Today's Verse

Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right. — Psalm 97:11 NLT

Devotion

The Lord God created all things and He rules and reigns over all things. As a result, it is incumbent upon us to acknowledge the truth of this reality. We should whole-heartedly acknowledge the Lord's ultimate status in the great scheme of things. Like the psalmist, we should say, "For you, O Lord, are supreme over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods." (Psalm 97:9). Instead of living in foolish rebellion against Him, instead of fighting against His rule and reign, we should submit to Him and get on His good side. After all, how far could you possibly get rebelling against God Almighty?

We should do even more than refuse to rebel or fight. We should hate doing these evil things. The psalmist says, "You who love the Lord, hate evil!" And, if we hate them, the psalmist goes on to say that there are benefits. The Lord ". . . protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked." (Psalm 97:10) In point of fact, there are many benefits. Our verse for today, for example, adds two more to the list of them.

First of all, the Lord God shines light on the godly. Although there may be times when we're stuck in the dark, times when we can't see the way forward, those times will never last forever. The Lord will send down light to us at just the right time and show us the way. He will not leave us in the dark. His light will show us what we need to do and where we need to go.

Second, the Lord will send joy to those whose hearts are right. In other words, the Lord will set up the course of our lives in such a way that we will have joy instead of heartache. Despite any trials and troubles we may face, He will make the arrangements necessary for joy to rise up in us.

The point, at bottom, is this: Stop rebelling against the Lord! Stop fighting against His will! Since you can't escape from His creation, since you can't escape from His rule and reign over it, then why not get on His good side, do what He wants, and reap the benefits that He makes available?