Whatever the organisation, it is encouraging to see a group of people working effectively and happily together. Whether it’s a football team, a school, business, family or church, it is a blessing to see everyone working together in harmony. The thought of anointing oil being poured over a person sounds quite sticky and messy to me, but it’s clearly intended as a picture of generous blessing. As the oil falls down, everyone can smell the beautiful fragrance and share in the joy of unity. Whatever way you look at it, unity is something to be celebrated. The beauty of unity should inspire us all and encourage us to do two things. Firstly, we need to receive the unity that God longs to give us and which we discover as we live our lives more closely to Him. Then, secondly, we need to put in the hard work of looking after that precious gift. The apostle Paul wrote: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). Day by day, we need to look for ways of promoting unity, through our prayers, love, encouragement and kindness. It’s hard work, but the results are beautiful and inspiring for all to see. Question What can you do to promote unity in your church and family? Prayer Loving God, thank you for the gift of unity. Help me to go out of my way to maintain and strengthen unity today. Amen
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  September 17th - Psalm 132:3-5 17.09.2026 3Min.

  Psalm 132:3-5 [David vowed:] “I will not enter my house or go to my bed, I will allow no sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.” When David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel, it was a major political event. However, for him it was far more than a political moment. David saw the city as a spiritual centre for the nation. This would be the place where people would come to worship, so the first need was to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. When this happened, David was so exuberantly joyful that he famously danced before the Lord with all his might. Relocating the ark was the first step towards the building of the temple. This didn’t happen during David’s lifetime, but he went to great lengths to ensure that all the resources were brought together so his son Solomon could oversee the building of the temple. David was totally committed to the temple project because of his devotion to the Lord. Towards the end of his reign, David organised phenomenal quantities of metal and wood to be brought together for the temple construction. He himself contributed 102 tonnes of gold and 238 tonnes of silver. The value of this in today’s money would be well over a billion pounds! We won’t be invited to build a temple, but we need to learn from David’s single-minded devotion to God. Serving God faithfully needs to be our priority and our all-consuming passion. Question What do you learn from David’s devotion to God? Prayer Lord God, help me to focus more of my energies on serving You day by day. Amen
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  September 16th - Psalm 131:1-2 16.09.2026 2Min.

  Psalm 131:1-2 My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. CH Spurgeon, the great Victorian Baptist preacher, commented that this is “one of the shortest psalms to read but one of the longest to learn”. Learning to be humble is so tough that anyone who claims to have achieved it has a very long way to go! Humility is a wonderful and exciting quality in a person because the truly humble person knows where they stand before God. They recognise His greatness and power and understand that they are privileged to be His servant. They don’t exaggerate their own importance and are eager to see everything that is best in those around them. I don’t believe King David was suggesting that the humble person avoids difficult issues. Far from it, the humble person is more likely to take on the big challenges. It is the arrogant person who falls flat on their face when they take on great challenges in their own strength and fail. David says that he has become like a weaned child. At the time, children were weaned at about the age of three. It’s as if David was saying that he was like a toddler in his relationship with God. He wasn’t a baby any longer, but he was still continually and humbly dependent on God. And that’s the life God wants for each one of us. Question From whom have you learned most about humility? Prayer Loving God, teach me what it means to be humble and to live like a weaned child. Amen
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  September 15th - Psalm 130:3-4 15.09.2026 2Min.

  Psalm 130:3-4 If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. One day in 1738, John Wesley reluctantly attended a Christian meeting In Aldersgate Street, London. He was feeling thoroughly depressed, but during the meeting someone read from Martin Luther’s Preface to the letter of St Paul to the Romans and Wesley felt that his heart was “strangely warmed”. He saw this as the moment when he truly trusted in Christ alone. What is less well known is that, later that same day, Wesley went to St Paul’s Cathedral where he was deeply moved by this particular psalm. It perfectly expressed his experience of salvation through the forgiveness of his sins. The psalmist speaks of the completeness of God’s forgiveness. He doesn’t keep a record of our sins. They are wiped out. When someone has done you wrong, the hardest part is often to forget what has happened, but that’s what God does. He chooses to erase our sins completely from His memory. The psalmist knew that his life was totally distorted by sin. He couldn’t think of standing in God’s presence. But now the door was open to a new life in which he could confidently stand before God and serve Him. This message of forgiveness comes into sharpest focus in the New Testament because it was precisely why Jesus died upon the cross. Through Jesus taking the full weight of our sin upon Himself, He is able to offer us new life. Question How do you respond to the fact that God is willing to forgive and forget all your sins? Prayer Loving God, thank you for Your willingness to set me free from my sins. Amen