Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

David sums up his feelings in Psalm 19 with a brief prayer. In fact, these three lines are some of the most familiar in the entire book of Psalms.

Solomon recognized a tragic truth about humanity: we desperately want to do things our own way, and we hate being told what to do.

As David considers the impact of God's written communication in the second section of Psalm 19, he's prompted to appraise the value of Scripture. He uses two illustrations for the purpose of comparison.

Solomon offered several insights about the value of placing God’s Word at the center of our lives. Let’s begin with Proverbs 4:4, where the wise king recalled the instruction of his own father, David:

The heavens may declare God's power and glory, but they do not declare His will or His plan and promise of salvation. God has communicated those marvelous truths only in His Word—the living Scriptures, the Bible.

[Wednesday] I stressed the value of memorizing God’s Word and talked about how doing so has benefited me in practical ways throughout the years. Memorization, however, is only one of many ways to interact with Scripture.

David has packed a lot of great theology into a short space in Psalm 19. Unfortunately, we can hit only the highlights of these 14 verses because neither time nor space permits us to dig into the depths of each one.

Few things are more obvious and alarming in our times than biblical illiteracy. Even though the human mind can absorb an enormous amount of information, mental laziness remains a scandalous and undeniable trend in popular culture and even within the church.

Ever felt completely removed from God's awareness? It's almost like you're standing at the bottom of a long stairway looking up, isn't it? The light is off, and even though you knock or call out for a response, nothing happens.

Having convinced us of the importance of guarding our hearts, Solomon urged three specific actions to make this practical. We've considered the first: we are to ignore false directions (v. 24).

While salvation is entirely a work of God—an unconditional commitment on His part to preserve those He has saved (John 10:28–29; Romans 8:28–39; 2 Timothy 1:12)—He gives us a genuine stake in maintaining the quality of our spiritual lives.

By now, I trust that Solomon has sufficiently motivated you to guard your heart from invasive, detrimental influences and to cultivate a hunger for knowledge of God.

David's Psalm 15 explores the characteristics of a person who enjoys fellowship with the Lord in this life. As you consider each facet of integrity, take note of the Lord's emphasis on relationships.

Our study of Solomon’s fatherly advice has helped us appreciate the importance of guarding our heart, our inner self. He then explains why. The conjunction for could be translated “because.”

David's song, Psalm 15, opens with a probing question about our experience of fellowship with God in the temporal realm, our relationship with Him in daily life.

As we examine Solomon’s counsel on the importance of guarding one’s heart, note that he again directs his words to “my son.” Because the Holy Spirit preserved this passage for us, we now benefit from Solomon’s wise fatherly advice.

If you read Psalm 15 carefully, you will discover the entire song all hangs upon the first verse. Verse 1 is crucial in that it asks a probing question. That's today's devotional. David's answer forms the rest of the psalm.

Make no mistake! Your heart is under siege. Like marauding hordes surrounding a fortress, advertisers, porn moguls, and media mavens scheme to find a point of entry.

Benjamin Franklin once called David's Psalm 15 the "Gentleman's Psalm." To him, it represented the standard of life after which a gentleman should pattern his walk.

God has established a paradigm to help us escape the trap of worry. This cause-and-effect principle is as much a part of creation as the law of gravity.