“I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” Psalm 119:75
As a child does not always understand why a parent corrects and disciplines, we often do not understand why God corrects and afflicts us. However, we trust that our loving heavenly Father afflicts us for our good — that we might look to Him and His Word, repent of our erring ways, and trust in Christ Jesus, our Savior.
O gracious heavenly Father, afflict me as You see fit that I might hold fast to You and to Your Word and continue in the true and saving faith. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’” Genesis 2:21-23
The LORD God created Adam from the dust of the ground. He made woman from a rib of Adam and brought her to Adam to be his wife — “a helper comparable to him” (Gen. 2:18). As Adam stated, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24) — one new family unit — and this remains God’s purpose and design to this day.
We praise You, O God, for creating woman to be a helper and partner to man and for instituting marriage as the life-long union of a man and a woman. Amen.
“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. … It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.” Psalm 119:67, 71
God often uses sickness and trouble in our lives for our good. When all seems to be going well, we so easily neglect God’s Word and go astray. But when affliction comes, we are driven back to God’s Word and consider its teaching. We repent of our sinful ways and turn to God for mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus, and we look to His Word for direction in our lives.
Thank You, O merciful Father, for allowing affliction and trouble in my life that I might consider Your Word, repent of my erring ways, and look to You for mercy and direction. Amen.
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7
The LORD God formed Adam’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living being. Adam was alive physically, with a living and breathing body, and spiritually, knowing God and His will and loving and trusting God and honoring God as his Maker. John’s Gospel tells us of Jesus, God’s Son, that “all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:3-4). It was Jesus who breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life.
We thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for both creating us and giving us life and for redeeming us by giving Your life in our stead when You died on the cross. Amen.
“They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” Psalm 36:8-9
Those who heed God’s Word, repent of their sins and flee for refuge to the cross of Jesus Christ partake of the eternal blessings of God’s kingdom. They know true, lasting pleasures. Why? Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Only when we trust in Christ Jesus will we see and know the truth.
Enlighten my heart, O God, that I may know the truth and look to You in faith for pardon and the eternal joys of heaven. I ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross. Amen.
