OUR DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries
JANUARY 14, 2023
READ: Psalm 120 & Psalm121:1-2
MEMORY VERSE
“Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.” Psalm 120:2
BACKGROUND
“Christian consciousness begins in the painful realization that what we had assumed was the truth is in fact a lie,” Eugene Peterson wrote in his powerful reflections on Psalm 120.
Psalm 120 is the first of the Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120–134) sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. And as Peterson explored this in A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, these psalms also offer us a picture of the spiritual journey toward God.
That journey can only begin with profound awareness of our need for something different.
As Peterson puts it, “A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way… [One] has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace.”
It’s easy to become discouraged by the brokenness and despair we see in the world around us—the pervasive ways our culture often shows callous disregard for the harm being done to others. Psalm 120 laments this honestly: “I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war” (v. 7).
But there’s healing and freedom in realizing that our pain can also awaken us to a new beginning through our only help, the Savior who can guide us from destructive lies into paths of peace and wholeness (121:2). As we enter this new year, may we seek Him and His ways.
By: Monica La Rose
INSIGHT
Psalms 120 and 121 are among the Psalms or Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120–134), which were most likely memorized and sung as the Israelites traveled to Jerusalem for the feasts of Passover (Unleavened Bread), Weeks, and Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:16).
Some of these ascent psalms are assigned to David (Psalms 122, 124, 131, 133) and one is attributed to Solomon (Psalm 127), but most have no listed author. This diverse group of psalms includes lament psalms, thanksgiving psalms, a royal psalm, wisdom psalms, and more.
Yet although they may not have been written to be used as ascent psalms, they were later used for that purpose.
Psalm 120 is an individual psalm written by someone far from home longing for the peace of Jerusalem (vv. 5–7), while the reassuring words of Psalm 121 instill confidence in pilgrims making the journey to Jerusalem.
Today, the Psalms of Ascent continue to be significant in worship for both Jews and believers in Jesus.
By: Alyson Kieda
APPLICATION
How have you become accustomed to destructive ways? How does the gospel invite you into ways of peace?
PR’s (PASTOR RICHARD) TAKE
“I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” Romans 7:21-25 (nlt)
PR’s RE-EMPHASIS (From Post)
“That journey – the spiritual journey towards God – can only begin with profound awareness of our need for something different.”
PRAYER
“Loving God, help me yearn for and work for Your ways of peace through the power of Your Spirit”
TODAY’s HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“O HAPPY DAY”
O happy day that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Savior and my God!
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.
Happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray,
And live rejoicing every day;
Happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away!
O happy bond, that seals my vows
To Him who merits all my love!
Let cheerful anthems fill His house,
While to that sacred shrine I move.
O Happy Day…
‘Tis done, the great transaction’s done;
I am my Lord’s and He is mine;
He drew me and I followed on,
Rejoiced to own the call divine.
O Happy Day…
Now rest, my long-divided heart,
Fixed on this blissful center, rest;
Here have I found a nobler part,
Here heavenly pleasures fill my breast.
O Happy Day…
High heaven that hears the solemn vow,
That vow renewed shall daily hear;
Till in life’s latest hour I bow,
And bless, in death, a bond so dear.
Happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray,
And live rejoicing every day;
Happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away!
READING THROUGH THE BIBLE DAILY IN 2023
GENESIS 31-33
MATTHEW 10:1-20