“When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like
those who dream.  Then our mouth was
filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting; then they said among
the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”  The Lord has done great things for us; we are
glad.”  (Psalm 126:1-3)

The citizens of Zion are the
faithful of the Lord.  Yes, the faithful
experience trials and tribulations. 
Jesus promised them.  But He also
promised that for all who are faithful, everything they experience will have
done them some good.  Learn to listen to
the Lord and be thankful that His hand is upon you.  The Lord has done things for you that are
beyond your imagining.

 Lord, help me to not be so circumstantial in my faith.  Help me to learn how to live by faith, trusting you every moment of every day.  Guide me according to Your goodness to see each day Your hand in life.  Lead me to be as You are, according to Your perfect, merciful and good will.  Help me get out of the way so I can be what You are creating me to be.  Teach me faithfulness in all things.

Lord Jesus, who is the author and
finisher of my faith, guide me by Your grace this day to live faithfully.  Keep me from stumbling, but even when I
stumble, teach me Your Sovereignty.  In
all things, be my Savior and the One who leads. 
Let me be counted amongst the citizens of Zion that I may dwell in Your
presence forever.  Lead me this day into
the Father’s will.  Amen.

“Do good, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are upright in
their hearts.  But as for those who turn
aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them away with the doers of
iniquity.  Peace be upon Israel.”  (Psalm 125:4-5)

We may think sometimes that the
grace of Jesus covers all of our sins. 
Yes it does, and no, it does not. 
If we think of it only as an outward salve to heal us, that it will do;
but the virus of sin will continue eating away at us.  If we take grace within, we will see that it
will attack the virus and slowly the goodness of God will grow in us.  The new heart is an upright heart that begins
the true healing.

Lord, let me not be simply comforted by Your Gospel, but help me to be
healed by Your Gospel.  Lead me ever
deeper into the truth of the grace You have given me.  Take it ever deeper into my soul that I would
grow in grace and live into the life to which You have called me.  Help me to not resist Your grace, but accept
through hearty repentance and true faith every direction in which You may lead
me.

Lord Jesus, You have come that we
might have a new life.  Help me to not
stop with the outward application, but take deep within me the truths of the
changed mind and heart You will create in me. 
Eradicate the virus of sin that I would become ever more holy in preparation
for the perfect and holy life You will give at this life’s end.  Lead me, O Lord, to where I need to go.  Amen.

“Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be torn by their
teeth.  Our soul has escaped as a bird
out of the snare of the trapper; the snare is broken and we have escaped.  Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made
heaven and earth.”  (Psalm 124:6-8)

The promise of salvation is for
all who come into the freedom that only the Lord gives.  Yes, there are trials and travails in this
age, but when the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.  You are free from sin, death and the
devil.  The name of the Savior is “God’s
salvation.”  Abide in the Savior and he
will abide in you.  In Him is found the
freedom of eternity and the hope of the ages.

Lord, in this world I do not feel free. 
I feel entrapped by all of the wickedness that is around me.  Help me to realize that I have been freed by
Your grace and can now abide with you day in and day out.  Lead me away from the traps and snares of
this age.  Help me to hold fast to the
truth You have shown me.  Guide me in the
salvation You have prepared in the sight of all people for Your name’s sake.

Lord Jesus, I need what You alone
can give.  Teach me what all of this
means.  Lead me in the way of salvation.  Guide me this day that I may learn from You
how to walk in freedom.  Show me what is
true that I may not fall into temptation and practice the things from which You
have freed me.  You are the Savior and
You alone know all that is needed.   Lead
me into Your truth.  Amen.

“Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be torn by their
teeth.  Our soul has escaped as a bird
out of the snare of the trapper; the snare is broken and we have escaped.  Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made
heaven and earth.”  (Psalm 124:6-8)

The promise of salvation is for
all who come into the freedom that only the Lord gives.  Yes, there are trials and travails in this
age, but when the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.  You are free from sin, death and the
devil.  The name of the Savior is “God’s
salvation.”  Abide in the Savior and he
will abide in you.  In Him is found the
freedom of eternity and the hope of the ages.

Lord, in this world I do not feel free. 
I feel entrapped by all of the wickedness that is around me.  Help me to realize that I have been freed by
Your grace and can now abide with you day in and day out.  Lead me away from the traps and snares of
this age.  Help me to hold fast to the
truth You have shown me.  Guide me in the
salvation You have prepared in the sight of all people for Your name’s sake.

Lord Jesus, I need what You alone can give.  Teach me what all of this means.  Lead me in the way of salvation.  Guide me this day that I may learn from You how to walk in freedom.  Show me what is true that I may not fall into temptation and practice the things from which You have freed me.  You are the Savior and You alone know all that is needed.   Lead me into Your truth.  Amen.

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“Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,” Let Israel now say,
“Had it not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us, then
they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger was kindled against us;
then the waters would have engulfed us, the stream would have swept over our
soul; then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.”  (Psalm 124:1-5)

If the Lord had not been on
Israel’s side, we may not have ever heard of them.  Look at history and you see that the Lord
preserved the people He chose.  And from
this, know that if you are in the Lord’s promise, you will be preserved by the
Lord.  Do not let wickedness sweep over
your soul, but come and live into the hope and promise the Lord gives to those
who are His.

Lord, take my eyes off of my immediate circumstance to see that You
have always preserved those who live in Your promise.  Guide me according to Your will to walk as
You would have me walk knowing that only in You is there hope and a
future.  May I not resist You as You
minister to my spirit.  Guide me, O Lord,
in the way of truth that I may now and always abide in You.

Lord Jesus, You are the promise and the hope of every generation.  Let my soul be comforted by Your promises that I may abide in You as You abide in me.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way You would have me go this day.  Lift me up to be able to face whatever may come along that I may hold fast to the truth You have spoken.  Let Your Holy Spirit minister to me this day.  Amen.

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“Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious to us, for we are greatly
filled with contempt.  Our soul is
greatly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, and with the
contempt of the proud.”  (Psalm 123:3-4)

In our humanity, we are often
covetous of those who seem to have a better life than ours.  The Lord has given you the life you
have.  It is not what others have that
you see, but what you do with what you have that is important.  Look to the Lord and find the image of Him He
has placed in you.  Be built up in the
faith He has given you and walk the path He puts before you.

Lord, You know where my heart is. 
You know the difficulties I have in this world.  You also know the plans You have for me.  Guide me Lord in the way You would have me
go.  Lead me according to Your promises
to walk that path You have placed before me. 
Help me overcome those obstacles which shall come that I may learn to be
faithful according to Your Word and will.

Lord Jesus, You knew the course
that was laid before you.  In
faithfulness, You walked each day demonstrating the hope You give to all who
believe that by grace we would be saved. 
Lead me this day, O Lord, that I would walk humbly with You beside me,
forsaking the ways of this world.  In the
power of the Holy Spirit, guide me to trust in Your promises and not to look to
the left or the right for answers.  Help
me to always keep the eyes of my heart on You. 
Amen.

“To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens!  Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the
hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our
eyes look to the Lord our God, until He is gracious to us.”  (Psalm 123:1-2)

It is not that the Lord is
distant or holding back.  The word belief
is one of action.  The Lord desires that
our heart be transformed so that our action is one of a true heart that seeks
Him.  Draw close to the Lord and He will
draw close to you.  Is this not true of
every relationship you have?  It is two,
coming together.  The Lord is offering
mutuality and He will be gracious, but you must draw close to and abide in Him
through faith.

Lord remove any conditionality I have in my heart that I may earnestly
and honestly draw close to You.  Guide me,
Lord, by Your grace, that I would come to You and abide in You as You have promised
to abide in me.  Lead me ever deeper in
this relationship with You that I may now and forever be guided by You, Your
precepts and the grace, mercy and love that You grant to those who are Yours.

Lord Jesus, You have chosen
disciples and poured Your life into them. 
Lead me, O Lord, to be one of Your disciples.  Guide me according to Your goodness to see
the hope You give.  By Your grace, help
me to live into the faith You have given me that I would now and forever abide
in You and Your presence.  By Your
example, show me how to walk with You and to live as You teach me to live.  Amen.

“For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, “May peace
be within you.”  For the sake of the
house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.”  (Psalm 122:8-9)

In Scripture, we are told to
practice our faith.  It may not be
automatic, for we have been born in an age of rebellion.  When you know what is the right thing to do,
do the right thing.  Be guided by what
the Lord says and let your peace be upon others.  Seek what is right in the Lord’s sight and
practice those things He commands.  Learn
the way of the Lord and walk in it.

Lord, I often want instant fixes. 
I do not want to take the hard road of practice exhorted in Your Word.  Teach me to walk the walk You would have me
walk.  Guide me according to Your
goodness to live into the life to which You have called me.  Help me now and always to see the value of
living in a godly way each day.  Help me
in times of turmoil to do what is right in Your sight.

Lord Jesus, in spite of what
happened each day, You showed faithfulness in doing all that You did for the
Father’s sake.  By Your example, lead me
to walk faithfully each day, doing what is right in the Father’s sight.  Help me to learn faithfulness from You.  Place in my heart a desire to do what I need
to do in order to grow in wisdom and understanding as You taught when You
walked in this world.  Amen.

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“For there, thrones were set for judgment, the thrones of the house of
David.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.  May
peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.”  (Psalm 122:5-7)

We know the world is in the
midst of adversity.  It ebbs and flows,
but there has always been the adversity between what is right in the Lord’s
sight and what those opposed to the Lord desire.  The prosperity of the Lord is not in things,
but in Him.  He calls to all to come and
be in Him that He would be in them.  His
peace comes out of the relationship He gives through faith and by grace.

Lord, the adversity is in me. 
There are times when I am conflicted. 
Guide me by Your Spirit to look to You and live in Your peace.  Grant not just worldly prosperity, but
prosperity of the  heart that knows that
You are always present and near.  Guide
me according to Your goodness to seek the better things in spite of those
around me who seek other things.  May I
learn to walk with You rather than this world.

Lord Jesus, You are the model of
the godly life.  You also promised Your
peace upon those who walk in Your grace. 
Lead me, O Lord, in the way of salvation this day that I would dwell
with You and You with me.  Keep me from
those things which would deter me from walking faithfully with You.  May I know and always abide in You and You in
me.  Lead me this day, my Savior.  Amen.