RSS

Tag Archives: bible

Collect for Mass of the Day – March 17, 2025

17 Mar

O God, who have taught us to chasten our bodies for the healing of our souls, enable us, we pray, to abstain from all sins, and strengthen our hearts to carry out your loving commands.

Collect for the Mass of the Day – March 17, 2025

Dear God, when I read this passage this morning I thought of the Serenity Prayer from AA: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” In the case of the Collect, it is talking about disciplining ourselves under your “loving commands” so that our souls can be healed and our hearts strengthened. And I know this is true. When I am able to discipline myself to avoid sin and pursue you, the peace that passes understanding almost always follows. But when I allow sin and the shame that comes with it to enter into the picture it is hard.

I talked to someone a few years ago who tried another approach. He rejected you because he saw you as the rule maker and, therefore, the source of his guilt. If he got rid of you then he was able to get rid of the guilt he felt. I don’t know how or if that is still working for him, but it’s something that has always stuck with me as a unique solution to the problem of guilt. I pray for him this morning that he might be at peace and find that peace in you.

Sister Miriam kind of describes this guilt/peace situation in part of her commentary in today’s entry from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation when she says, “We see this in Genesis with Adam and Eve, before and after the Fall and the entrance of original sin. Before the rupture of sin, Adam and Eve experienced wholeness, communion, and integration of themselves with God, within themselves, with each other, and with creation. After the rupture of sin, this turning away from love, they experienced the disintegration of every aspect of their being.”

Father, I want to be fully integrated with you. Help me to be that today. Help me to “abstain from all sins,” and “carry about your loving commands” so that my soul might be healed and my heart strengthened in your service.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 17, 2025 in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Mark 9:1-6

16 Mar

2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

Mark 9:1-6

Dear God, it’s Transfiguration Sunday in the Catholic church, so it makes sense that Sister Miriam would have chosen this passage for today’s verse in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation. However, she only did the first sentence of verse 5, and I am drawn to verse 6. In it, Peter confesses through Mark that he had no idea what he was saying or doing because he was so scared. It’s a little like me when I describe myself looking like an idiot. “This is what I said, but I had no idea what I was saying.” For me, the reminder here is to just allow myself to be in the moment. Don’t try to take control of it. Don’t try to make more or less of it than it is. Just be in the moment and let the Holy Spirit drive my response.

But going back to Sister Miriam’s sentence for the day, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here,” it is a reminder that this is an important story for us to know. I don’t know if or how many other times Jesus met with Moses and Elijah (or others) during his earthly journey. He got away to pray by himself a lot, including the 40 days in the wilderness and several other examples. But at least one of them was captured for posterity. So that there were witnesses to your true deity as represented in the flesh in Jesus, all man and all God. It’s so awesome to consider. And I’m sure Peter, James, and John remembered this event even at the end of their lives.

Father, it is good that I am here this morning. And I am in the midst of a local tragedy, and I do not know how to respond. There is a 9,000-acre fire near my home, and while I am not personally threatened, many I know are in some way or another. Some are without power from downed power lines. Some need to evacuate from their homes. Some who I don’t know have already lost their home, livestock, barns, etc. So in this moment, as I consider my response, it is good that I am here. To pray. To not freak out and get in the way of others who have a job to do, but to seek to support in any way that I can. I worship you, Father. I pray for rain. I pray for a change in the weather to reduce the wind. I pray for your supernatural hand to move and protect the firefighters, the homeowners, and the livestock. I pray that you will not let this pain be wasted, but make it count for your glory and to draw all of us, including me, closer to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 16, 2025 in Mark, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Psalm 119:1-8

15 Mar

Psalm 119

The Glories of God’s Law

1 Happy are those whose way is blameless,
    who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Happy are those who keep his decrees,
    who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong
    but walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded your precepts
    to be kept diligently.
5 O that my ways may be steadfast
    in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
    having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
    when I learn your righteous ordinances.
8 I will observe your statutes;
    do not utterly forsake me.

Dear God, verse 2 is the focus for Sister Miriam this morning from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation.

2 Happy are those who keep his decrees,
    who seek him with their whole heart

When I read all of these verses together, it brought to mind a video I saw this week. A coworker’s one-year-old granddaughter was caught on video by her mother playing with a roll of toilet paper. Sitting on the floor next to the spindle on the wall and unrolling it. Playing with it. When the mom is heard on the video coming around the corner and saying, “Well, hello there,” the toddler baby turns and instantly starts crying–wailing really. It was so funny to watch this child either 1. experience instant guilt which means there was a knowledge of their bad behavior all along or 2. throw out the wailing and tears instantly in an effort to manipulate and mitigate her mother’s anger.

Whatever the reason for this child’s wailing, every person who watched that video could instantly relate to what was going on. We’ve all been there, going all the way back to Adam and Eve. Ohhh, that apple looks so good (whatever the “apple” might represent for me). And I’ve had those times when I’ve walked around with the guilt of known sin. I’ve hoped I can hide it and no one will discover it. I’ve even foolishly tried to hide it from you by not acknowledging it and pretending like it didn’t happen. Or by telling myself that it’s not a big deal and you don’t care. Or by telling myself I’m in for a penny so I might as well be in for a pound.

As we know, all of that puts a barrier up between us and everything around us. It puts up a barrier between me and you as well as me and others around me. There’s a part of me I cannot let them know. And if they know it and feel betrayed in any way, it puts something between us in that way too. It takes away transparency.

Quoting Sister Miriam for today: “A house may look lovely on the exterior, but if the foundation is flawed, the house will develop acute problems. We see this in our own lives: The Lord spends much time healing and restoring the roots of our lives. This happens little by little over time. Yes, we experience deep shifts and major breakthroughs within that are seismic and felt and lasting. And we also have tiny reverberations of the tender work of the Artist who knows exactly what he is creating.”

Father, of course, the easiest and best thing to do is to keep your testimony and seek you with my whole heart. It is to be blameless, do no wrong, and walk in your way. Oh that my ways will be steadfast in keeping your laws. But I know I have failed you. I know I will fail you. I am sorry. I bring the sin I’m aware of to you in this moment. I am sorry, Father. I am sorry, Jesus. I am sorry, Holy Spirit. Thank you for everything you have done, are doing, and will do for me as my Triune God. I know your ways are best for me. They lead me to life. Thank you for not utterly forsaking me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 15, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Ezekiel 18:23

14 Mar

23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live? 

Ezekiel 18:23

Dear God, I think I am going to try something different today when I use the passage from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation by Sr. Miriam James Heidland. Instead of looking at the passage and praying on it, I’m going to start with reading what she has to say about it.

I really like her first paragraph:

As Adam and Eve are shattered in the garden by their decision to listen to the enemy and not to rely upon the truth of who God is, so are we. We hold God in suspicion, we blame him, we try to create our own reality apart from him, and we fear being seen by him. We fear being seen by the only one who can actually do anything to heal us.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times now the video I saw of Dustin Hoffman quoting Robert De Niro on what he would say to you if he were to meet you on the other side of this life. According to Hoffman, De Niro’s quote was, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” First, I doubt he would have the courage to say that if presented with your presence. No way. But just the thought of that animosity towards you goes back to this in some way. I mean, I understand being upset with you and how you do things. I understand legitimate awful things going on in the world that upset us and lead us to ask why you would allow such a thing (e.g., war, human trafficking, hunger, etc.). I’ve been disappointed with you in the past. But what would I have you do? What would we have you do differently? Where would the mighty hand of your justice end? Could any of us justify our survival?

Father, her is Sr. Miriam’s last paragraph. I offer it to you as my prayer:

When we spend time with God in prayer listening, receiving, speaking, pondering, and responding, our lives are changed. As we drink deeply from the scriptures and let this living Word settle into the marrow of our souls, the poison of sin and lies is drawn out. As we meditate and contemplate upon who God is and engage in conversation with him, our stony hearts are softened and made new. As we confess our sin and weaknesses and ask for his heart to meet us in our misery, new light dawns.

So draw out the poison of sin and lies in my heart. Meet me in my misery. Bring a new light into my life today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
1 Comment

Posted by on March 14, 2025 in Ezekiel, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 51

13 Mar

Psalm 51

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy,
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
    and blameless when you pass judgment.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
    a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6 You desire truth in the inward being;
    therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
    and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
    O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
    if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then you will delight in right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Dear God, as I think of David’s state of mine while he wrote this poem, this psalm after Nathan’s confrontation, I think of the devastation he felt. How unique it is to get this kind of a view of the heart of a man when he is confronted with his grievous sin: murder, adultery, rape?, lies, secrets, manipulation, corrupting others (Joab, messengers, etc.). And not only did David write this down before you, but he shared it. The part of the poem that says, “13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you,” really touches me because this is him saying that he and his pride are at your mercy. If it takes humiliating himself to achieve your forgiveness, he’ll do it. He didn’t want this pain to be wasted. He knew it was too late to rectify what he had done to Uriah, Bathsheba, Joab, the messengers, and even Nathan. They were forever damaged. He could apologize privately, but to do this publicly and show his remorse publicly like this was a huge step.

The downside is that there was no stopping him losing the moral high ground with his children. When his eldest son Amnon rapes his daughter, Tamar, David has nothing to say. When Absalom kills Amnon in revenge, David has nothing to do but exile Absalom. Then Solomon grew up knowing how David treated his mother and her first husband before he was born, and that likely impacted his view of women. The repentance was good, but there was still unfixable damage.

Sister Miriam in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation focused on verses 10 and 12 today. It’s interesting because she takes those and then focuses on how your covenant with us is unbreakable by you. And that’s all good and well. And I’m grateful that you love me through Jesus life, death, blood, and resurrection. Without that, I’m not sure what my life would even be about. Why I would even be here. Without my relationship with you, I would have no reason to do anything for anyone else. Why love my neighbor when that is a waste of the years I have here on earth. Without you, then my life should be all about me and my happiness.

Father, oh how grateful I am that I do have you! Being part of you and having you in me makes it okay that I’m so small. It makes it good to give others around me as much love as I can. “I love you, Lord. And I lift my voice to worship you. Oh, my soul, rejoice! Take joy my King in what you hear. Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.” (Shout out Laurie Klein for her song.)

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 13, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Joel 2:12-13

12 Mar

12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
    return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13     rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
    and relenting from punishment.

Joel 2:12-13

Dear God, this is the passage from Sister Miriam in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation. I don’t know that much about Joel as a prophet or as a book, so I went back to read the introduction in my NIV Study Bible from the 1980s. When describing the overall message of the book, the NIV Study Bible says at the end, “…he describes the day as one of punishment for unfaithful Israel as well. Restoration and blessing will come only after judgment and repentance.”

Oh, God, can I skip the judgment and just go to repentance? Does judgment have to come first? Coincidentally, I was talking with my wife yesterday about standing before you at judgment day. What will you say? How horrifying will it be to stand before you, even with Jesus’s blood covering me to atone for my sins? Will you make an account of my sins, or will you give me a pass? What will that look like?

Then there is our country now. I’ve talked about my conversations with friends about our country and how things are currently going. I have no idea what to make of what is happening at a national level. I know there are plans. I know they are being executed. Will the ultimate results of them be good, bad, or just kicking the can down the road one more election cycle? Will they give the Christian church that has thrown its weight behind the current administration the power it craves and finish off its corruption, thereby causing its collapse and leaving those faithful to you as a remnant? Will the church and the country have to take three steps back in order to start moving forward again?

This all plays into Joel’s call to return to you. All of us start to create idols. Idols of power. Idols of money and what we think is security. Idols of our spouses and our children. I could go on and on. And you will allow our idols to fail. You will allow pain. You will allow us to wander away so that we might come to the end of ourselves. What kind of judgment from you will be waiting for me at the end of my rope? Will it be as Joel describes here, or will it be more like the Prodigal Father who waits for his son to come home after he’s learned how much he needs his father.

Father, my God, I love you and I am grateful for you. Forgive me of my sins as I forgive those who sin against me. Lead me away from temptation. Deliver me from evil. Give me my daily bread–no more and no less. You are the one and only glorious God. Once again, I love you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 12, 2025 in Joel, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Psalm 90:1-4

11 Mar

Psalm 90:1-4

God’s Eternity and Human Frailty

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn us back to dust
    and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
    are like yesterday when it is past
    or like a watch in the night.

Dear God, I have had so many reminders during this Lenten series, but the big one is the one I always seem to need. You are so big. More than I can even imagine. More than I can even imagine imagining. And I am so small. Smaller than I can imagine imagining.

I have a relative whose health is failing. He may die fairly soon. While his life is as small as mine, is soul is as precious as the finest things in the universe to you, and therefore to me. It’s hard to know how to reach out to him or to those relatives I have who are closer to him than I am. Help me to know how to do that.

My wife and I were talking this morning about a couple we know who are in the throws of busyness with their children, careers, and even building a house. It sounded completely overwhelming. And yet to remember that their lives are so small, but their souls are so precious.

I guess that’s the reality I’ve been sitting with the last few months. As I’ve seen larges people groups suffer. People die by the tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Lives are so small, but each soul is so precious to you and to those who know them.

In Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, Sister Miriam focuses in on your trustworthiness from Psalm 90:1 when it says, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.” You are trustworthy, although I would say that many would say you are not. It kind of goes back to what I said I heard Dustin Hoffman say when asked what he would ask you were there to be a heaven. He quoted Robert De Niro and said you’d have a lot of explaining to do. They don’t see you as a dwelling place, trustworthy for protection. They have listened to Satan in the garden when he says, “Would an all-loving God really allow you to suffer at all?” But they’ve missed the point, in my mind. In my way of thinking, we are once again seeing our lives as so big, but I think our lives are so small. It is just our souls that are precious to you.

Father, I could be wrong about all of this. I’m not promoting anything I’m saying as accurate or even theologically sound. It’s just how I’m thinking about it this morning. If I’m wrong, show me where I am wrong. If I’m right, show me how to use this knowledge to love others and show them how precious they are to you. You are the great God. You are precious to me. Thank you for making my soul precious to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 11, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

2 Corinthians 6:1-10

10 Mar

6 As we work together with him, we entreat you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,

“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
    and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: in great endurance, afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 in purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors and yet are true, 9 as unknown and yet are well known, as dying and look—we are alive, as punished and yet not killed, 10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing everything.

2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Dear God, Paul really gets on a roll here. Sister Miriam focuses on verse 2 in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, but it’s verses 3-10 that really struck me this morning. I am just picturing Paul sitting somewhere either writing this feverishly or dictating it to someone who is feverishly trying to keep up with what he is saying here.

I like how I see Paul’s “fruits of the Spirit” from Galatians 5 weave their way into his other writings. It’s one of his themes. Part of his stump speech. They appear here: patience, kindness, love.

But I think the point of all of this is to encourage the Corinthians (and me) to accept the responsibility inherent in receiving your grace. To whom much is given, much is required. What do you require of me today? I doubt it will be to physically suffer as Paul did, but it might mean exposing myself to ridicule out of my love for you. It might mean embarrassment. It might even mean losing a donor who doesn’t like my devotion to you. I don’t know. But I know that I need to be prepared now for when that moment comes. I cannot wait until I am challenged to decide I will stand up to that challenge. I need to decide it now.

Father, I am your child. I love you. I make mistakes all of the time. Not only ever day, but as much as every hour or more. I am sorry. But I accept both your grace and the responsibility that comes with that grace. Sister Miriam talks about the courage to explore the parts of our heart that we have kept from you and hear you say, “It’s time now. Let’s look at these things together. I am with you. You are never alone. it is time to allow these places to surface so you can be well.” So I invite you in. I accept your presence in every part of my heart. I pray that you will be gentle with me.

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

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 10, 2025 in 2 Corinthians, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Roman 10:5-13

09 Mar

5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say?

“The word is near you,
    in your mouth and in your heart”

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim), 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For one believes with the heart, leading to righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, leading to salvation. 11 The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Romans 10:5-13

Dear God, I never get excited about reading Romans. I probably should. I guess it just seems so academic to me. It feels like he’s teaching a class, and I cannot just take bits and pieces here and there like I prefer to do. For example, today, Sister Miriam just has verse 11 as her verse of meditation from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, but it’s really out of context without the verse around it. But then they are out of context without chapter 9. And when you go back to chapter 9, you realize it is a continuation from chapter 8. It’s just very verbose and almost cryptic. I’d rather someone like Paul, Peter, or John just beat me over the head with what they are saying instead of taking so many words to build the foundation and justification for their argument. Don’t get me wrong. I understand why they did it that way, and I think that way is right. It can just be hard for me to digest given how I tend to read scripture (which is probably wrong since these were mainly written as letters to groups of people or individuals).

So what is Sister Miriam trying to get me to focus on by just pulling out Romans 10:11?

On this first Sunday of Lent, we are led by the Spirit into the desert with Jesus…In the desert, things become very clear. We see our idols–the things we grasp at for salvation other than God. We see where we hide behind our fig leaves of self-righteousness and shame. We see where our sin has wreaked havoc in our lives and in the lives of others.

I had an email exchange with a friend whom I respect as a Godly man. He loves you. He is also very upset right now and some developments in the world. While we lament the same things, I feel like I am reminded time and again the last few years that there is a difference between despair and lament. As long as you are my God, I will not despair (except when I lose faith and I do, indeed, despair), but I will lament things that make me sad and concerned. And you use that lament to comfort me, motivate me, and draw me closer to yourself. If someone came along tomorrow and fixed everything that I am currently lamenting, I might be tempted to worship that person and turn my eyes from you. I might want to make them my idol. I like how Sister Miriam says, “In the desert, things become very clear. We see our idols.” Why does it often take a desert to reveal our idols? Maybe because we look to our idols to comfort us in the desert, and when they fail us (and they will always fail us eventually) we see them for what they are. Or at least you are trying to reveal them for what they are. We just have to be willing to let go of them and allow the Holy Spirit to help us see them as you see them.

Father, I know I still have idols I’m not aware of. My bank account and how much is in it is an idol. I’m sure it is. I know how I feel if I have different amounts in it. A lot makes me happier. Just a little makes me fearful. So it’s certainly in there somewhere. And I know there are other idols. I know I can look to see who is or isn’t in any given political office and make it an idol to get my person in that position one way or another. But that is fool-hearted. One I’ve talked to you about in the past is my interest or need for the U.S. military to be the strongest in the world so I will feel safe. But am I really safe? Do I need to be safe? My nice little neighborhood in my small town can be a place where I find refuge instead of finding my refuge in you. The examples are everywhere. I confess them to you this morning, in this desert place. Be glorified. You are my God.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 9, 2025 in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, Romans

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 69:16

08 Mar

Psalm 69

Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution

To the leader: according to Lilies. Of David.

1 Save me, O God,
    for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
    where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
    and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
    with waiting for my God.

4 More in number than the hairs of my head
    are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
    my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal,
    must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
    the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

6 Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
    O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
    O God of Israel.
7 It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
    that shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my kindred,
    an alien to my mother’s children.

9 It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
    the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10 When I humbled my soul with fasting,[a]
    they insulted me for doing so.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
    I became a byword to them.
12 I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make songs about me.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
    At an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help 14 rescue me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.
15 Do not let the flood sweep over me
    or the deep swallow me up
    or the Pit close its mouth over me.

16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant,
    for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to me; redeem me;
    set me free because of my enemies.

19 You know the insults I receive
    and my shame and dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.
20 Insults have broken my heart,
    so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
    and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
    and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 Let their table be a trap for them,
    a snare for their allies.
23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
    and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be a desolation;
    let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute those whom you have struck down,
    and those whom you have wounded they attack still more.[b]
27 Add guilt to their guilt;
    may they have no acquittal from you.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
    let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am lowly and in pain;
    let your salvation, O God, protect me.

30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox
    or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
    you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
    and does not despise his own who are in bonds.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
    the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
    and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and his servants shall live[c] there and possess it;
36     the children of his servants shall inherit it,
    and those who love his name shall live in it.

Dear God, this is the passage for today’s Lenten meditation from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation. Sister Miriam has us focusing on verse 16, but as I read the psalm this morning, it was verse 6 that struck me:

6 Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
    O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
    O God of Israel.

I want to love you. I want to love others. But one thing that scares me is leading others who earnestly love you astray. Or leading those who are earnestly seeking you astray. Or just having some failing that comes back on you and on those around me who worship you. I have a friend who is becoming a good friend. He is a pastor. I have my little pieces of theology that go against the grain and can be considered kind of weird. And I could be incredibly wrong. I have found myself regretting saying some things about what I think to him because, if it is heresy, I don’t want to lead him down the wrong path and away from you.

Father, I am about to spend time today with that very friend, a relative, and many other men as we hear encouragement about what boys in our world need to be a man in today’s culture. I confess I am skeptical of the topic and what will be taught. But with this reading today, I want to be careful about how I share that. I want to be careful how I love them, love the boys in my life, and love my own children, who are now grown. I certainly made mistakes in their lives. I might have done things that put a wedge between them and you, I don’t know. But I know that I have this day. This moment. Help me to be very careful in it.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 8, 2025 in Psalms

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

← Older posts
Newer posts →