Daily Devotional

-August 12, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-Praising God For His Daily Mercies And Faithfulness-

“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.”

(Psalm 89:1).

This psalm was written by a relatively obscure man named Ethan, the Ezrahite. He, like Moses and Solomon wrote just one psalm each. David wrote about half of them, then as we have mentioned before, there were others written by Asaph, the sons of Korah, and a number were written by anonymous writers.

Ethan the Ezrahite was a contemporary of King Solomon. He was a very wise man but he couldn’t compare to Solomon whom God gave tremendous wisdom. 1 Kings 4:29-31, says of Solomon’s wisdom, “And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand of the seashore. Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men — than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in the surrounding nations.” Ethan was among the wisest in Israel.

Throughout this beautiful psalm, Ethan, who was one of the singers, praised God in song. My friend at church, Allan and his wife named their son Ethan. The man Ethan Allen was a leading figure in the days of the Revolutionary War. Ethan the Ezrahite was greatly affected by God’s mercies and faithfulness.

• “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.” – Every day the Lord showers His mercies upon us. Three times Ethan uses the word mercy in this psalm. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” God’s mercy does not give us what we deserve, which is judgment, condemnation, and an eternity in hell because of our sin. He has shown rich and abundant mercy and grace through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross to atone for our sins.

• “With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.” – Ethan uses the word faithfulness six times in this psalm. Just as God’s mercies come to us every morning with each new sunrise, so God’s faithfulness is there at the end of the day to remind us of how the Lord has blessed us, helped us, provided for us, and protected us for that day as He always has in the past and always will in the future.

The Lord is so good to us in His mercies and faithfulness. One of the greatest and most consistent geysers in the world is called “Old Faithful,” located near Calistoga, California. In the early days of the National Geographic Society, Old Faithful was declared one of only three “faithful geysers” in the world because of its regular eruptions. God is even more faithful than “Old Faithful.” He never fails in His promises and His continual working in our lives.

Let us praise God for His mercies and faithfulness to us and to all generations. The hymn writer Thomas O. Chisholm wrote, “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father! There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not: as Thou has been Thou forever wilt be. Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided— Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Amen.”

Have a blessed day praising God for His daily mercies and faithfulness. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean