Daily Devotion for August 22, 2026
Prayers
Scripture
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
Our “Saturday Oldie” has the Statler Brothers and the Carter Family backing up Johnny Cash on his t.v. show.
Daddy Sang Bass was the result of a collaboration between Cash and Carl Perkins, both of whom found God in overcoming addictions, and it became a surprise hit single in the 1960s.
I remember when I was a lad,
Times were hard and things were bad,
But there's a silver lining behind every cloud;
Just poor people, that's all we were,
Trying to make a living out of black land dirt,
We'd get together in a family circle singing loud.
Refrain:
Daddy sang bass,
Mama sang tenor,
Me and little brother would join right in there,
Singing seems to help a troubled soul.
One of these days and it won't be long,
I'll rejoin them in a song,
I'm going to join the family circle at the throne.
No, the circle won't be broken,
By and by, Lord, by and by.
Now I remember after work,
Mama would call in all of us;
You could hear us singing for a country mile.
Now little brother has done gone on,
But, I'll rejoin him in a song,
We'll be together again up yonder in a little while.
Music and Lyrics by Carl Perkins
What Can I Do Today?
Holy God, what can I do today to serve you? What may I do with this day you have given me, to show you the love and humility I feel for you? How can I help my fellow man?
In the name of Christ, I ask, how can I serve you today?
Ancient Prayer of Praise
Holy is God, the Father of all;
Holy is God, whose will is accomplished by his own powers;
Holy is God, who wills to be known and is known by his own.
Holy art thou, who by Logos has constituted all existing things;
Holy art thou, of whom all nature was born as the image;
Holy art thou, whom nature has not formed;
Holy art thou, who art more mighty than all power;
Holy art thou, who art greater than all eminence;
Holy art thou, who art superior to all praises.
For Those in Need of Strength
I pray, Lord, for all who will need strength and courage in the day ahead: For those who face danger. For those who risk themselves for others. For those who must make an important decision today. For people who are seriously ill. For those facing persecution or torture. I ask you, Lord, to give them the power of your Spirit,
A Prayer After Reading Scripture
May the word I have read, Lord, be planted deeply in my mind and heart. Help me not to walk away and forget it, but to meditate on it and obey it and so build my life on the rock of your truth.
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
Today’s “Remember the Bible” Question
What is the shocking lesson of Matthew 5:44?
Answer: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
To the left, a Hebrew army walks over flopping fish. In the center, Moses (in a toga) appears under the hands of God, while Aaron stretches his staff over the drowning Egyptians. (See Full Size.)
Proverbs 20:1-3 (The Message)
Wine makes you mean, beer makes you quarrelsome —
a staggering drunk is not much fun.
Quick-tempered leaders are like mad dogs —
cross them and they bite your head off.
It’s a mark of good character to avert quarrels,
but fools love to pick fights.
Exodus 15:1-12 (ESV)
The Song of Moses [1]
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father‘s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is his name.
“Pharaoh‘s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.”
Notes on the Scripture
This very early psalm, also called The Song of the Sea, is probably the oldest written part of Exodus. Moses‘ sister, Miriam, taught it to the women of Israel and it would have been a well-known song already when Moses wrote the narrative. Jews reading the Book of Exodus for the first time would have enjoyed coming across it and learning how it came to be written — like hearing “She Loves You” in a film biography of the Beatles.
The song, like many enduring songs, was written in a short period. It gave the Hebrews something to sing for the next forty years: It would help to keep their spirits up during a time where despair loomed around every corner, by reminding them of their purpose and heartening them to their ordeal. Also, we must remember that people not yet born who would share this hardship; the song would serve to brand the history into the minds of those who had not lived it.
And they needed heartening. The Israelites have now been tossed into a hostile and primitive world. They are utterly alone in a desert, a roaming band of marauders; and on either side of them are strong empires (Egyptians and Philistines) used to dealing harshly with such bands. But, unlike most warlike nomads, they are thoroughly unprepared. These are not Tatars or Vikings. They are sedentary slaves and laborers, not foragers and soldiers accustomed to constant movement and combat.
Yahweh is unmistakably their only hope; and so, this combination of creed, history, and worship is vital to their determination and morale. “The LORD” (original YHWH) “is my strength and my song.” God being their “strength” meant more to them than to most of us; for it was every day apparent that, if they did not have God‘s hand, their own strength was so lacking that they faced quick annihilation. And He is their song; He is at the forefront of their minds, and the first word from their lips, as they prepare to move forward.
Note that the Hebrews of this time said the name “YHWH” or Yahweh aloud. By the 3d century B.C., although they would continue to write YHWH in scrolls, they would almost never speak the name Yahweh. When a scroll containing the name YHWH was read aloud, they would substitute another word, a more generic name for God such as Adonai.
