The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading PlanSample

The Just God

God’s Story

Psalm 7: David’s enemies are after him, accusing him of evil. But David is innocent and he appeals to the just God to defend him and crush his enemies.

Psalm 8: David is in awe: The Planet-Crafter and Star-Holder cares about people and their lives, even putting them in charge of his magnificent earth.

Psalm 9: God has crushed David’s enemies, and David can’t help but sing for joy to the God who sets everything right.

Psalm 10: The wicked seem to be winning, and the psalmist calls on God to rise up. In the meantime, he consoles himself: God sees, he knows and he will tenderly take care of the victims. God will make sure that all will be well.

Psalm 11: Trouble is coming to the psalmist, but he’s already resting in God. God sees everything and measures everyone’s hearts.

Psalm 12: David has been lied to and he’s tired of unfaithful people. But God’s words are trustworthy, so he puts his hope in them.

The King’s Heart

“The wicked, those who love violence, [God] hates with a passion . . . For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face” (Psalm 11:5,7).

When cheaters win, when hypocrites posture, when innocence is stolen, when truth is mocked, we know it isn’t right. It angers us, infuriates us. An instinct rises up in us, and we know that it’s evil, unjust.

That instinct isn’t instinct — it’s image. God’s image. In us. God hates evil too.

Evil angers God. He abhors it — passionately, fervently. He is good and his ways are good, and violating those ways means that safety is shattered and people get hurt. And God doesn’t just dislike that, he vehemently hates it.

God hates evil. It is an echo — and often an orchestration — of the enemy. Evil is not the way of God’s kingdom. It is a misfit. When our good God ushers in his kingdom for all time, evil and the minions that spawn it will be banished forever. Until then, we can stand in solidarity with our King — hating and pushing against it.

Insight

Many Biblical scholars think that Psalms 9 and 10 were originally one psalm. That’s partly because each of the two psalms include incomplete acrostics, with Psalm 9 containing the first part of the Hebrew alphabet and Psalm 10 containing the rest.

Taken from Discover God’s Heart