Today Daily Devotional

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from . . . my cries of anguish?
— Psalm 22:1

Let’s be honest. Life can be hard. There are times when the only sounds we can make are silent cries and laments. And we may wonder, “Where is the faithful God who has promised to be with us?”The Bible includes lots of texts that reflect the range of human experiences and emotions. At times we need to cry out to God. Sometimes we need to pour out our hearts and ask God, “What is going on?” and, “Where are you?”Psalm 22 is a psalm of lament written by Israel’s King David when he was distressed and alone. In this situation it seemed that God had abandoned him.This psalm also points directly to Jesus and his experience. It opens with a key question— the same question Jesus asked on the cross (see Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). When we read of Jesus being mocked and afflicted, stripped of his clothes and attacked from every side, we know that the God who inspired David as a psalmist certainly had Jesus’ suffering in mind as well.We also find that Jesus is the answer to all our wondering about pain and sorrow. He took on the pain and sorrow of the world so that he could bring us what we cannot gain for ourselves: full life forever with the God who is faithful.

Dear God, thank you for inviting us to cry out to you as children cry for their parents in times of trouble. In the pictures we see in this psalm, may we find encouragement that you are with us as you have promised— in Jesus. Amen.

Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
— Numbers 21:9

Israel had a lot to learn about being the people of the holy and faithful God. In our story today the people grew impatient with God again as they traveled through the wilderness.They spoke against God and against Moses, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” Sometimes the Lord was merciful when the people acted so rebelliously, but other times, when they had gone too far, the Lord sent punishment. This time the consequence for their actions was a plague of venomous snakes, and a number of the people died from snakebites.What would happen next? How would salvation appear for these unfaithful people?In what is a preview of the saving work of Christ, a bronze snake became an instrument of healing and life. Moses made a bronze snake and lifted it up on a pole, and the people were told to look at this snake and live. Many years later Jesus explained that this miracle in the wilderness pointed to the gift of his own life for us all (being lifted up on a cross—John 3:14-15). Through this act of faith, we are freed from death!In the coming week, as we focus on the time of Jesus’ suffering, death, and rising to life again, let’s remember that, like God’s people in the wilderness, we are lost without God’s faithfulness.

Lord, we can be so rebellious and stubborn in our resistance to you. Help us to look to you and believe in Jesus, who was lifted up for us. Amen.

The LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
— Exodus 32:14

While Moses met with God and received the law for the people, he was away for a long time—40 days and nights (Exodus 24:18). The people of Israel grew tired of waiting and wondered why they couldn’t make an image of God that they could see for themselves. Aaron, the brother of Moses, had seen all the goodness and amazing power of God while he worked to bring the Israelites out of slavery. But Aaron did not stand up to this mob. Instead he became the artist who melted down all kinds of gold objects to make a sculpture of a golden calf.Aaron pointed to the golden calf and proclaimed that this was the god who had brought them out of Egypt. Even with the Ten Commandments still fresh in the minds of the people, they held a festival to commemorate this image that could not see or hear.The living God saw and heard what the people had done, and he told Moses that he was about to destroy them. But Moses stepped in between the faithful God and the faithless mob. Moses pleaded not on the basis of the people’s actions but on the character of God—his faithful character and his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.This work of Moses as a mediator pointed ultimately to the work of Jesus, who paid with his own life for our salvation and also intercedes with God for us. We still need Jesus as our mediator today—and he never fails.

Lord, we are still prone to make idols rather than worship you. Forgive us, we pray. Thank you for giving us Jesus as our ultimate mediator. Amen.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
— Exodus 20:2

When we think about the faithfulness of God, the Ten Commandments are probably not among the first things that come to mind. After all, one of the main uses of God’s law is to show us that we are sinners. The commandments help us to see that we need God to save us from sin and that we need to confess our sins and ask the Lord for forgiveness.When God first gave his law to his people, they had been rescued from slavery in Egypt, but they were still dealing with being slaves to sin. God was calling them to live a new life in him that would serve as a blessing to all nations, and they needed to learn that.So do we. God’s commands are designed to be a guide for daily living, reminding us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The law ultimately points us to Jesus for salvation and shows us how to live in gratitude to the one, true, faithful God.God knew that his people who first heard the Ten Commandments would soon wander from him and break their promises. But at the heart of their new creation is the faithful God who will always seek them and watch over them.God is faithful from one generation to the next. Just as he sought after and cared for his people in the desert, God faithfully seeks after and cares for us every day.

Lord, thank you for your commandments. May we follow them as your recreated people—saved by grace to live for you in a world that still needs to know you as the one, true, faithful God. Amen.

The LORD kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt. . . .
— Exodus 12:42

It was not easy to convince the Pharaoh of Egypt to release the people of God from slavery. Finally, after a series of ten plagues that brought suffering, destruction, and even death to countless families throughout the land (Exodus 7-12), Pharaoh urged the Israelites to go.Moses had also told the Israelites to ask the people of Egypt for clothing and silver and gold, and the Lord “made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for.” So the people of Israel left Egypt that night with plenty of supplies—even great wealth— along with their flocks and herds of animals.Surely this was more than the Israelites could have imagined. They had been slaves for generations in the land of Egypt, and now the Lord had made it possible for them to be freed. What’s more, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had provided abundantly more than they would need as they began their journey to the land God had promised them.One of the key phrases in this passage is that God “kept vigil.” Have you ever kept vigil? As a parent, I remember times of watching over a sick child during the night, constantly checking to see if our child was all right and moving into recovery. God is like a parent watching over his children—always. The Lord cares for us, wanting each one to flourish and enjoy the blessings of full life.

Dear God, thank you for watching over us. We may wonder where you are at times—we may even cry out—but may we see and trust that you hold us faithfully in your hands. Amen.