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Category Archives: Psalms

Psalm 19

12 Jun

Psalm 19

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
    It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens
    and follows its course to the other end.
    Nothing can hide from its heat.

7 The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
    reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the Lord are right,
    bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
    giving insight for living.
9 Reverence for the Lord is pure,
    lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true;
    each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
    even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
    even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to your servant,
    a great reward for those who obey them.

12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
    Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
    Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
    and innocent of great sin.

14 May the words of my mouth
    and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Dear God, thinking back to the discussion I heard on the Voxology Podcast several months ago about the Psalms and categorizing them as psalms of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation; this one is my favorite kind of psalm because it’s the easiest for me to deal with theologically: orientation. This is just straight up speaking truth. You are awesome. The world proclaims your glory. I am sinful. Search my heart and cleanse me.

So, here I am to worship. To proclaim your glory! Here’s an interesting phrase in verse 7:

7 The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
    reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.

It’s amazing how much there is out there in the world that is just waiting to poison my soul. It wants to bring me down to its level. It wants me to sink into the bitterness it experiences. What is “it?” “It” is Satan, but it uses others it has corrupted to bring down. Oh, Father, help me keep from being something it uses to bring others down. No, please lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.

Father, I’ve been using the close of my prayer journals lately to pray for others. Today, I want to focus on three people I know with some stage of cancer or complications from cancer. I won’t name them specifically for their privacy, but you know who they are. Oh, please, be with each one. Love them. Encourage them. Heal them. Give their caregivers strength. Give their doctors wisdom and insight. Use this pain to do something none of us can see. To draw anyone who touches the situation to you. To heal relationships. To inspire. Make their paths very straight. As I said when I mentioned giving the doctors insight and wisdom, give them a very clear path forward. And send your angels to comfort. Send your angels to be with them on their behalf. To protect them. Their caregivers and loved ones too. Be very present with them, Holy Spirit. Be very present with all of us.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 12, 2024 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 90:1-4

07 Jun

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!

Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.

You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals!”

For you, a thousand years are as a passing day,as brief as a few night hours.
Psalm 90:1-4

Dear God, I love just verse 1 of this psalm by Moses: “Lord, through all the generations you have been [my] home.” What a lovely thought.

For the last couple of nights I have spent the night in my parents’ home. They have only lived here seven years so it is not the home of my childhood or anything. In fact, there is really not much even in their furniture or decorations that is familiar to me. The homes of my childhood are long gone. But I don’t miss them. Right now, it’s been a couple of nights, so I miss my wife and even our dog, but I don’t even miss my actual house. My “things.” They are not my home. You are my home. The life you have given to me is my home. I don’t know. When I saw that line this morning it just struck me. You have always been and always will be my home. If home is where my heart is, then you will always be my home, and my wife will be my home as long as either of us are alive this side of death. Oh, thank you. And I mean that. Thank you.

Father, I want to close by praying for a friend and his wife. Yesterday, I prayed for a relative with a health situation. That was pretty minor to what I heard about last night, and it broke my heart. My friend’s wife is potentially dangerously ill. It’s one of those illnesses that it’s hard to see how my faith and prayers can match up. Yesterday’s situation was, while significant, small enough for my prayers. Today, I feel like the dad who wants Jesus to heal his son, and he tells Jesus, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” Right now, for this friend and his wife, I believe, but please help my unbelief. I know in addition to the physical struggle that lies ahead, they are also scared and sad. I would be too. Oh, Holy Spirit, join with us in prayer. Moan for us. Moan for her. Moan for him. Speak to the Father through your moaning. Be the God who heals and bring glory to your name through the healing. Be the God who comforts and bring glory to your name through the comfort. Be the God who counsels and bring glory to your name through the counsel. Be the God who sees (see Hagar) and help them to feel seen by you. Be the God who affirms (see Mary with the shepherds’ visit) and encourages, and help them to feel your affirmation, love, and encouragement. Be the God who teaches, and help them to learn just how big you really are and how much you really love them and how much you are calling them to know how to sink into your being. Do not waste any of this experience. She is too precious to have this not count for all of your glory and their growth. Oh, Father, raise up people around them who will love them with your love.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 7, 2024 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 56:3-4

30 May

But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56:3-4

Dear God, I stopped at Whataburger this morning to get a quick bite to eat and do this prayer journal to you before a haircut, and I came upon three men who are having breakfast next to a fourth man, and they are witnessing about you to the third man. It’s quite lovely. Let me sit here right now and give them prayer cover. Be with them. Send your angels to fight over this fourth man. Bring him into your kingdom. Love him. Help him to feel your love. Be with these other three men. Give them your words. Give them your love. Send your angels to protect them as well. Oh, Holy Spirit, hover over that 10 square feet in this restaurant and be loosed on this man’s life.

Now, let me get back to this passage. My wife and I both reported dreams to each other from last night that were each rooted in our sorrow. We obviously need your healing. Is there a part of us that is afraid? Maybe. Is there a part of us that is afraid for others? Yes. Is there a part of us that is hurt on a personal level? Yes.

Father, I prayed with my wife this morning, and I pray to you now. Heal us. Heal those we love. Fill them with your love. Fill us with your love. Oh, please to your will in all of our lives. Thank you for the ways you have used this pain to do positive things, but please heal this pain. Protect us spiritually. Send your angels to protect over us. Forgive us for the things we do to hurt ourselves, each other, and you. Forgive me for the things I do that grieve you. I offer myself to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2024 in Psalms

 

Orientation, Disorientation, and Reorientation – Revisted

13 May

Dear God, I found the podcast I was looking for yesterday from Voxology Podcast. It’s called “The Only Way Out is Through.” I first heard this back at the end of December, and it really helped me to think about the seasons of life with you. I am pretty sure I journaled about it back then because it impacted me so much. My wife and I were talking about it the other day so I wanted to listen to it again, but I had a hard time finding which one it was. But here it is. I found it. The discussion of “orientation, disorientation, and reorientation” begins at about the 21-minute mark.

They tie this Walter Bruggeman’s work on the psalms and how he ties them to these three categories (sometimes a psalm can be in more than one category). Examples would be a psalm of orientation (life is good) would be Psalm 45. A psalm of disorientation (life hurts) would be Psalm 13. A psalm of reorientation (there is surprising new life) would be Psalm 30.

Between this and all of the psalms I read during Lent, you have given me an appreciation for them that I have never had before. You know that I’ve never particularly liked a lot of psalms. Some of them are nice. Psalm 1. Psalm 23. Psalm 51. Psalm 139. The ones that feel like they fit within my theological structure are easy for me. But then there are the ones that call for the death of my enemies through many generations and stuff like that that really bother me. But I’ve learned to see these passages as “descriptive” and not “prescriptive.” They aren’t telling me to feel that way. They aren’t saying you endorse those sentiments. The psalmist is letting me in on his (I think they were all men) feelings at that given time.

I have a pastor friend right now whom I know is going through a difficult season. I have mentioned a woman whose son is suffering from addiction and in bad shape. I have another friend dealing with cancer. Still another has a son who has a tumor that is difficult to remove. Then I have my own disorientation, although, interestingly, I feel the disorientation less and less and feel reorientation more and more. And I suppose that’s the way it goes. When you are young and are fortunate enough to not have experienced disorientation yet, you feel naively secure. But into every life a little rain must fall, and sooner or later we all fall into a time of disorientation. That can often come about very suddenly. But reorientation doesn’t happen overnight. I don’t get rid of disorientation all at once. It’s a process of becoming reoriented. Right now, from the disorientation that started for me 15 years ago, I am mostly emotionally adjusted to, although the sorrow still remains. It’s just that the sorrow doesn’t disorient me like it used to.

I find myself still typing here, so this must be important for me to work out with you. One of the things they mentioned in the podcast is going through disorientation in community. We should not go through it alone. That’s important.

Another thing they mentioned was that the modern church with contemporary music tends to only have Sunday morning songs of orientation. But those songs do not fit what everyone is experiencing. There is disorientation in the room. There is reorientation in the room. The Book of Psalms includes all of this. Our modern contemporary churches mostly do not.

Father, help me to use the disorientation and reorientation of my life to be a blessing to others. Thank you for walking with me through this. Thank you for the man who, several years ago as I lamented over my disorientation (that’s not what I called it at the time), labeled it for me as being “disappointed” with you. I was disappointed with you. I was scared and frustrated. I was hurt and confused. But you were gentle with me.

I am reading Nancy French’s memoir Ghosted: An American Story. She doesn’t use this language, but applying what I’ve learned here to what I’ve read of her book, she describes being disoriented by a sexual assault by a church leader when she was 12 years old. She was disoriented for a long time. It wasn’t until she met her future husband when she was 20 that the reorientation started to happen. I don’t know enough of his story to know if he had experienced disorientation up to that point, but shortly after they started dating he experienced a health scare that could have killed him–disorientation. But they walked through it together with each other and their community of friends. That’s about where I am in the story, but I can see reorientation happening. I also know enough of their story to know that more disorientations are coming. They are for all of us.

Okay, Father, I have to get to work, but I have enjoyed this time with you. I’ve enjoyed hearing your voice. Thank you for being with me yesterday for that Sunday school lesson. I pray that your Holy Spirit found fertile soil in which he could plant good seeds. I pray that people will remember the words spoken and not me. And I pray that if I was wrong about anything you will correct me and help them to forget those words. Thank you for gently reorienting me. I know there will be more disorientations to come. Help me to not be afraid, but to simply walk through the valley of the shadow of death with you.

I offer all of this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 13, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, Psalms

 

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Psalm 14

01 Apr

Psalm 14

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 Only fools say in their hearts,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
    not one of them does good!

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
3 But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt.
No one does good,
    not a single one!

4 Will those who do evil never learn?
    They eat up my people like bread
    and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord.
5 Terror will grip them,
    for God is with those who obey him.
6 The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed,
    but the Lord will protect his people.

7 Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?
    When the Lord restores his people,
    Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.

Dear God, I wonder how much Jesus changed this psalm. David had a definite paradigm about your justice and how you interact with us. And I don’t think that’s necessarily changed except that now we have this amazing gift of Jesus that takes away our sin in ways David couldn’t imagine.

Here’s one that I’ve always wondered about. Let’s say a child is abused by someone in the church and grows up to never trust the church or you again. While that person might fit David’s description in the first part of verse one, they do not necessarily fit the description in the second part.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m overthinking this. My job for that person is just to love them as much as I can and represent the real you to them so that they can heal from their pain and see you for who you really are. Your Holy Spirit and you, the Father, and you, Jesus, take care of the rest. My job is to be faithful in their lives.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, first let me thank you for the amazing Lenten experience I had over the last 47 days. It truly moved me in the Easter season in a way I’ve not been moved before. I worship you as my Lord and my God. I submit to you as my savior, Jesus. I lean into you, Holy Spirit. Guide each step of my day. Let your kingdom come into this world and your will be done in my life so that all of you might come into this world through me and the rest of your Church. Give me what you need me to have today to build the man you need me to be. Forgive me for my failures–my sin. Help me to find the unforgiveness in my heart and give it. Help me to avoid temptation and to stand against it when I come across it. Deliver me and my family from Satan’s plans to divide us. All that I have is yours, Lord.

I pray all of this in Jesus my savior and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 1, 2024 in Psalms

 

Happy Easter!

31 Mar
  • AM Psalms: 148, 149, 150
  • PM Psalms: 113, 114
  • Exodus 12:1-14
  • Isaiah 51:9-11
  • John 1:1-18, 20:19-23

Dear God, I didn’t look ahead, so I wondered before I opened Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer might only have a passage about Jesus resurrection from the Gospels. Or maybe multiple tellings from multiple Gospels. Instead, they don’t have any of those passages. The only post-resurrection passage we get is Jesus appearing to his disciples that evening after Mary Magdalene had already seen him. So let’s get into these passages and see how they might add to the Easter story.

Psalms 148, 149, 150 – So these last three psalms are wonderful because they just worship you. Straight out worship. No calls for killing my enemies or anything like that. Just, “You are great!!” I love it. Yes, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit–my Triune God–you are great!! Oh, thank you. Thank you for your victory. Thank you that you relieved me of the pressure of “winning.” You’ve already won. All I have to do is faithfully follow you as best as possible. It reminds me of that last part of the poem I read inspired by Psalm 23: …I’m trying hard to sit at a table because it’s expected, required really, and my enemies–it turns out I have enemies–are watching me eat and spill my drink but I don’t worry because all my enemies do is watch and I know I’m safe if I will just do my best as I sit on this chair that wobbles a bit in the grass on the side of a hill. (“Here in the Psalm” by Sally Fisher)

Psalms 113, 114 – Psalm 114 might be one of the most poetic psalms I’ve read over the last 47 days: “The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs…turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.” What fun ways to remember all the great things you have done. I should probably sit down more often and recount the great things you have done.

Exodus 12:1-14 – This story is so powerful and yet so horrific. It made me think of President Truman’s ultimate decision to drop the first atomic bomb. A lot of innocent people died in both stories. I’m not comparing the moral equivalency of the stories; just the idea that there was a mass group of people who died and another mass group of people who were protected from it. This world is so complex. How time plays out is so complex. That everything in history lined up even so that I could be here today is amazing. That everyone who is currently on earth because history has been laid out in this exact way. Oh, help us to live up to this blessing.

Isaiah 51:9-11 – My wife and I were talking yesterday about time continuing on after Easter. For her, she’s worked very hard this week in the church at different services. There has been a big build up to Easter. For me, this is the most intense Lenten season I’ve probably ever done leading up to Easter. It almost feels like the end of something, but it’s really only the beginning. It’s only the beginning. So it’s time to get up today and every day to live in this victory provided by this amazing gift of God the Father, Jesus his Son, and His Holy Spirit.

John 1:1-18, 20:19-23 – John 1:5: The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. Oh, how I want to really understand who you are, Jesus. I want to, but I still don’t. I’ve been a discipling Christian for 37 years. I’ve been doing these prayer journals for 24 years. Yet I understand so little still. Thank you for your patience with me and teaching me. And that leads me to you walking into the room with your disciples after your resurrection. This whole thing about forgiving sins is powerful. You forgive me. You give me grace. The long list you could keep for me of the things I do wrong is invisible to you because of Jesus’s blood. I don’t know that I have any authority like the disciples did to administer your forgiveness to others, but if I do I want that net of forgiveness to be cast very wide.

Now, I am going to get dressed and go to a sunrise service at a local Lutheran church. I love you, Father. I love you, Jesus. I love you, Holy Spirit. Thank you for accepting my love. Thank you for accepting my life. And thank you for the bridge you provided for me.

I offer this entire Lenten season to you in the precious, powerful, humble, and sacrificial name of Jesus, and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 31, 2024 in Exodus, Isaiah, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 46

30 Mar

Dear God, before I get into today’s passages from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I want to look at something the priest read yesterday when I attended a “Stations of the Cross” service at our local Catholic church. This is an excerpt from the 12th Station: 

My people, what have I done to you? 
Or in what have I offended you? 
Answer me. 
What more should I have done and did not do? 
I led you out of the land of Egypt, and you prepared a cross for me.
I opened the Red Sea before you, and you opened my side with a lance.
I gave you a royal scepter, and you give given me a crown of thorns.
With great power I lifted you up, and you have hung me upon a cross.
My people, what have I done to you, or in what have I offended you? 
Answer me.
(from the Reproaches of Good Friday)

There are shades of your speech to Job in this, but it’s very convicting for me because I know that if your time on earth had come now and not 2,000 years ago, I would be as guilty as any. I wouldn’t have gone to see you, so my attitude would have been more apathy that hatred, but I certainly would not have worshipped you or even defended you.

But there is a question that is asked here that people today could stand to answer: “What more should I have done and did not do? There are some example of human suffering I hate such as sex trafficking and war, but even those are manmade. What do I expect you to do to stop them? How do I expect you to intervene in our lives to smite the bad people and build up the good? Who is to say which side of the cutline from good and bad I would be on? You, of course. But my point is whenever I have stopped to think about how things should be different–how the Bible could be better or more clear and concise, how you should approach evil in the world, etc.–I have no idea. We are who we are as humans. Maybe I could take issue with how you created us in the first place, free will and all, but I cannot take issue with who you are and how you love us. What more should you do that you have not done?

Here are today’s passages. It’s interesting that there is no Gospel reading. Jesus is apart from us for the time being. Part of our God has died, sacrificed for me. Amazing

  • AM Psalms: 88, 95
  • PM Psalm: 27
  • Job 19:21-27a
  • Romans 8:1-11
  • Hebrews 4:1-16

Psalms 88, 95 – Once again, they are pairing the worship of Psalm 95 with a lament psalm. In this case, it is Psalm 88. My wife mentioned yesterday a sermon she heard saying that Jesus might have had Psalm 88 in mind as he walked his path yesterday. I would love to be able to see into Jesus’s mind that morning as he walked a brutal and terrible road.

Psalm 27 – “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” That’s what we are doing now as we wait for Jesus’s resurrection. It’s also kind of the word I was getting from you way back at the beginning of Lent: Patience. Wait. I will wait patiently, Father. I will not force my own timing or agenda. I will wait.

Job 19:21-27a – I almost wish they had left our verses 21-24 because those are words of Job I think you would take issue with. But the faith beyond his ignorance in verses 25-27 is beautiful: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Yes! Yes!

Romans 8:1-11 – “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Sprit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Oh, Father, bring my spirit your life through your Spirit. Live in me! Forgive me of my sin. Forgive the mess of my bodily temple. Thank you, Jesus, for making it possible for me to have the Holy Spirit in me.

Hebrews 4:1-16 – Lord, teach me what I am supposed to carry with me past this Lenten season. What should my time in scripture look like? Prayer? Service? Loving my family? Impact on my sphere of influence? In the case of this passage, Sabbath? Show me what to do. Reveal your truth to me.

Oh, Father, I offer this prayer to you in the name of Jesus, your son, and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 30, 2024 in Hebrews, Job, Lent 2024, Psalms, Romans

 

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Lent Day 45

29 Mar

Dear God, I want to say thank you for my wife. She’s amazing. She left just a little bit of you everywhere she went yesterday. A local business lost the husband of the couple that owns it (I mentioned this yesterday), and she was able to send their manager whom she knows well a column she wrote about that man almost nine years ago. He told her how much it blessed him and everyone he shared it with at the business. She mentored a fifth-grader grader at the local elementary school. She lead singing at our church last night for the Last Supper service (some call it Maundy Thursday, but Catholics don’t for some reason). She went to the funeral of a friend’s mother and got to love on that friend. She even went out of her way to give me a lovely compliment. Thank you for her and for living so beautifully through her.

Here are the verses Good Friday from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer.

  • AM Psalms: 22, 95
  • PM Psalms: 40, 54
  • Genesis 22:1-14
  • John 13:36-38, 19:38-42
  • 1 Peter 1:10-20

Psalms 22, 95 – The tone of these two psalms is so different. It’s interesting that they are paired together this morning. Psalm 22 expresses so much pain while Psalm 95 calls us to worship. It made me wonder about what was going through Jesus this morning nearly 2,000 years ago. If he had written a psalm that morning (it’s not like he could have, but if he had), what would he have said. What words would have described what was in his heart? Maybe this same type of mixture–anguish and worship.

Psalms 40, 54 – Thinking of Jesus’s betrayal from Judas, but also the men who purported to be your representatives through the temple, Psalm 54 is set up with, ” A maskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?” Then David says in the psalm, “Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life–men without regard for God.” Oh, how sad this betrayal must have been for him. Abandoned. Alone–even from you. Alone maybe for the first time in his existence–on earth or before earth. Oh, my Jesus. Thank you.

Genesis 22:1-14 – I’ve never liked this story as a comparison with what you did with Jesus, giving us your only son, because I don’t think your instructions to Abraham about Isaac have anything to do with what you did with Jesus, EXCEPT, this morning I noticed that maybe the ram with his horns stuck in the thicket is the Jesus figure here. Maybe Isaac is my sin, and I am sentenced. In verse 22:8, Abraham says, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then in verse 14, Abraham calls that place, “The LORD Will Provide.” Yes, you did provide, Father.

John 13:36-38, 19:38-42 – You are in a place where I cannot yet go, but you have left your Holy Spirit here with me to walk with me, comfort me, teach me, guide me. Thank you. As for Nicodemus helping Joseph care for Jesus’s body, I still think it is one of the most beautiful acts of love and self-sacrifice I’ve ever seen.

1 Peter 1:10-20 – I’ll confess I’m not really feeling this passage this morning. It doesn’t seem to fit as much with where my head is right now. I’ll just say that I love that Peter was who he was, experience what he experienced, made the mistakes me made, learned the lessons he learned, repented of his mistakes and sins, and lived an amazing bold life for you. What a great example!

Father, I offer this day to you. Thank you for the Friday that was so good for me and so tragic for you. I am yours.

I pray all of this in the name of Jesus, my Lord, and with your Holy Spirit who resides in me,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 29, 2024 in 1 Peter, Galatians, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 44

28 Mar

Dear God, Maundy Thursday. The Last Supper. The bread/body, wine/blood. The washing of the feet. The betrayal. The blood from sweat. The prayer to take the cup. The anguish. The healing. The prayer for our unity. So much happens. Thank you.

Here are today’s verses from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer. Ironically, I have not hardly read the commentary from the book. Maybe 10% of it. I’ve almost exclusively just used the passages each day. Maybe I’ll go back and read it when I’m done.

  • AM Psalm: 102
  • PM Psalms: 142, 143
  • Jeremiah 20:7-11
  • John 17
  • 1 Corinthians 10:14-17, 11:27-32

Psalm 102 – When I started reading this psalm, which contains the introduction, “A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD,” I thought of Jesus praying this psalm. The pain and the anguish. May I never forget the fully human nature of Jesus as he faced this. He didn’t get a divine intervention from this pain. He was fully you, but he was also fully Mary. Oh, Jesus, thank you.

Psalms 142 and 143 – Again, I imagine these words layered over Jesus’s experience nearly 2,000 years ago. The lament. The dread. The fear. The love. The submission. The devotion. The determination. The strength. The self control. The kindness. The goodness. The faithfulness. The patience. The gentleness. All of the fruits of the Spirit on full display that night. Amazing.

Jeremiah 20:7-11 – Jeremiah had moments of feel very rejected. Each day I fill out a 6-question survey on how I’m doing emotionally and physically and share it with a friend. It’s on a scale of 1-5, and the idea is to be able to see how your friend is doing at any given time. It has proved to really bond this friend and me together over the last 18 months. I have a tendency to use “4” as a baseline, bump it to 5 if things are fully engaged at that level in that particularly category, and let it drop to 3 or even 2 if it was a bad day. Most days are 4s and 5s, but sometimes I give a 3, and a few times I’ve given a 2 on some of the questions. I can imagine that Jeremiah had a lot of days that were filled with 2s. The path you had for him was certainly contentious and full of rejection by man. His pain was real. But your presence and comfort to him were real as well. Just as it was to Jesus as we began his final journey to crucifixion.

John 17 – Ah, the prayer at the Last Supper. I knew this chapter even before I opened it. Jesus prays for himself, Jesus prays for the disciples, and then he prays for all of us, including me. He will do more praying later in the garden–anguished prayer–but for now he is covering us in prayer. Father, answer those prayers, even today. Use things in our world that are happening in your Church that concern me, and redeem them for your ultimate glory. Bring us all to repentance for our idols. Help us to look only to you for our path forward.

1 Corinthians 10:14-17, 11:27-32 – I need to be sure to find some time tonight to take your bread and drink your wine. I need to remember the body and the blood you gave for me. And the idols Paul mentions in 10:14. There is all kinds of idolatry. Anything that we look to for our fruits of the Spirit–especially peace (in my opinion)–instead of you. Our government? Our economy? Our spouse/significant other? Our children? Our job? Our reputation? I’ve been guilty of all of these and more. Please help me to be free from idols, look only to you for my peace, and help my friends and your Church to have our eyes opened to its idols, repent, and return to you.

Finally, I want to pray for a couple of friends experiencing the deaths of their mothers and one who lost their spouse, all this week. For the woman who tragically lost her spouse two days ago from an accident, please strongly support her in every way. Support her through this terrible time. Provide every need so that, ultimately, she might find rest in you. And for her children as well. For the two friends who lost their mothers this week, please comfort them. There is no one like Mom. Please help them and comfort them as, even at their older ages, they are motherless for the first time. Help them to find their rest and peace in you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and everything that the next 72 hours represents, and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 28, 2024 in 1 Corinthians, Jeremiah, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 43

27 Mar

Dear God, I want to start praying for my friend who lost her husband suddenly from an accident yesterday. Oh, please support her, her children and grandchildren, and the employees they had who I know loved him. He was a genuinely good and kind man. The kind of man I would aspire to be. Please raise up people around them who will be your hands and feet to them. Love them well. Comfort them. And use this pain somehow. Don’t let them pain of this tragedy be wasted.

There are four more full days until Easter. But there are only two days from right now at 5:21 in the morning until Jesus is in the middle of his detention, beatings, and, ultimately, crucifixion. What must it have been like for him? Well, there is no way I can imagine. Absolutely no way.

With that said, here are the passages from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer.

  • AM Psalm: 55
  • PM Psalm: 74
  • Jeremiah 17:5-10, 14-17
  • John 12:27-36
  • Philippians 4:1-13

Psalm 55 – I am always struck by David’s readiness for vengeance. It’s an interesting character trait–flaw? In the past, I’ve wondered what David’s life would have been like had he been made “judge” over Israel instead of “king.” If the Israelites hadn’t asked for a king, but had kept Samuel as their judge, and then Samuel had passed that torch to David, what would Judge David have been like? Would he have had less violence in his heart? Did somehow the act of being a king drive him into this place? Or was he like this all along? And how did you feel about this part of him? How did you feel about these psalms and what he said in them? They make me incredibly uncomfortable. At the same time, I am so impressed that he shared his fears, pains and insecurities so openly. So openly, in fact, that I can see them these thousands of years later.

Psalm 74 – This one makes me think that we absolutely don’t understand your ways. The human ignorance of your ways is kind of summed up in verse 19: Do not hand over the life of your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever. You did, in fact, hand over your ultimate dove (Jesus) to the wild beasts (the Pharisees–your spiritual leaders during Roman occupation) because you did not forget the lives of your people (all of us). It’s a good reminder to me that I simply do not understand what you are doing, and I never will understand until I am on the other side of this life. Thank you for allowing for my own ignorance and loving me so much anyway.

Jeremiah 17:5-10, 14-17 – Like a tree planted by the water. That’s how verse 7 describes the person who trusts in you. Plenty of water. Plenty of nutrition. Plenty of fruit. Oh, Father, when the day is hot and the heat wants to burn my leaves, please be my source of strength to fight against it. And give me good fruit so that others might be blessed by you through my life submitted to you.

John 12:27-36 – The end of the passages says, “When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.” Also, going back to the idea that this was Passion week, it’s interesting in verse 30 when Jesus says, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.” I’m part of that “your.” John recorded this so that I could read it one day. Oh, he might not have known this would be part of scripture read 2,000 years later, but you gave it to John to give to me and to the rest of us. Thank you.

Philippians 4:1-13 – I love these exhortations for the Philippians. And Paul has something extra here. A little lesson. Do you want to be content in any and every situation, whether living with a lot of nothing? Remember that God is with you and is your strength. Well, help me to remember that lesson today. Help me to lean into you when I am stressed. Help me to embrace you when I am frustrated. Help me to worship and love you when I am angry and afraid. And when things are great and people are wanting to applaud me, help me to give you all of the glory because it is only through you that anything good has happened through my life.

I offer all of this prayer to you in Jesus Christ and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 27, 2024 in Jeremiah, John, Philippians, Psalms

 

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