“A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.” (Psalm 91:7-8)

We all will pass through the gate of death; so this is not speaking of death. What it does speak of is the truth of those who come into the salvation of the Lord. All around are those who fall prey to the wickedness of this age and do not come into the Lord’s presence and walk in His ways. You only have to look to see what that brings. Come into the Lord’s presence and live in Him.

Lord, You created us and the world has rejected You. Help me, O Lord, in this world of wickedness to see through the temptations that lure and pull me away from You. I can see what sin brings. I know no good comes of the wickedness of this age. Help me, Savior, to look to You and see the goodness and mercy You give to those who love You. Lift me up to be with You.

Savior, You have come to do what we cannot that all who believe might be united with You now and forever. Guide my heart, Lord Jesus, to walk in Your grace and live to the glory of the Father. May I stand amidst the crumbling ways of this world and learn from You to be faithful through all that comes. Open my eyes, Lord, to see clearly the recompense of wickedness. Amen.

“Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:11-12)

When things do not go the way we want them to go, we call that Your fury and anger. I suspect You call that the truth. You give a heart of wisdom to those who will come into Your presence and see things as they are. Lead me, O Lord, to see clearly the truth of the life into which You invite those who will come into Your presence. You offer to guide us through these limited days.

Lord, when I was young, I thought in terms of forever. As I get older, I see the foolishness of such thoughts. My days are numbered. Help me to live according to the days You have given me that I may abide in You as You abide in me, doing those things which will grow in me what You have always intended. Help me to be lifted up according to Your will.

Lord Jesus, You have told us that we must be united with You. Saint Paul told us that we must be united in Your death in order to be united in Your resurrection. Help me, O Lord, to overcome the obstacles of the way this age thinks that I might see things as You would have me see them, knowing that all things are in Your hands. Guide me, O Lord, to walk in Your ways now and always. Amen.

“As sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd; and the upright shall rule over them in the morning, and their form shall be for Sheol to consume so that they have no habitation.  But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me.”  (Psalm 49:14-15)

Sheol is death.  It awaits us all.  No one has left the life alive.  God did not exempt Himself from this, for Christ dies, even on the cross.  But what is promised is that we shall be redeemed from Sheol through grace by faith.  Those who are united with Christ are untied with a death like His in order to have a resurrection like His.  You are not ruled by death, but by the author of life.

Lord, I want what I see as the good things of this world.  I desire what I see those around me have.  I am not content with where I am, but want to go where I am not.  Loose me from this bondage to seek You in and through all things that I may live life in preparation for what You have intended from the beginning.  Guide me O Lord according to Your ways that I would walk in them.

Lord Jesus, You have come to lead us away from the futility of this world in order to live according to the eternal purpose the Father established from the beginning.  Guide me O Lord in Your will that I may walk with You all the days of my life.  Help me see that only in You will I be established forever that death would have no hold on me.  Though I die, yet shall I live in You.  Amen.