Dear God, I did it again. This is becoming a pattern. I forgot to read the PM psalm yesterday.

Okay, I just read Psalm 44 (yesterday’s PM psalm). I am so glad I didn’t miss it. The lament is real. for the first third of it as they talk about you abandoning them in battle, I assumed it was because of Israel’s collective disobedience, but verse 17 says, “All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant.” It says a lot more along these lines, but the sentiment is the same. As I said, the lament here is real. It reminds me a bit of Job and his friends telling him he must have done something wrong and earned your displeasure, but that wasn’t the truth at all. You were just silent.

Okay, here are today’s passages from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer.

• AM Psalm: 45
• PM Psalms: 47, 48
• Deuteronomy 9:4-12
• John 2:13-22
• Hebrews 3:1-11

Here are my thoughts as I read each of these passages:

• Psalm 45 – I don’t like it. Is that bad to say? It’s a wedding song for the king marrying a young woman, but it feels like it has no place in our current society. And I don’t think it embraces what Jesus taught. I might be wrong, Father, but my heart is disturbed by this psalm.
• Deuteronomy 9:4-12 – Now, this one I like. Basically, it is showing the Israelites their sins and explaining how you love them anyway. Will I be “stiff-necked” before you, Father? Oh, I hope not. My hope and desire is to be completely submitted to you and the path you have for me, no matter what it costs me.
• John 2:13-22 – Ah, the story where Jesus clears the temple. Interesting that John records this as happening earlier than the other gospel writers do. But this passage enforces something that I heard several months ago that I believe. Jesus, Paul, and the other writers of the New Testament appear to be more concerned about making the church more Christlike than making the world more Christlike. If the church is Christlike then the world will want to be part of that church because the world is starving for the fruit of your Spirit.
• Hebrews 3:1-11 – It’s interesting who the author of Hebrews quoted Psalm 95:7-11 as a quote from the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 3:7) and then talks about the lessons the Israelites learned over those 40 years in the desert.

Father, it feels like we, as your church, are poised for some desert time. It feels like we need to be humbled and broken down. It feels like we, your church, are stiff-necked. That’s just how it feels to me. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the concerns I have are not of you, but from the enemy. Maybe I’m absolutely wrong. If I am, please show me. Make it clear to me. But if I am right, affirm that as well. There is an issue that is heavy on my heart this morning. It has nothing to do with the things that normally trouble me, but it is heavy none the less. So please speak to me. Show me how to respond. Comfort me. Inspire me. Live through me. Let your kingdom come and your will be done on this earth, through my life, as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen