Author: Dave M Price

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Ding

Daily Reading

Psalm 51-57

Daily Thought

David displays a desperate desire to deal with his sin and be restored to righteousness. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,” he pleads. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Psalm 51:10, 12). You hear in his cries the shame of sin, but it is not that which drives him. He misses his Father, “Against you, you only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). Inside all sin is a sadness, a scarred remembrance of the holy wonder of our creation.

A friend in college, Craig, bought a sporty little 1978 MG Midget. Sweet car, nice looking, good paint. And then he got a ding, a 4-inch gash on the left front fender. Several weeks passed and I asked if he was going to fix it, but it was a lot of money and his insurance would go up, and, “well, no,” he said. “Maybe I can put up with it.”

“How often do you notice it?” I asked.

“Every single time I get in the car,” he said. 

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3). 

I gave him the number of a good body shop. 

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1).

Daily Prayer

My God and Savior, what an amazing love You have for me. You sent Your only Son, the only sacrifice sufficient for my sins, so that I might be made righteous. You created me in Your image, and yet I turned to the pleasure of sin and away from the joy of paradise. Still You are willing to forgive me, to invite me back in the family, to create in me again a clean heart.

Restore right desires in me. Renew my love for righteousness and justice. I am sorry for my sins. I will turn away from them and follow You. Make me new again.

Amen

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All of Me

Daily Reading

Psalm 46-50

Daily Thought

In Psalm 50, God says he wants everything because he wants nothing. He wants your sacrifice because he doesn’t need your sacrifice. This makes no sense; or it makes all the sense in the world if you understand that religion and worship are not the same thing.

God calls Israel to judgment, “Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me” (Psalm 50:8). Okay, you are religious, says God. Let’s examine your religion. “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psalm 50:14-15). Your religion is a formula: give God what he wants and he will give you what you want. You are using God to serve yourself. But, “every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills,” says God. “I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine” (Psalm 50:10-11). God doesn’t need anything. The formula doesn’t work. Now what?

Now you can worship. You can give God everything because he needs nothing, and, therefore, you can trust him fully. What are you giving him that is not his already? Yourself, and that is worship.

Daily Prayer

Father in Heaven, The world is Yours, and all that is in it. You are the source of every good and every blessing, and the greatest blessing is I am Your child. You have adopted me back into Your family by making me righteous again through the saving work of Your Son. You call it grace. I call it good news.

You have given me everything, God. I give it all back. It’s yours, all of me. Now tell me what to do!

Amen

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Great Sinners

Daily Reading

Psalm 40-45

Daily Thought

David begins the 40th Psalm, “I waited patiently for the Lord” (Psalm 40:1). That seems proper, but by the end of the psalm, David’s mood had changed, “O Lord, make haste to help me!” (Psalm 40:13). What happened to patience?

Verse 12! “For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.” David counted his sins.

David warns against the proud, “those who go astray after a lie” (Psalm 40:4). The lie is, “I am not so bad,” and therefore their god is not so big. Great sinners, on the other hand, need a great Savior, and David’s sins were countless. He was that bad, he needed God, and he needed him now.

As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God! ~Psalm 40:17

Daily Prayer

My God, keep me from comfort in sin. May I love Your righteousness so much that I never delay to confess and turn away from the wrong I do. Thank You that Your mercy is endless because my sins are countless, and I need your never-ending forgiveness.

Develop in me a habit of goodness, that I would desire to do what is right all the time. When I fail, pick me up and set me on the right path again, and I will do the next right thing. I want my life to reflect Your glory, so others will desire the same salvation You have given me. I love Your salvation!

Amen

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Delight

Daily Reading

Psalm 36-39

Daily Thought

The serpent spoke to Eve, “Did God actually say…” (Genesis 3:1). Nothing has changed; “transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart” (Psalm 36:1). Sin still talks to us. Made in God’s image, we must be deceived to sin. “You will not surely die,” said the serpent. “You will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). The lie is not that we don’t know, but that God is somehow not the final word. Every sin is deception, “there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.” (Psalm 36:1-2).

Our defense against sin is not willpower, then, but worship, finding our delight in God’s delight, “for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). The fruit of the tree was delight to Eve’s eyes, but rather “delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4), transforming our corrupted desires as we “drink from the river of your delights” (Psalm 36:8). Drink often, drink deep.

Daily Prayer

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. ~Psalm 36:5-11

Amen

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Barking Dogs

Daily Reading

Psalm 32-35

Daily Thought

Dogs protect their homes. Annoying barking dogs. King David thought he got away with it, and he almost did.

Psalm 32 is David’s inside thoughts about the events of 2Samuel 11 and 12. The story begins, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, King David remained in Jerusalem.” Sin’s moment arrives when you are not where you should be. The soldiers were away, and the wife of one of them was available. She conceived a child. To cover it up, the king brought the husband home from battle. If Uriah would enjoy a night with his wife, no one would know David had, but Uriah was one of David’s mighty men, an honorable man who does not take pleasure when his fellow warriors battle. The king got Uriah drunk, but Uriah’s integrity was stronger than the wine and Uriah slept on the porch. So, the king sent Uriah back to battle and arranged his murder in battle. David believed, at last, his secret was secure. He could rest. When you finally get a sin wrapped up all nice and tidy, you breathe a sigh of relief.

But the dogs kept barking. David had robbed their home, so they barked. Adultery, Woof, Deceit, Woof. Murder, Woof. And they don’t let up.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. ~Psalm 32:3-4

Pray that you never find rest in sin. Worse than the barking would be peace with iniquity. Because of the dogs, David found the just discipline of the Lord, and it hurt. But through the pain, he also found God’s mercy and grace. He found peace.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. ~Psalm 32:1, 7

Thank goodness for barking dogs.

Daily Prayer

Father in heaven, you are holy, you are good. Your kingdom is righteous. I long to live forever, a righteous man in a righteous kingdom. Do what it takes to prepare me for Your kingdom.

Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my thoughts. If there is any wicked way in me, straighten my path. Lead me in the way everlasting.

Amen

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God Is One

Daily Reading

Psalm 26-31

Daily Thought

The Shema is the centerpiece of the Hebrew prayer life. Shema means “Hear,” and it is the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” a prayer many Jews utter twice daily, their first words in the morning and final words before bed. A daily reminder that there is one, and only one, God, and he is our God and we are his people.

The Shema is the predominate sense of the Psalms. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; The Lord is the stronghold of my life” (Psalm 27:1). The Lord our God, the Lord is one. But more than that, the Lord is not only one, he is number 1. When that’s true, our Sunday morning language changes from “Do we have to go to church today?” to “Do we get to go to church today?”

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple. ~Psalm 27:4

How many walk into church as if God should be glad they are there? David sought God’s permission to enter!

Our social apps invite us to check in at the places we visit. One family checked in to church on a Sunday morning and commented, “God 1st.” Later that afternoon, the family checked in again, this time at Oracle Park, “Baseball 2nd ~ Go GIANTS!!!” Wrong team (Go DODGERS!), but they got it right. God is One. Everything else get in line.

Daily Prayer

God, my Savior, I offer myself, body, soul, and spirit, as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to You. I love You, heart, soul, mind, and strength. Transform me, God, to reflect Your glory, to resemble Your Son.

You would rather I obey than play religion. My obedience is not a demonstration of my righteousness, but a sign of my love. I want to know Your Word, follow Your ways, and live in Your love. God, my strength comes from You; my life centers around You. Nothing more, nothing less.

Amen

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The Old Saw

Daily Reading

Psalm 21-25

Daily Thought

Something broke at my parent’s house and I needed tools, so I went to my dad’s workbench in the garage. I easily found the hammer because it was hanging in the same spot it has hung for forty years. One hammer. I thought of my tool chest where there are two identical hammers. In fact, I have two of lots of things, two of too much. There on the wall was my dad’s old circular saw, the same old drill, the same old level. I could keep going. It was a pleasant trip of nostalgia because I had used many of these tools as a teenager.

I buy a lot of backups and upgrades, and my dad does not, and his life is better for it. It is not that he is stripped to his mere needs, but his life is free of wants and full of delights because he delights in what he has. I delight in what is new, and therefore I want what’s next and what’s different. I want too much because I delight in too little.

The most familiar Psalm begins, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1), and the next line is telling, “He makes me…” (Psalm 23:2). I do not go on my own, but I am learning to follow my shepherd, and he leads me not to my wants or even my needs, but to his delights. Somehow green pastures and still waters restore my soul. I thought a full life meant having more, but it doesn’t. I have two of too many things.

Daily Prayer

Loving God, You promise a life that is full, even overflowing. My life is full of clutter. Let’s clean it up. God, teach me to love what You love, to share Your delights, to seek righteousness and goodness and purity and beauty and truth, things of eternity more than things of today.

May I pursue the One that I truly need, the One who fills my heart, the One who created me and leads me in the right direction. I love what You promise, that if I follow You, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. That is what I want!

Amen

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Goldilocks

Daily Reading

Psalm 17-20

Daily Thought

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). When the Pharisees asked Jesus to silence his followers, Jesus replied, “If these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:40). Nature cannot help itself. “Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psalm 19:4).

Scientists who study the world and the stars speak of the anthropic principle. It says that we can trace backward in time to discover the narrow set of circumstances that brought human life to earth. For example, the earth is exactly the right distance from the sun and our atmosphere has the perfect blend of gases, the sun is the proper temperature and ice floats. Most solids sink, but if ice sunk, it would gather on the bottom of the oceans and never melt, and pretty soon the whole ocean would be frozen solid and there would be no life. It’s dubbed the Goldilocks Effect, everything is just right. Everything is perfect for us to be here now. It makes sense because if the universe wasn’t exactly right for us, there would be no “us” to look backward, and here we are. It’s almost as if someone intended it to happen.

That’s why the first six verses of Psalm 19 speak of the majesty of God in the heavens and the earth and verse 7 sums it up, “The law of the Lord is perfect.” God’s Law worked and continues to. The opening words of the Bible, “In the beginning God” (Genesis 1:1), introduce a providential purpose to our life and our world. Someone intended us to happen and here we are. It makes sense, then, to keep following God’s laws. They got us here successfully; they will keep us here, as well.

The rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward. ~Psalm 19:9-11

Daily Prayer

My God, Creator of everything, this world and all that is in it. I have no world without You, nor does anyone else, whether or not they yet acknowledge it. It truly is good to know You, because there is no good without You.

You created me special, me and every other man and woman. A special place on earth, bearing Your image, governing Your creation, caring for this planet and its inhabitants. May I know Your laws and live Your laws so that my life will be blessed, and a blessing to all life around me. May I reflect You and Your ways in what I do, so that our eyes will look to You, and our knees will bow, and our tongues proclaim that You are God.

Amen

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Cut the Cake

Daily Reading

Psalm 9-16

Daily Thought

It’s supposed to be a fair system, one which puts an end to arguments. One child cuts the cake, the other chooses the first piece. It should have worked. It’s not difficult to draw a line down the middle, but neither child was looking for fair. The trick was to cut the cake at a slant so one piece looks bigger, but is actually smaller. Both children sought the advantage and neither wanted mom cutting the cake because she might be fair. And, to be honest, neither wants more cake–just more than the other.

Nothing’s changed. Watch Congress reline the districts or nations draw up treaties. No one aims for fair and there are no straight lines. The Hatfields and McCoys keep fighting not to get even, but to get even plus a little more. “Ties,” snarls the football coach, “are like kissing your sister.” The system favors the devils. “Nice guys finish last” is how Leo Durocher saw it. So, nasty ones finish first? “For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul. His ways prosper at all times” (Psalm 10:3, 5), and for a time, it seems, the wicked win. That’s our system, the system of advantage, of fair plus a little more. “The one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 10:3-4). We don’t want mom cutting the cake, and he gets the bigger piece, for awhile. 

But not the better piece. Who cares about more cake! “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (Psalm 16:5-6).

Daily Prayer

My God, there is nothing in this world that satisfies me. For a brief time, I find something fun, but then I want something more or something else, and I spend my life looking. Until I found You, or I should say, You found me. I wasn’t looking for You, but when You showed up, suddenly there was peace and contentment, strength and worth, a hope and a future. Now I have nothing to gain because You are all I seek. And I have nothing to lose because You provide all I need. I have stopped looking and started living. The life You give is truly abundant and overflowing.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

Amen

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I Pray

Daily Reading

Psalm 1-8

Daily Thought

In front of my parents’ house grows a towering redwood, over 50 feet high. It is beautiful and strong, a majestic tree. We planted two on our front lawn when my family moved into the house in 1973. They were 8 feet high then, and over the summer we watched as one grew and one did not. We watered them both, but one seemed to drink the water, to delight in the water, and it flourished. The other did not, dried up, and died. Today I can point to the spot the other tree was planted, but there is no trace it was ever there.

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away (Psalm 1:3-4).

I was a teenager in 1973, and prayer was difficult. Speaking to someone unseen felt odd. I repeated myself a lot and talked like King James, “Thee” and “Thou.” One day I opened the Psalms and was surprised by the words. They were my words, the expressions I longed for, “Give ear to my words, O Lord” (Psalm 5:1), and “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers” (Psalm 8:3), and “I will fear no evil for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4). I began to pray the Psalms, to walk with a Bible in hand and pray God’s Word back to him. “Fight against those who fight against me” (Psalm 35:1), robust words that declared my thoughts and desires. I learned to pray by praying the Psalms, to “delight in the law of the Lord, and on his law meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:2). That man is described as blessed. That man will grow like a tree planted by streams of water.

Daily Prayer

O Lord my God, early in the morning I stop and wonder what this day will bring. What have You set before me? Prepare me to meet the wonders and challenges and opportunities and delights of this world. Fill my heart this morning with Your grace and truth, make me wise and give me courage and compassion.

May I be strong in Your love today. Whether I meet friend or enemy, may my life express Your Gospel. May I do good and right, and may You be praised.

Amen