Daily Devotional for March 5, 2011

Psalm 40:11-17
You, LORD, never fail to have pity on me; your love and faithfulness always keep me secure. I have more troubles than I can count. My sins are all around me, and I can't find my way. My sins outnumber the hairs on my head, and I feel weak. Please show that you care and come to my rescue. Hurry and help me! Disappoint and confuse all who want me dead; turn away and disgrace all who want to hurt me. Embarrass and shame all of those who say, "Just look at you now!"


Our LORD, let your worshipers rejoice and be glad. They love you for saving them, so let them always say, "The LORD is wonderful!" I am poor and needy, but, LORD God, you care about me, and you come to my rescue. Please hurry and help.

Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

I don’t know about you, but more than once I have felt like… “I have more troubles than I can count.” And recently, this has certainly been true for actor Charlie Sheen. Everyone seems to be talking about him and his situation… made worse by his television interviews and insistence that there is nothing wrong with him! The truth is, we do not know his heart… but he appears to be very sick and, as described in verse 2 of this Psalm, stuck in “a lonely pit full of mud and mire.”

Hopefully we will never find ourselves in a pit of the mud and mire of drug addiction and accompanying mental illness (if only temporarily). But when we do find ourselves in trouble, we know THE WAY out… and His name is Jesus!

I know I often say, “People are watching”… and they are. But people are also talking… sometimes about things that are not totally true – or at the very least, none of their business. I have heard more than one person say that they felt like everyone was talking about them and their “scandal” of sorts. My response is that we all only get about 15 minutes, and then people are on to the next big story of the day. More importantly, if you have squared your situation with God… if you have confessed any sins and wrongdoing on your part and asked for His forgiveness, then the talk and judgment of others does not matter.

If you have ever felt that you were in a situation where others were judging you – wrongfully, or even with some merit – you know how awful this feels. Don’t be that person for others… not even Charlie Sheen or others in the limelight. Ask God to lift them from the mud and the mire. Call on Him to place people in their path who can introduce them to THE WAY out of their troubles and set their feet on the Rock that is Jesus Christ!

Thank God for coming to your rescue and setting you upright again… for His forgiveness, grace and mercy. Praise Him for loving us so much… especially when we are poor and needy… and standing by to help in a hurry. There IS hope for all of us… and He stands ready to save. He will not disappoint those of us who turn to Him. Where are you looking these days?

©2011 Debbie Robus

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