Psalm 79:11-13

Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die! Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord! But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Lord, many of Your people are suffering, suffering from depression and anxiety, rejection and abandonment, abuse and mistreatment, loneliness and discouragement; all needing Your loving arms around them and an understanding that You cherish them beyond all description. And we, Your people, need to know and recognize that we are called to be Your loving arms as we extend Your love, grace and mercy to those called by Your name.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 113

Mid-day: 119:19-24

Evening: Psalm 39

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 79:8-10

Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake! Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes!

Lord, where is the passion, the zeal, the fervor to proclaim the power of Your name? Where does Your Church stand proudly shouting out to the world that we are Your children, empowered to heal and restore the lost and broken to You? How can we expect Your blessings upon us when we refuse in cowardliness to acknowledge our citizenship in Your Kingdom?

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 112

Mid-day: 119:9-16

Evening: Psalm 38

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 79:5-7

How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name! For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.

How long, Lord, will You continue to stay Your hand as Your Church slips into apostasy and cohabitation with the world? We are surrounded by the Baals of Peor and are acquiescing to them. Let the voices of all who call upon Your name be lifted and heard. Bring repentance and revival to Your Church.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 111

Mid-day: 119:1-8

Evening: Psalm 37

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 119:52

When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O LORD.

Sometimes, Lord, it is the tried and true that are best, but in this instance it is not sometimes but always. Your law is proved through many generations to answer the questions of life and to provide direction to Your people. Thank You for the provision of the Holy Spirit to guide me into obedience. Thank You for Your sacrifice for me that cleansed me of the penalty for failure.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 110

Mid-day: 119:169-176

Evening: Psalm 36

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 79:1-4

A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth. They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.

Lord, there are several communities in which I participate to praise You and to advance Your Kingdom; all serving You in a variety of ways. Help me to discern where the Evil One is attacking; where He is slipping his invidious schemes slyly into our ways of being salt and light to the culture to blunt the effectiveness of our witness. And give me the wisdom to illuminate these schemes so that others may heed and avoid entrapment.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 109

Mid-day: 119:161-168

Evening: Psalm 35

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Revelation 3:15-19

"'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

Indifference, Lord, just indifference to Your word, lip service on Sunday morning and rejection at noon to turn to the blandishments of the world. Where is the fire that burns in the belly to carry the word of salvation and repentance? Where has our zeal gone? Where am I?

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 108

Mid-day: 119:153-160

Evening: Psalm 34

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 78:65-72

Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine. And he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame. He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves. He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever. He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.

Lord, I raise up all those whom You have truly called to be pastors and shepherds to Your Church. Fill their hearts for compassion for the flock, with burning desires to serve humbly before You. Teach them to be faithful stewards of the Word, neither adding to or subtracting from. Give them strength and single-mindedness of purpose. And send an anamchara, a soul friend to support and shepherd each one of them.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 107

Mid-day: 119:145-152

Evening: Psalm 33

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 78:56-64

Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols. When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.

Lord, we run after the Baals of this world; we, Your people who should be remembering Your goodness, instead are striving to take on all the evils of the culture. We bow the knee to the god of choice; we worship the god of materialism; we honor the god of rationalism and reason; we sing the praise of the god tolerance; we promote the god of self; we are transparent to the world. We are cowardly and craven; we do not proclaim Your grace and mercy.

Lord, bring us to our knees in repentance. We have fallen short of Your glory.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 106

Mid-day: 119:137-144

Evening: Psalm 32

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 78:40-55

How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan. He turned their rivers to blood, so that they could not drink of their streams. He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. He gave their crops to the destroying locust and the fruit of their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost. He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts. He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham. Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

Lord, when will we turn to the witness of that great cloud of those who have gone before and strive to follow their examples of faith? When will we see Your mighty hand in all creation? When will we instinctively acknowledge the working of Your grace in every aspect of our lives? When will we learn contentment in all things, recognizing that You provide the strength and resources to meet all challenges? Help Your church, Lord, smash through our complacency. Revive us and let Your face shine upon us that we may be saved from our waywardness.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 105

Mid-day: 119:129-136

Evening: Psalm 31

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 78:32-39

In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.

The American church is shallow and self-satisfied; like the rich man, our barns are full and we are building more, this present economic situation is just a bump in the road to our continued prosperity. When will Your people realize that they need to repent of their love affair with the secular culture around them and turn to You. When will the Church respond to Your calls and seek repentance? When will we fall to our knees, acknowledge our guilt and turn to You? When will Your revival come to us, Your people?

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 104

Mid-day: 119:121-128

Evening: Psalm 30

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 119:36

Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!

Lord, so much of what I pray for is concerns about myself or others, so little concentrates on You and Your glory. Incline my heart to Your Goodness, to Your Magnificence, to Your Glory, to You and to You only.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 103

Mid-day: 119:113-120

Evening: Psalm 29

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 78:17-31

Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?" Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved. But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel.

In spite of our sin, Lord, you bless Your Church. We worship You with our mouths but not with our hearts. We sing your praises on Sunday mornings, but do not acknowledge Your Day in our lives. Yet You stay Your hand, not raining down the fire of Your righteous judgment upon Your Church, but instead continuing to bless them answering our prayers. When will Your anger finally kindle? When will Your wrath blaze fiercely against the Church bringing persecution and anguish? How long will we continue to play the whore to all the other gods of the culture? How long, Lord, how long?

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 102

Mid-day: 119:105-112

Evening: Psalm 28

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.