LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Thursday 1st May 2025
BE STILL
Scripture Reading: Psalm 4
Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah Offer the sacrifices of righteousness And put your trust in the Lord Psalm 4:4–5
In verse two, the Psalmist, David, spoke about the people who had set themselves against him. He described them as those who sought to turn his glory to shame; and those who loved worthlessness and falsehood. Should we respond when such people rise against us?
Be angry, and do not sin.
David’s counsel to himself and us is that we do not allow our anger to lead us to transgress God’s Law. God permits us to be angry when people treat us vilely. However, the Lord does not want our anger to drive us to do wrong. We must allow the Holy Spirit to take the sting of anger from us so that we don’t stretch our hands to repay evil with evil. It is acceptable to feel angry about how someone might have mistreated you, but it is not acceptable to take it upon yourself to act like them.
Be still and meditate in your heart.
Instead of allowing our hurts to drive our thoughts wildly, we must learn to quieten our thoughts. By quietly lying down to ponder on God’s nature and goodness, He will fill our hearts with His peace. Christian meditation involves thinking about the Lord’s attributes and allowing His word to settle in our minds. As we keep our minds on the Lord, we see Him as He is – Almighty and Able.
Offer the sacrifices of the righteous.
The sacrifices of the righteous are praise, worship and adoration to the Lord Most High. True worship takes our attention from ourselves so that we can focus our attention on the Lord. Anger is selfish; worship is selfless. When we are angry, all we strive for is for God is justify us. When we worship, all we seek is for God to glorify Himself. Do you feel surrounded by those who seek your destruction? Learn from David and offer your heartfelt worship to the Lord.
Put your trust in the Lord.
In verse two, David described those who wanted to turn his glory to shame as ‘sons of men’ – mere men. The people who are against us are just mortal humans. But the one who is for us is the Eternal One. Let us put our trust in Him.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I offer my sacrifice of worship and adoration to you. Keep me away from acting in anger. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
