October 6

"You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great. You enlarge my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped." (Psalm 18:35-36)

 
Anyone who has ever engaged in a fitness program at middle age or after knows very well how the typical struggle unfolds. The body invariably seems to want to be lazy, and, of course, laziness inevitably evolves into a sedentary lifestyle. Once the body becomes accustomed to inactivity, it is monumentally difficult to reverse. In fact, it requires serious application of discipline and self-control. The spiritual life of a Christian may be described in exactly the same way. Unless we deliberately choose to exercise our spiritual being by continuous prayer (living in the Kingdom of God) and by daily study of God's Word, our spiritual existence becomes moribund as it is caught up in all the deleterious effects of a sedentary spiritual malaise. At this occasion of noon, let us consider the testimony of David in today's psalm. If we but avail ourselves of the Presence of God through the exercise of His Presence in praise and worship, we immediately discover the eternal benefits guaranteed by the shield of our salvation: His right hand will uphold us, and His gentleness will make us great – often even in the lesser kingdom of men. As we become spiritually fit, only then can we discover that it is God Who enlarges our steps beneath us, and it is He Who will prevent us from slipping on the rugged trail to Zion's glittering gates!

 
Before the King at Midday

 
"Father of all power and strength, I beg Thee today to capture my mind and engage my heart and spirit to yearn after You and to diligently seek You every hour of every day – morning, noon, and night. As Isaiah said, 'At night my soul longs for You, indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; for when the Earth experiences Your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.' Amen."