Day 194: Futile Thoughts and a Dark Mind

Welcome to Day 194 of the Bible 365 Podcast! I'm so excited you are joining me on this journey through the entire Bible this year. Reminder that each episode in 2026 will have a brand new devotional.

Today we'll be reading through I Chronicles 15, 16:1-36; Romans 1:18-32; Psalm 10:1-15; and Proverbs 19:6-7. Invite a family member or friend to join you as we grow in our knowledge of God through His Word.

I'm so glad that you are here!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to day 194 of the Bible 365 podcast. My name is Randy Gudo, and today we're going to be reading through 1 Chronicles chapter 15 and 16 verses 1 through 36, Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 32, Psalm chapter 10, verses 1 through 15, and Proverbs chapter 19 verses 6 and 7. The translation I'm using throughout this podcast is the Berean Standard Bible, also known as the BSB. Let's read. 1 Chronicles chapter 15. David constructed buildings for himself in the city of David, and he prepared a place for the Ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before him forever. And David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it. Then he gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites. From the Kohathites, Uriel the chief and one hundred and twenty of his relatives. From the Mararites, Azaiah the chief and two hundred and twenty of his relatives. From the Gershemites, Joel the chief and one hundred and thirty of his relatives. From the Elizaphanites, Shemiah the chief and two hundred of his relatives. From the Hebronites, Eliel the chief and eighty of his relatives. And from the Uzielites, Amenadab the chief and one hundred and twelve of his relatives. David summoned the priest Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Azaiah, Joel, Shemiah, Eliel, and Amenadab, and he said to them, You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the Lord our God burst forth in anger against us, for we did not consult him about the proper order. So the priest and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord. David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals. So the Levites appointed Heman, son of Joel, from his brothers, Asaph, son of Barekiah, from their brothers the Morarites, Ethan, son of Kushiah, and with them their brothers next in rank, Zachariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehael, Unai, Eliab, Beniah, Masiah, Matathiah, Eliphalihu, Miknehah, and the gatekeepers Obed-Edom and Jaiel. The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals. Zachariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehael, Unai, Eliab, Maesiah, and Beniah were to play the harps according to Alamath. And Matathiah, Aliphalihu, Mihnehah, Obed-Edom, Jael, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to Shemeneth. Kenaniah, the head Levite, was the director of the music because he was highly skilled. Barekiah and Elkanah were to be guardians of the ark. Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nathanael, Emessai, Zachariah, Beniah, and Eliezer, the priest, were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also to be guardians of the ark. So David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands, went with rejoicing to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom. And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. Now David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Kenaniah, the director of music for the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. So all Israel brought up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord with shouting, with the sounding of ramshorns and trumpets, and with cymbals and the music of harps and lyres. As the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord was entering the city of David, Saul's daughter Michael looked down from a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart. So they brought the Ark of God and placed it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. Then he distributed to every man and woman of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. David appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. Asaph was the chief, Zachariah was second, then Jaihel, Shemiramoth, Jehael, Matathiah, Eliab, Beniah, Obed Edom, and Jahel. They were to play the harps and lyres, while Asaph sounded the cymbals, and the priest Beniah and Jehaziel blew the trumpets regularly before the Ark of the Covenant of God. On that day David first committed to Asaph and his associates this song of thanksgiving to the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the nations. Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonders. Glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek out the Lord and his strength, seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his marvels and the judgments he has pronounced. O offspring of his servant Israel, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God, his judgments carry throughout the earth. Remember his covenant forever, the word he ordained for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, and the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant. I will give you the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance. When they were few in number, few indeed, and strangers in the land, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He let no man oppress them, he rebuked kings on their behalf. Do not touch my anointed ones, do no harm to my prophets. Sing to the Lord all the earth, proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples. For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the Lord who made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him, strength and joy fill his dwelling. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory to his name. Bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth. The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice. Let them say among the nations, The Lord reigns. Let the sea resound in all that fills it. Let the fields exult in all that is in them. Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his loving devotion endures forever. Then cry out, Save us, O God of our salvation, gather and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said, Amen, and praise the Lord. Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 32. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from his workmanship, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal men and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is forever worthy of praise. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. Likewise the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, he gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, god haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil, they disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them. Psalm ten verses one through fifteen. Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide in times of trouble? In pride the wicked pursue the needy. Let them be caught in the schemes they devise. For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart, he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord. In his pride the wicked man does not seek him. In all his schemes there is no God. He is secure in his ways at all times. Your lofty judgments are far from him. He sneers at all his foes. He says to himself, I will not be moved. From age to age I am free of distress. His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence. Trouble and malice are under his tongue. He lies in wait near the villages. In ambush he slays the innocent. His eyes watch in stealth for the helpless. He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket. He lurks to seize the oppressed. He catches the lowly in his net. They are crushed and beaten down. The helpless fall prey to his strength. He says to himself, God has forgotten, he hides his face and never sees. Arise, O Lord, lift up your hand, O God, do not forget the helpless. Why has the wicked man renounced God? He says to himself, You will never call me to account, but you have regarded trouble and grief. You see to repay it by your hand. The victim entrust himself to you. You are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer. Call him to account for his wickedness until none is left to be found. Proverbs nineteen verses six and seven. Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver. All the brothers of a poor man hate him. How much more do his friends avoid him? He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found. Today's devotional is coming from Romans chapter one. This is such a strong portion of this chapter right here. It opens up by saying the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Then we get to the end where it says they did not see fit to acknowledge God, and he gives them up to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done. And then Paul gives a very long list of all these horrible things that these people with a depraved mind do, which ought not to be done. We also see in here that God gives them over to dishonorable passions, he gives them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. But there's something real strong in this chapter that really stood out to me today when I was reading. And it comes from verse twenty-one. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. So before God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another, before He gave them up to a depraved mind, we see that they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. When you become futile in your thinking, dangerous things happen. When you become futile in your thinking, it will eventually cause you to be given up by God to a depraved mind. What happens in your thoughts is very important. When your heart becomes foolish and darkened, eventually God will give you over in the desire of that foolish dark heart to impurity for the dishonoring of your body. And so today I am encouraging all of us to one not become futile in our thinking, and two, not to become darkened in a foolish heart. The Bible says take every thought captive. The Bible also says to guard your heart with all diligence because out of it springs or flows all of the issues of life. I'm gonna go ahead and stop right now and pray, because if not, this is gonna turn into 10 or 15 minutes, and I'll have to start over again, and I will not have a voice left for tomorrow's readings and devotional. Let's pray. Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus, and today I'll lift up all of our listeners and I'll pray over their thoughts and over their hearts. Help them to take every thought captive and help them to guard their heart with all diligence. I thank you that you are working in each and every one of us according to your good will and purposes. Draw us close by the presence of your Holy Spirit and reveal your Son to us. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Well, I sure hope you enjoyed today's devotional. If you're getting something out of the Bible 365 podcast, consider sharing it with your family and with your friends. Please continue to pray for me. I am praying for you. Have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow with day one ninety five.