Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Psalm 92:1-3 It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp and the melody of a lyre. Throughout the psalms, we are continually reminded how good it is to worship God. In Psalm 84:10, the psalmist says that he would rather spend a single day in the presence of God than a thousand anywhere else! Our verses today remind us of the importance of worshipping God throughout the day. Worship needs to be woven into the fabric of our lives. We can’t do it occasionally or half-heartedly. It needs to claim the best of our energy and attention. Worship is of such huge importance because it needs to affect absolutely every aspect of life. The thought of worship being confined to a couple of hours in church once a week is completely foreign to the Bible. When we worship, we declare the greatness of God and seek to bring our lives into line with his will. One of the most comprehensive definitions of worship was provided by William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury during the second world war. He wrote: “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” Those challenging words demand very careful reflection, because all too easily what we do in church can be cheapened. Whatever style of worship we are used to, it is so easy for it to become a performance which we judge by our own particular musical preferences. Worship needs to be focused entirely on God. It is very easy for us to focus instead on the people who lead us and our reactions to their gifts and idiosyncrasies. True worship of the living God brings us to life in a way that nothing else can, so we need to make sure it becomes increasingly central to our lives, however busy we happen to be. Question Give yourself a few minutes to think this through. How central is worship in your life? Prayer Lord God, I ask you in the power of your Holy Spirit to give me a constantly renewed desire to worship you with all of my heart. Amen

Psalm 91:2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. I will never forget where I was when I heard the news of the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 2001. I was buying carpet with my wife in a large store in Exeter, standing at the till. A woman was describing to the shop assistant the awful events in such a way that I assumed that she was talking about a film. Such things don’t happen in real life – or so I thought! As I listened to the conversation, it suddenly became clear that she was talking about a real event, and the horror of it started to sink in. Thousands of people were snatched away in an instant. All of them had gone to work that day with the not unreasonable expectation that they would return home safe and well, but they didn’t. Such events are exceptional, thank God, but we all live in a precarious world where none of us enjoys complete safety and security. In such a world, it is important that we recognise where our ultimate security lies. This is a theme which the psalmists returned to time and again. They often reflected on the reality of life’s dangers and the ferocity of their enemies. They were often surrounded by attackers. They were fully aware that God didn’t stop them going through difficult and dangerous times, and neither does he offer to do that for us. We might like God to be a ‘Bridge over troubled water’, but time and again, the Bible tells us that he actually invites us to wade through the middle of those troubled waters. Our security lies in the fact that, as we face threats and challenges, he is with us. In Isaiah 43:2, God says: “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.” We might prefer it if God gave us a detour, but he doesn’t. His promise is that he will be with us when we face the waters, because he is our true security for time and eternity. Question How do you respond to the fact that in God, you are eternally secure? Prayer Lord God, I thank you that you are my refuge and place of safety and that I can look to the future with confidence and peace. Amen

Luke 2:37-38 [Anna] never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshipping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. In this part of Luke’s gospel, our eyes are focused on Jesus and his young parents. A new day had dawned that was full of hope for the future. It is important, however, that it was two old people, Simeon and Anna, who recognised the significance of his birth. They had lived so close to God that they were ready for this moment. Age can change people in very different ways. Anna had only been married for seven years before her husband died. She was now an old woman and had been a widow for many decades. She could have become sour and cynical with the passing of time, but her life was clearly focused upon God. She spent her days in the temple worshipping God, and this meant she was spiritually alert and quick to see what he was doing. In this beautiful moment, she came alongside Simeon as he spoke with Mary and Joseph and joined in the celebration. At the time, there were godly people, who were known as The Quiet in the Land. They devoted their lives to prayer and waited patiently for God to come. Simeon and Anna were such people, and their godly example should inspire us today. Over the years, I have met many older people who, as their mobility has decreased, have increasingly devoted themselves to prayer. I have been so grateful for their godly influence and encouragement and delighted that they haven’t gone the way of so many in becoming increasingly grumpy and negative with the passing of time. As we get older, let’s allow Simeon and Anna to set the standard for how we should serve God: always prayerful, expectant and full of praise. Question As you get older, what are you going to do to ensure that you become increasingly prayerful? Prayer Loving God, thank you for the wonderful example of people like Simeon and Anna. Help me to get closer to you and become more gracious and loving as I get older. Amen

Luke 2:28-31 [Simeon] took the child in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people.” Simeon was clearly an old man and had spent years waiting for this moment. When he saw baby Jesus, he recognised that this was the one who had been the focus of his prayers for all that time. The Messiah had finally come. Simeon had lived a good life. Luke described him as “righteous and devout” (v25), and that tells us that he had lived in the right way towards the people around him and had been committed to God. Now, as his life ebbed away, he found fulfilment in holding Jesus in his arms and bringing his praises to God. Simeon’s prayer is known by its Latin name as the [itals]Nunc Dimittis[end itals] and is used by many churches as part of evening worship. It is also often used in funeral services, and that’s easy to understand – here was a man who came to the end of his days at peace because of the Lord. In Jesus, he knew he was seeing the Saviour of the World, and that meant everything to him. There is no greater blessing than to know the peace that Christ gives. That is true at any moment in life, but as we slip from this world, we must all desire to know the peace that was Simeon’s experience. As a minister, I have often been with people as they have passed from this life. There is no greater privilege than to be with someone in those moments and to commit them into the hands of the Prince of Peace. I pray that you know his peace right now and will know it throughout your life until that moment when the Lord takes you to be with him. Question In what ways do Simeon’s words encourage and challenge you? Prayer Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of your peace in this moment and throughout my life. Amen

Luke 2:21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived. Three ceremonies took place after the birth of Jesus, just as they did for every Jewish baby boy. Firstly, he was circumcised. This practice dates right back to the time of Abraham and was a sign of the covenant between God and his people. It was absolutely essential for every little Jewish boy to be circumcised. A failure to do so was believed to lead to the extinction of the soul and the denial of a share in the life to come. It was such an important ceremony that it could take place on any day of the week, including the Sabbath. The Jews believed that every firstborn male, whether human or cattle, was sacred to God. They belonged to him, so they needed to be bought back from God. This was done for the cost of five shekels and could not be paid sooner than 31 days after the birth of the child. The third ceremony was the purification of the mother. In Jewish law, a woman who had given birth to a boy was ritually unclean for 40 days, and if she gave birth to a girl, she was unclean for 80 days. At the end of that time, the mother needed to present an offering to the Lord in the form of a lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon for a sin offering. That was reasonably expensive, so if the parents had limited means, they were able to bring two pigeons, and that was known as The Offering of the Poor. That was the offering that Mary brought and is a very clear indication of the poverty that Jesus experienced as a child. These ceremonies may seem very strange to us, but they underline the fact that children are a precious gift from God. The responsibility to care for a child is an awesome privilege and one which needs God’s constant strength and guidance. Question Why do you think it was necessary for Jesus, the Son of God, to go through these ceremonies? Prayer Lord God, I thank you for the gift of children. I pray today for all parents, asking that they will reach out to you and find your strength. Amen