Words of Hope Daily Devotional
START EVERY DAY WITH HOPE
Get the Words of Hope Devotional and get daily encouragement to love God, read His Word, and meet with Him in prayer. Available in print and email.
START EVERY DAY WITH HOPE
Get the Words of Hope Devotional and get daily encouragement to love God, read His Word, and meet with Him in prayer. Available in print and email.
THE DEVOTIONAL IS AVAILABLE IN YOUR EMAIL AND IN PRINT.
The Words of Hope Devotional is a non-profit, donor-supported publication whose goal is to encourage readers to grow in faith through the practice of daily Bible reading and prayer.
DINNER WITH JESUS
Breakfast on the Beach
The Faithfulness of God
Read: Psalm 91
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you. (vv. 2-3)
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency? . . . I’ll send an officer to you right away.” While many of us may never hear these words, we all make that distress call, at one time or another, in our prayers to God for his protection, for us not to be afraid—of the night, the darkness, the destruction—of the dangers of life that lurk everywhere (vv. 5-6). We look to him to take us “under his wings” (v. 4) and let him be our “refuge” and our “fortress” (v. 2) in times of trouble.
Throughout Psalm 91, God is presented in several ways, but all of them deliver the same message: security. God is a high tower in whose shadow we can be concealed (v. 1), a mother bird shielding us (v. 4). God is a “safe house” in times of despair, and will save us in times of distress: we “will not fear” (v. 5); no harm will befall us; no disaster will come near us (v. 10). Crucially, this security is available because the psalmist claims it in God (vv. 2, 9).
For all that Psalm 91 says, it most definitely lets you know that when we make God our refuge, when we make that call for help, we can be assured in his faithfulness that he will receive us. So, next time we face fear, we can pray the words of Psalm 91 with confidence, claiming all its promised benefits because God in his grace chooses us.
As you pray, ask how you can surrender yourself in times of trouble.
About the Author
Ariana D. Den Bleyker is a Pittsburgh native currently residing in New York’s Hudson Valley. She is the author of two devotional poetry collections,To Be Held by the LightandWaking in the Light. She is an ordained deacon in the Reformed Church of America.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rev. First Last
David Bast is a writer and pastor who served for 23 years as the President and Broadcast Minister for Words of Hope. In his more than 40 years of devotional writing and preaching, he has been encouraging believers around the world to be shaped by God and his Word.
Prior to his ministry and work at Words of Hope, Dave served as a pastor for 18 years in congregations in the Reformed Church in America. A graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, he is the author of nine devotional books and Bible studies, including Why Doesn’t God Act More Like God, Christ in the Psalms, and A Gospel for the World.
Dave and his wife, Betty Jo, have four children and eight grandchildren. Dave enjoys reading, growing tomatoes, and avidly follows the Detroit Tigers.
Known to Them
Read: Luke 24:25-35 He was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (v. 35) When my late father-in-law led us in prayer, he would often add this thought: “Forgive us our sins and our shortcomings.” It was a
A Meal in Emmaus
Read: Luke 24:13-27 He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (v. 27) After his resurrection, Jesus met with his disciples, friends, and family on several occasions. Some of these gatherings involved food! In one instance,
The Lord’s Supper
Read: Luke 22:14-23 Do this in remembrance of me. (v. 19) There are some passages which are so familiar that we seem to stop reading them closely or stop listening to them with fresh hearing. This passage, when Jesus instituted
Washing the Disciples’ Feet
Read: John 13:1-15 I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (v. 15) The disciples had shared many meals and many conversations together during Jesus’s ministry on earth, but those
Dinner with Friends
Read: John 12:1-11 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.” (v. 7) Dinner with friends is usually a sweet time of fellowship and special remembrances, but it can be especially
Dinner with a Tax Collector
Read: Luke 19:1-10 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. (v. 6) We have seen Jesus at a dinner where he was scrutinized, tested, and challenged by those who considered themselves to be irreproachable. But what happened