The Songs of Jesus Quotes

“The “powers that be” in society tell us that obedience to God shackles us, limiting our freedom. In reality liberation comes only through serving the one who created us.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Bottomless stores of mercy and unbending demands for righteousness almost never go together in any human being. Our temperament inclines us one way or the other. But these are perfectly combined in God.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Fools cannot bear to have anyone over them, and so they ignore God or deny he exists. Some of this rebellion exists in every heart. Every sin is a kind of practical atheism—it is acting as if God were not there. That also means that belief in God must be a gift.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“What is God’s glory? It is his infinite weight, his supreme importance. To glorify God is to obey him unconditionally. To ever say, “I’ll obey if . . .” is to give something else more importance or glory than God. But while glorifying God is never less than obedience, it is more. God’s glory also means his inexpressible beauty and perfection. It does not glorify him, then, if we only ever obey God simply out of duty. We must give him not only our will but also our heart, as we adore and enjoy him, as we find him infinitely attractive. And there is no greater beauty than to see the Son of God laying aside his glory and dying for us”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Living a self-absorbed life will always be at the cost of everyone else.”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“What is essential in prayer is not that we learn to express ourselves, but that we learn to answer God.”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Aristotle thought it impossible that humans could be friends with a god, because friends have things in common, and can say, “You, too?” But in becoming human, God‘s first great act of friendship, he became like us, drawing near to us so we could draw near to him. Since he humbled himself to get near us, only the humble, not the haughty, can be his friends. In his second great act of friendship, he gave his life for us (John 15:13). In our suffering, then, we can look at Jesus and say, “You, too?”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus

“David shows us straightaway. He doesn’t say, “I will take refuge in God,” but rather shows that he already has, that he is already safe. How can he feel that way before he knows whether the smear campaign will be thwarted? The answer: if we trust in God’s wisdom and will, then we have peace regardless of the immediate outcome.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“How can I lose my attraction to the most beautiful face in the universe? Revive my soul and reopen my eyes to your glory and grace. Amen.”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee,” is a line from Augustus Toplady’s famous hymn. Jesus is the place we run to when under any kind of attack, and we can hide in him for safety. The psalmist calls God “my God on whom I can rely” and, literally, “my unconditional love” (Psalm 144:2). Christians know that love must be unconditional, not based on our worthiness, but because Jesus was “cleft,” split apart, to make a hiding place for us. Prayer:”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“I confess that I am simply not changed enough by the great truths of the Gospel that I profess to believe with all my heart. Show me the specific gaps between my faith and my practice, and empower me to close them. Amen.”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Prayer: “Approach, my soul, the mercy seat, where Jesus answers prayer; there humbly fall before His feet, for none can perish there. Bowed down beneath a load of sin, by Satan sorely pressed, by war without and fears within, I come to Thee for rest.”34 Amen.”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Prayer: Father, as great as my sins are, it is a great and additional sin to refuse to rest in your grace and accept your pardon. Give me the blessedness and release of knowing I am completely, absolutely, freely forgiven through Jesus. Amen.”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“God has a celebration meal with us not after we finally get out of the dark valley but in the middle of it, in the presence of our enemies. He wants us to rejoice in him in the midst of our troubles. Is our shepherd out of touch with reality? Hardly. Jesus is the only shepherd who knows what it is like to be a sheep (John 10:11). He understands what we are going through and will be with us every step of the way, even through death itself, where “all other guides turn back”17 (Romans 8:39).”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Psalms, then, are not just a matchless primer of teaching but a medicine chest for the heart and the best possible guide for practical living.”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“So to know how to meditate on and delight in the Bible is the secret to a relationship with God and to life itself.”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“To be intimidated by the world (Psalm 2) is as spiritually fatal as being overly attracted to it (Psalm 1).”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“David’s goal is not psychological healing for its own sake but to “fear” God—to give him joyful, awe-filled love with his entire being. The way to this new heart is not introspection but deliberate worship (verse 12). “I will praise you,” he says.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“muchas de nuestras comunidades cristianas son invisibles o no son atractivas. Ayúdame a convertirme en un pequeño pero importante elemento para hacer a mi iglesia atractiva ante los demás. Amén.”
― Timothy J. Keller, Los Cantos de Jesús: Un año de devocionales diarios en Los Salmos

“Dios no duerme, pero tampoco se apresura. Él sabe lo que hace. Él tiene un plan y es un plan de amor.”
― Timothy J. Keller, Los Cantos de Jesús: Un año de devocionales diarios en Los Salmos

“READ Psalm 79:9–13. 9 Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. 10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants. 11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die. 12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord. 13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise. BLOOD CRIES OUT. The psalmist hears the victims’ blood crying out to be avenged (verse 10). The Bible often speaks of injustice “crying out” to God, as did the shed blood of Abel against Cain (Genesis 4:10–11). The psalmist calls for God to pay back the invaders (verse 12). What he did not know was that Christ’s blood would someday be poured out in Jerusalem too, blood that “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). It demands forgiveness rather than retribution for those who believe. Christians too can praise God in the face of mistreatment (verse 13). But in addition they love their enemies and pray for their salvation (Matthew 5:43–48). Prayer: Lord, how can I, who live only by your mercy and grace, withhold the same from anyone else? Thank you for lifting from me the impossible burden of thinking that I know what others deserve who have wronged me. Help me to leave that to you. Amen.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Lord, I worry because I forget your wisdom, I resent because I forget your mercy, I covet because I forget your beauty, I sin because I forget your holiness, I fear because I forget your sovereignty. You always remember me; help me to always remember you. Amen.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Lord, I already have enough history with you to see that my driest and poorest times have been my richest. I still dread such periods, and that is right, but help me not to give up in them or forget that you are working out great things. Amen.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“I already have enough history with you to see that my driest and poorest times have been my richest. I still dread such periods, and that is right, but help me not to give up in them or forget that you are working out great things. Amen.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Those two things—unconditional obedience and prevailing prayer—are the constituents of “waiting eagerly” for God.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Lord, I want the gifts of your hand more than the glory of your face.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Lord, I am surrounded by people whose words are either fawning and flattering or malicious and stinging. Don’t let me imitate them. Make my words honest and true, economical and few, wise and well chosen, calm and kind. Give me so much love and grace that this kind of conversation comes naturally to me. Amen.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Lord, keep me from being either naive about human evil, self-righteous about it, or cynical before it. Don’t let me ever get used to injustice or, worse, become complicit in it. That takes constant vigilance and reflection about how I am living. Keep me loving what you love and hating what you hate. Amen.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“Lord, so many of my problems stem from not remembering you. I forget your wisdom and so I worry. I forget your grace and so I get complacent. I forget your mercy and so I get resentful of others. Help me remember who you are every moment of the day. Amen.”
― Timothy J. Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms