Daily Devotion for November 5, 2025
Prayers
Scripture
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
Sharon Hopkins’ clear, pretty voice breathes new life into an old hymn.
1. Dearest children, God is near you,
Watching o'er you day and night,
And delights to own and bless you,
If you strive to do what's right.
He will bless you, He will bless you,
If you put your trust in him.
2. Dearest children, holy angels
Watch your actions night and day,
And they keep a faithful record
Of the good and bad you say.
Cherish virtue! Cherish virtue!
God will bless the pure in heart.
3. Children, God delights to teach you
By his Holy Spirit's voice.
Quickly heed its holy promptings.
Day by day you'll then rejoice.
Oh, prove faithful, Oh, prove faithful
To your God and Zion's cause.
Music by John Menzies Macfarlane, 1833-1892
Lyrics by Charles L. Walker, 1832-1904
Prayer to Bear Witness Before the World
Let all who take refuge in you rejoice, O Lord. Let us ever sing for joy. Let those who confess your name raise up their voice, filling the air with glorious noise. Spread your protection over us, mighty God, that we who love your name may exalt you before all the people of the earth. Let the quiet and the shy find their courage so that they may sing and shout to the sky, “There is one great God who rules over us all, and Jesus Christ of Nazareth is His only Son”.
May I be blessed to help the blind see your glory and the deaf hear your praise, lest they surely die. For they must be told: Every heart will find righteousness and eternal life in the holy name of Christ, and nowhere else. Make me your trumpet, make me your lighthouse; let me proclaim to the very end of the earth, that Christ is King!
Prayer of St. Augustine
Look upon me, O Lord, and let all the darkness of my soul vanish before the beams of thy brightness. Fill me with holy love, and open to me the treasures of thy wisdom. All my desire is known unto thee; therefore perfect what thou hast begun, and what thy Spirit has awakened me to ask in prayer.
I seek thy face. Turn thy face unto me and show me thy glory. Then shall my longing be satisfied, and my peace shall be perfect.
For Those Praying with Me
Heavenly Father, there are people praying with me, right now, whom I will never meet. I don’t know their names, or what country they live in, or what they may look like, but I will know their souls, for we are brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray that we might be united in the Holy Spirit, and that I will know and feel the kinship and love, in my spirit, of those who share these prayers with me.
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
Today’s “Remember the Bible” Question
Can you identify this verse? “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.”
Notice David with his harp, rendered inside the initial “B” (Beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum — “Blessed is he who walks not in the counsel of the impious.”
We also see young David at bottom left with his sling, preparing to meet Goliath (on the right).
Psalm 103:1-14 (NKJV)
The Love of God (Part 1)
less the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
Notes on the Scripture
Instead of going straight through Galatians, which might get tiring, we are going to do our Galatians study four days a week (Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri) and study verses from the Old Testament on Wed. and Sat.
We will start with one of the (many) magnificent chapters of the Bible: Psalm 103. This great psalm is too long for one day, so we will start on it today and finish up Saturday. We do not want to rush our reading; if you skimmed it, take the time to go back and read it with a sense of patience and relaxation.
God and King David
We have talked about parallelism before, so the psalm today has the second line indented, as it follows the two-line parallel form strictly. Notice the different ways in which the second line relates to the first. It might be a variation or restatement of the first line in different words. Especially in the third section, the second line might complete a simile begun in the first. Notice also the final verse, where the second line narrows and defines the first. There is a technical grammatical name for this kind of construction, apposition. (See “Today in Daily Prayer” for more on apposition.)
Now notice the difference between the three sections. The first section is a prayer of praise. David blesses God and then describes Him with three verses beginning with “Who”. The second section also describes positive attributes of God, but notice the difference in tone and purpose. David is now instructing the listener directly. But the attributes are stated in a more general sense.
In the third section, there is again a slight shift in emphasis toward the personal. Here, David tells the reader/listener not so much what God has done in general that is wonderful, but what He has done and will do more specifically for the listener. There is some overlap, but the psalm has a general direction from the general character of God towards the specific relationship of God with the faithful. The theme of section one is “Bless the Lord”; section two is “the Lord is righteous”; and section three is “He has not dealt with us according to our sins.”
We don't want to get so caught up in structure that we ignore the meaning. The psalm is very Christian-sounding, especially the theme that God does not deal with us according to our sins; and we are fortunate that He does not! God forgives us, something that we must remind ourselves about.
How great is His mercy? At what point will His mercy run out? God's mercy towards those who fear Him is as high as the heavens above the earth, which is to say, infinite, beyond our ability even to imagine. As far as east from west; and again, the distance from east to west was, to David, the entire world; to us it actually has an even greater significance, because we know that we can go east forever.
One word about the expression “fear the Lord.” In English, “fear” has a single meaning, but in both Greek and Hebrew — neither of which had nearly as many words available as we do in English — the same word also meant “have a profound sense of respect and reverence.” Certainly one might be afraid of God, and at times He was indeed fearful. He killed the firstborn sons of every Egyptian. He did not hesitate to destroy even Hebrews, when His wrath was aroused. (E.g., 2 Samuel 24:15; Exodus 32) But the meaning of profound reverence, rather than being afraid, is more the sense that is intended when the expression is used by David in Psalm 103.
