My defense is of God, who saves the upright in heart. Psalm 7:10
RECOMMENDED READING PSALM 7:1-17 “ O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.3 O Lord my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.6 Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.8 The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.10 My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.17 I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high..”
COMMENTS: Today’s Psalm is one of 73 psalms believed to be written by David. Many, like Psalm 7 reflect anxiety from being pursued by his enemies determined to kill him. Those forces were stronger and better equipped than he. He felt vulnerable and not prepared to do battle nor have hope of winning against his enemies. Over the years his enemies included king Saul and the Philistines and even his own son, Absalom. But when he felt weak and vulnerable, instead of looking for alliances with enemies of his enemy, he sought help from his God. He knew from his childhood that God had been faithful to him. Faithful when dangerous wolves and lions tried to take his sheep. Faithful when he faced Goliath. Faithful when king Saul sought to kill him.
David gives us wonderful insights into his inner thoughts and insights. He shares with us times of great anxiety and fear and doubt as well as times of great confidence and trust in God. He also shares with us his determined commitment to trust and follow God even when he was still fears and doubt. He shows us how to do this. He does this by recalling God’s past faithfulness, His promises from scripture, and also His promised personally made to David. Yet, when David’s sin was exposed, he knew the conditions of God keeping those promises was dependent on David’s faithfulness. For that reason, David would repent seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy. The example most familiar to us is when Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba and murder of her husband. Not many knew David’s hidden sin. David had convinced himself, as king, he had gotten away with it and that being king justified such indulgences. He was convincing himself that he was above God’s law. But he wasn’t and Nathan was able to force David to realize that. David could have dug his heels in and refused to repent, resulting in going down a path to destruction like his predecessor king Saul. But David chose a different path, a path of repentance. A path to redemption and life.
In 1849, cholera spread through America, resulting in death of 4500 people in St. Louis, 3000 in New Orleans, and 5000 in New York City. Victims had to be buried in mass graves. It was then President Zachary Taylor proclaimed a National Day of Fasting, calling on all Americans to “humble themselves before His throne, and while acknowledging past transgressions, ask a continuance of the Divine mercy.” He urged all Americans “to acknowledge the infinite Goodness which has watched over our existences as a nation, and so long crowned us with manifold blessings, and to implore the Almighty in His own good time to stay the destroying hand.”
The nations response came on Friday, August 3rd, 1849 when Americans filled churches across the country to pray. By the end of the month the death toll dropped suddenly and the plague abated.
How tragic this story has been missing from our school textbooks for past 50 years. Our children need to hear such stories so they too will discover our God’s faithfulness too.
Our nation and world are stained by sin, the greatest plague, and is subject to other plagues too. There is never a time we can’t humble ourselves before God’s throne, acknowledge our sins, and ask for a continuance of divine mercy. Where there is life, there is opportunity to pray and repent. God’s mercy is available to anyone who still draws breath, even during the last minutes of life.
His all-powerful hand can preserve and protect us, and His infinite wisdom can direct our affairs. His sovereignty is the source of our strength and stability.
“Things work out in our lives, not somehow, but sovereignly.”
David Jeremiah
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 454 blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present.
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials.
My hope and prayer are, my blog and devotional materials will become a source of encouragement and tools in ministry for you.
Published by donsdevotions
Don McDaniel - Who am I?
Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 74-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever.
Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me.
I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private.
However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool.
Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry.
He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 .
I have published 600 posts from 2016-2023 automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I decided to take a sebatical to prepare for a new chapter. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which affects patient ability to walk, drive, do physical work, and eventually talk. By mid 2023 it became evident our home for last 42 years (previously owned by my parents for previous 44 years and by my mother's grandparents for 39 years before that) would eventually not meet my needs so we decided to sell it and move into 1st floor of a duplex we also owned that was the town school from 1855-1913. Likewise, the property was requiring more maintenance that I was no longer able to keep up with. 2023 involved selling our home and moving into apartment next door and then in early 2025 an opportunity to move closer to our daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky which was completed in May 2025. For a number of months I have been seeking direction seeking God's direction and timing to return to blogging as my journey with Parkinson's continues to unfold with God's guiding hand in mine.
I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me since started this blog in 2016. I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward.
Don & Arlene McDaniel
In His Service,
Email: mcdanieldonald769@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ )
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials. View all posts by donsdevotions
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