Monday Morning Devotions

Ps. 145: 18- "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth."

This promise reveals just one glorious aspect of God’s character. It also provides a stark contrast to the pagan belief systems of David’s day. The pagan nations surrounding Israel believed the gods were so far removed from human kind that they had no personal interaction with those who worshipped them. The pagans believed that if their gods ever noticed them, it was because the gods were angry with them. The pagans were constantly seeking to appease the wrath of their gods. If a pagan found himself in distress, they didn’t bother to call upon their gods for aid and comfort. Their gods had no concern for the plight of individuals.

But David’s Lord, and our Lord, is radically different. He exists and the pagan gods do not. And He gives a measure of grace to all human beings: “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Ps. 145: 8-9). But while His grace is present in the lives of all, to those who may believe in Him but do not know Him, God seems remote. But those who trust in Him know He is near and that He hears. They have experienced God hearing them and delivering them from all difficulty. But to call upon God is not enough. Many religious people call upon God. But to them their calling upon Him may only be a ritual. Their heart may be full of sin, yet they think they can manipulate God into responding to them favorably because they performed the ritual correctly. But God responds only to those who call out in faith to Him and who, in faith, obeys what He commands. Those who are in such a relationship with the heavenly Father know by repeated experience that God responds to their cries. They know God is not a remote being dwelling in some far off place. They know He is near. Those Israelites who obeyed God knew this. How much more shall they know this who have the Son of God living in them through the Holy Spirit!

Scripture Quotations From The NKJV.