Our Daily Bread -- Marking Time July 19, 2016

Read: Psalm 25:1-15 Bible in a Year: Psalms 23-25; Acts 21:18-40 Let no one who waits on You be ashamed. —Psalm 25:3 nkjv The military command, “Mark Time, March” means to march in place without moving forward. It is an active pause in forward motion while remaining mentally prepared and expectantly waiting the next command. In everyday language, the term marking time has come to mean “motion without progress, not getting anywhere, not doing anything important while you wait.” It conveys a feeling of idle, meaningless waiting. In contrast, the word wait in the Bible often means “to look eagerly for, to hope, and to expect.” The psalmist, when facing great difficulties, wrote: “O my God, I trust in You; let me not be ashamed; let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed” (Ps. 25:2-3 nkjv). We often have no choice about the things we must wait for—a medical diagnosis, a job interview result, the return of a loved one—but we can decide how we wait. Rather than giving in to fear or apathy, we can continue to “march in place,” actively seeking God’s strength and direction each day. “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day” (vv. 4-5 nkjv). —David McCasland Lord, give me grace to embrace the pauses in my life, and to be prepared to follow Your next command. Waiting on God is active trust in Him. INSIGHT: The book of Psalms is actually a collection of 150 songs/poems written for and used in Hebrew worship. These songs were composed over the span of approximately 1,000 years, stretching from the time of Moses to Israel’s post-exilic period. Psalm 25 is designated as an individual lament and is attributed to David. Dennis Moles Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

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Our mission is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. Our vision is to see people of all nations experiencing a personal relationship with Christ, growing to be more like Him, and serving in a local body of His family. To read today's Our Daily Bread online visit www.odb.org. Copyright © 2016, Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA. Written permission must be obtained from Our Daily Bread Ministries for any further posting or distribution. Scriptures taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved.   Our Daily Bread Ministries | 3000 Kraft Ave | Grand Rapids, MI 49512 Manage Your Subscription.