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Psalm 138

29 Jun

Psalm 138

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

138 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
    before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted above all things
    your name and your word.
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
    my strength of soul you increased.

4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
    for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
    for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he knows from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Dear God, I love the idea that part of David working out his relationship with you was through his poetry. I will be teaching tonight about How he responded to Saul’s and Jonathan’s deaths, and what did he do but write a song for others to sing? Much like I use these prayer journals to process how my mind and my spirit meld with you and get to know your Spirit, these psalms were how David worked. I was listening to a man be interviewed the other day and when he was asked about how he spends time working out his faith, he mentioned that he reads. My wife is a reader. She is a singer. She is a silent prayer. For me, the heart of mine is through these prayer journals. There are other things I do as well such as listen to sermons, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc., but the real depth is explored through these moments.

Going back to David’s psalm here, it is a reminder to just thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done. I was talking to someone last night about a friend who cannot get beyond her self-pity. It’s so frustrating, but I know that I can really wallow in self-pity when I want to. Often, the anecdote to that is either being thankful for the things I’ve missed that I should be thankful for or just deciding to love the person who is offending me and considering whatever pain is driving their hurtful actions more than my own hurt.

Father, help me to continue to work out my faith each day. I want to know you better. I want to love you better. I want to love my neighbors better. Yesterday, could have been a day filled with self-pity, but instead you gave me gratitude. Help me to embrace that and, in my private prayers, turn loose of any pain and simply pray for those who are estranged from me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 29, 2026 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 103

16 Jun

Psalm 103

A psalm of David.

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
    and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
    and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
    My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

6 The Lord gives righteousness
    and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

7 He revealed his character to Moses
    and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
    slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
    nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
    he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
    is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
    as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
    tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
    he remembers we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
    like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
    as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
    with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
18     of those who are faithful to his covenant,
    of those who obey his commandments!

19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne;
    from there he rules over everything.

20 Praise the Lord, you angels,
    you mighty ones who carry out his plans,
    listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels
    who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
    everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

Dear God, what a beautiful psalm. It’s the kind that needs to be read out loud. I like how David is exhorting the angels to praise you, as if they don’t all of the time. I wonder what David’s understanding of angels was at the time. Honestly, I don’t have too much of an understanding of angels, but it seems like a lot of the angel visits are either in Genesis with Abraham and Jacob or in the gospels with Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds. I know Raphael also shows up in Tobit.

But I digress. It is so great to just stop and worship you. To praise you. To proclaim verbally who you are. I also like the part of this that refers to the vaporous quality of our earthly lives. Like the wildflowers, we are here and then we are gone. But we do make an impact while we are here.

I don’t want to forget that, while this is a psalm of orientation, there are plenty of people I know today who are living in disorientation at this moment. You know who is on my heart and who I’m talking about. And there are several of them. I pray that you would find them in their trouble and sorrow. That you would draw them close to you through these hard times. That you would make this pain count.

Father, you are my God. I am your servant. You have work for me to do today. Help me to do it well and for your glory. Help me to carr you into my day.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 16, 2026 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 46

11 Jun

Psalm 46

For the choir director: A song of the descendants of Korah, to be sung by soprano voices.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come
    and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3 Let the oceans roar and foam.
    Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude

4 A river brings joy to the city of our God,
    the sacred home of the Most High.
5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.
    From the very break of day, God will protect it.
6 The nations are in chaos,
    and their kingdoms crumble!
God’s voice thunders,
    and the earth melts!
7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
    the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude

8 Come, see the glorious works of the Lord:
    See how he brings destruction upon the world.
9 He causes wars to end throughout the earth.
    He breaks the bow and snaps the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.

10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
    I will be honored by every nation.
    I will be honored throughout the world.”

11 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
    the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude

Dear God, I would classify this as a psalm of orientation (as opposed to Brueggemann’s classification of psalms of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation). You are in charge and I trust you. I trust in you. I have no idols. I know who you are. I worship you. My head is clear. I will be still and know that you are God. I will honor you. I will worship you. Thank yo for being here with me. Selah

It’s too bad these moments of orientation can be so fleeting. I can get afraid and look to my idols to save me. My own intellect. Money. Government. My wife. I look to them to orient me, but they are all as dependable as shifting sand. And that’s not a slam on my wife. She’s amazing. But she’s human and her life is fragile. Things could change in a moment. She can’t be my idol. And it’s not fair to her to make her my idol. She doesn’t need that kind of pressure from me.

Father, you are my refuge and strength. You are always ready to help me in times of trouble. You might not solve the problem the way I want it solved, but you will be there to love, support, and comfort me through it. You will also be there to teach me through it, not allowing the pain to be wasted. So what is the worst that can happen in earthquakes come or the mountains crash into the sea? Maybe it will simply expedite my journey to seeing you without this veil beween us. I pray for peace on this earth. End the wars. End the suffering. End the death. Help me to know what my role is in yourplan for all of that.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 11, 2026 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 56

30 May

Psalm 56

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time the Philistines seized him in Gath. To be sung to the tune “Dove on Distant Oaks.”

1 O God, have mercy on me,
    for people are hounding me.
    My foes attack me all day long.
2 I am constantly hounded by those who slander me,
    and many are boldly attacking me.
3 But when I am afraid,
    I will put my trust in you.
4 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?

5 They are always twisting what I say;
    they spend their days plotting to harm me.
6 They come together to spy on me—
    watching my every step, eager to kill me.
7 Don’t let them get away with their wickedness;
    in your anger, O God, bring them down.

8 You keep track of all my sorrows.
    You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
    You have recorded each one in your book.

9 My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help.
    This I know: God is on my side!
10 I praise God for what he has promised;
    yes, I praise the Lord for what he has promised.
11 I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
    What can mere mortals do to me?

12 I will fulfill my vows to you, O God,
    and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.
13 For you have rescued me from death;
    you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
    in your life-giving light.

Dear God, would this be a psalm of disorientation or reorientation? I am grateful we get the context for it in the introduction. When did the Philistines seize David in Gath? 1 Samuel 21 after he took Goliath’s sword from Ahimelech when David was running from Saul and escaped to Gath:

10 So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. 11 But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. “Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,
    and David his ten thousands’?”

12 David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. 13 So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.

14 Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? 15 We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”

I never read this story before and thought about the fact that they had “seized” David as they brought him to King Achish, but that’s how the introduction describes the psalm so I’ll go with that image. I can’t wait until I teach this story from 1 Samuel to the guys in Christian Men’s Life Skills in a couple of weeks. Adding this psalm will be something fun. Wow! The Bible has so many layers and hyperlinks between the texts. For an uneducated man, it feels almost impossible to get my head around them. I guess that’s kind of how it is with you. There’s just so much to you! How can any of us think we’ve cornered the market on your truth or wisdom.

This is a different topic, but I was curious about a Christian singer I used to love in the early 90s so I looked him up this morning. What I found made me sad. He seems to have gotten angrier. He was pretty dogmatic and challenging back then, but what attracted me to him was being challenged to love you more and love others more. Kind of a Keith Green vibe. But now he just seems angry and, frankly, a bit deluded. I didn’t get any fruits of the Spirit vibe from what I read about him (and I read it direclty from his personal website, so I went to the source). He released a new album in 2024. I tried listening to some of it. Even the instrumentation sounded angry. I wondered if he thought these were the kinds of songs Jesus would sing along to if he were here in the flesh today. They seemed more like the kind of thing Moses would have written in his fury toward the Israelites coming down from the mountain. And yes, there is a place for the anger Moses had, but that anger seems to have completely permeated this man. His head shots showed an intense face, not a smiling, compassionate face. His description in his about page railed against the Christian music complex, but was self-aggrandizing at the same time. It was just a sad mess that left me…well, at first it just repulsed me. Now as it has soaked in over the last couple of hours, it makes me concerned for him. I was a real fan back in 1990. I bought his CDs in a time when I couldn’t really afford CDs. I went and saw him once in concert about 40 miles from where I lived while I was still in college. I remember featuring his music in the record club I managed, even when he was past his musical prime and the things being produced were greatest hits collections.

Okay, I really went down that rabbit hole, but maybe there was purpose to it. David was teetering here, trying to figure out how to survive moment to moment and still worship you. This psalm is David calling on you for help to escape both Achish, and, presumably, Saul, and yet he is lying and deceiving Achish for his survival. Is that much different than Peter lying in the garden? I mean, yes, I know Peter was denying knowing Jesus and being a disciple while Davis was only pretending to be crazy, but still…deception to save their own skin is a common thread between them. But that’s one of the things I love about David. He sinned. He sinned A LOT. But he was seeking you as well. He was imperfectly, pitifully, but earnestly seeking you. I love that about him.

Father, I am completely imperfect. I fail. I sin. I lie. I cheat. I lust. I hate. I judge. I’ve made mistakes as a husband, father, boss, friend, and community member. I just pray that you have also found me earnest in my seeking of you and pursuit of you. And I pray for this Christian artist. His current state of heart has touched mine. I know my current faith is imperfect and people could come to me and criticize any number of things, so I don’t sit here in judgment of him. Oh, I was judging him earlier this morning, and I am sorry for that. But my current thoughts are revolving around finding a way to love him and pierce a darkness I think he’s grown comfortable in. Help me know what to do, and if there is a role you would like me to play in his life. This is the second time he’s been on my heart in the last year or so. Maybe this is you nudging me. Guide me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2026 in 1 Samuel, Psalms

 

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Psalm 118

12 Apr

Psalm 118

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.

2 Let all Israel repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”

5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
    and the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?
7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
    I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.

10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
    I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
    but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
    they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
    But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
    but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
    he has given me victory.
15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
16 The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
17 I will not die; instead, I will live
    to tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has punished me severely,
    but he did not let me die.

19 Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,
    and I will go in and thank the Lord.
20 These gates lead to the presence of the Lord,
    and the godly enter there.
21 I thank you for answering my prayer
    and giving me victory!

22 The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see.
24 This is the day the Lord has made.
    We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Please, Lord, please save us.
    Please, Lord, please give us success.
26 Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
    We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God, shining upon us.
    Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you!
    You are my God, and I will exalt you!

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.

Dear God, someone shared Psalm118:24 with me today. I was having trouble figuring out what scripture to meditate on earlier today, so I decided to read this whole psalm. Of course, it’s a good one. A classic. But I decided to focus on verse 22. “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” Verse 23 follows it and is good as well: “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.” I don’t know if David wrote this psalm or not. It’s not labeled as such, but it seems like it could be his voice.

Of course, verse 26 echoes the words shouted at Jesus during the triumphal entry beginning Passion week: “Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Messiah. David’s heir.

I can see how some nations around the world right now, even though they are not Christian or even Jewish, but they do harken back to the God of Abraham, would feel like verses 10-18 fit them right now:

10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
    I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
    but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
    they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
    But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
    but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
    he has given me victory.
15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
16 The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
17 I will not die; instead, I will live
    to tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has punished me severely,
    but he did not let me die.

We can all use verses to justify our positions and support what we want them to support. I can sin and find a verse to support what I’ve done. But I can also find encouragement when others have sinned against me. It’s tricky to know when I am the sinner, when I have been sinned against, or when both are true.

Father, right now, I know the parts of this psalm that aretrue, above all else, are the parts that acknowledge who you are. 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever…28 You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you! 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Give me eyes to see my sin. And yes, I do see my sin, and I am sorry for that. I regret it. It makes my heart heavy. Please forgive me. Show me your path forward. Help me to take the forgiveness I feel from you and offer it to others–even those who have wronged me the most. I will give you thanks, for your are good. Your faithful love endures forever. You are my God, and I will praise you. You are my God, and I will exalt you!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 12, 2026 in Psalms

 

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“How Long, O Lord” by Daniel Schutte

16 Mar 
"How Long, O Lord" by Daniel Schutte
Based on Psalm 13, 22
Refrain: 
How long, O lord, will you hide your face
How long will the heavens be silent?
How long, O Lord, must we call out your name
'til you hear us and reach out your hand?

Verse 1:
Behold your children, forgotten, foresaken
Lost in our shame and our sadness.
Our hearts are barren, our spirits are broken.
Where is the love that you promised?

Verse 2:
Our hope is shaken, poured out like water
Dried like the sand in the desert.
Our hearts are hungry, famished and frightened
Where is the love that your promised?

Verse 3
By day we crow out in hunger and heartache
Hoping that heaven will hear us.
At night, in darkness, our spirits are restless
Waiting the dawn of your promise.

Verse 4
For you our parents had gambled their future
Trusting their fate to your kindness
Through fire and famine seeking their homeland
Staking their lives on your promise.

Dear God, in a couple of nights I’m going to be talking about prayers of desperation for a Lenten service. I picked Psalm 42, Elijah in the cave, and Jesus in the garden as the passages to be read.

We just don’t talk about praying through our pain enough. Modern songs are mostly about overcoming and victory in you, but we forget that sometimes we just need to lament. We feel weak. We feel betrayed. Maybe even abandoned. Maybe we can recognize that it was our sin that lead us away from you and to our current situation. But maybe it’s just life and neither the blind man nor his parents sinned to cause this situation (John 9). Maybe it is here so that your glory might ultimately shine. And it might be years before the glory shines.

The other thing for me to remember is that the lament keeps me on my knees. Even now, as I type this, I stopped typing for a few moments while I thought about sorrows in my life. Pain that I feel. And I see no end in sight. But that pain has become such a part of me now through the last several years that I’m not sure what my life would look like without it. Would I be who I am without that pain. Who would I be?

Father, I need to start putting together an outline of my talk on Wednesday. I think a piece of what I’m going to say is that we would not be who we are without the pain in our lives. For David, the author of the psalms that inspired this hymn, he wouldn’t have been who he became without the years of running from Saul. Elijah wouldn’t have been who he was without having to run from Ahab and Jezebel. Jesus’s sacrifice wouldn’t have been legitimate if he hadn’t shown us his pain in the garden. This life shapes us. Molds us. And if we allow you to use it to form us in the right way, then you have an opportunity to fill us. So form me into your vessel and then fill me with your Holy Spirit.

It’s with that Holy Spirit and through Jesus I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 16, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Psalm 139:23-24

07 Mar

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 139:23-24

Dear God, is this a prayer I’m really willing to pray? You’re God, after all. I mean, if I am a criminal and have things to hide, I can hide them really creatively, invite the police in and say, “Search me,” and they likely won’t find anything. It reminds me of Casablanca when Rick hides the stolen letters of transit in Sam’s piano and then allows the police to search his place. Things can be hidden from man.

But you’re God. You know my heart better than I do. There is nothing I can hide from you. I can be obstinate and turn my own blind eye to my sin. I can distract myself and avoid you. But I can’t say these words in verses 23 and 24 of Psalm 139, mean them, and then look the other way. Verses 7-12 of this same psalm say:

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
12     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you.

David knew there was no hiding from you. I know that too.

So Father, I offer these words to you with as much sincerity as I can. Search me and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Forgive my lack of faith. Forgive my selfishness. Forgive my vanity. Forgive how I judge others. Forgive how I slander. Holy Spirit, reveal to me what offends you, my Jesus, and the Father, my Triune God. Lead me along the path to be with God forever.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 7, 2026 in Psalms

 

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Daniel 5 (with some Daniel 3)

26 Nov

5 Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. 3 So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, 6 and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

7 The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!”

8 But when all the king’s wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant. 9 So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned pale. His nobles, too, were shaken.

10 But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar, “Long live the king! Don’t be so pale and frightened. 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. During Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, this man was found to have insight, understanding, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your predecessor, the king—your predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar—made him chief over all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers of Babylon. 12 This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

Daniel Explains the Writing

13 So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles brought from Judah by my predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar? 14 I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom. 15 My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it. 16 I am told that you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor, and you will have a gold chain placed around your neck. You will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

17 Daniel answered the king, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means. 18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. 19 He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace. 20 But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.

22 “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! 24 So God has sent this hand to write this message.

25 “This is the message that was written: Mene, mene, tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is what these words mean:

Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
27 Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.
28 Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

30 That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed.

31 And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

Danie 5

Dear God, the Old Testament reading for the Catholic Church today was portions of Daniel 5, but I figured I’d just do the whole chapter since it forms the story. I think they were just trying to keep the public reading time down a little by focusing on the essence of the story.

Of course, when I was reading this story I first wanted to compare myself with Daniel. How might I be faithful and wise like Daniel was? How might I be humble and eschew all glory offered to me and just humbly perform my assignment which includes glorifying you? What words of wisdom and warning are you giving to me that I need to share with others? Those are the questions I started to ask myself.

Then I saw this king sitting over there in the story. He’s actually the protagonist of this chapter in Daniel’s book. Belshazzar. Accomplished, but also handed a kingdom by his father Nebuchadnezzar. So more Solomon than David. Arrogant. Presumptuous. Self-congratulatory and disrespectful. In the end, powerless. How much of me is like him, and if I’m not like him now, how much potential do I have to become like him? What do I need to do to guard myself from slipping into the trap that grabbed him?

I think one of the first things I need to do is offer you all of my worship. The Catholic Psalm of the Day is Daniel 3:62-67 (I’ll confess, before today I never noticed the Catholic Church used psalms for the Psalm of the Day that weren’t from the Book of Psalms.

R. (59b) Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Sun and moon, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Every shower and dew, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“All you winds, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Fire and heat, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Cold and chill, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.

Interestingly, these verses are not in the Protestant Bible. They are in the Catholic Bible and, I presume, the Jewish version of Daniel. These words were sung by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace (hence the references to heat and chill. These were the words sung by those who were facing persecution for their love for you. We really do miss something in our Protestant Bibles (and I say “our” because I am not Catholic, but continue to worship with Catholics because my wife is Catholic and I both think it’s important to worship with her and have come to appreciate parts of Catholic theology and tradition). I love having this piece of the story. Daniel 3 in the Protestant Bible has 30 verses. In the Catholic Bible, Daniel 3 has 100 verses. 70 verses of great stuff. Too bad I’ve never really noticed or read it before.

But I digress. How do I keep from becoming like Belshazzar? First, submit to you and worship you. Check. Next, examine my heart before you and repent. Where do I take credit for the things that I have when it could all be gone in a heartbeat? What do I take for granted that is really so fragile, up to and including my health and life? We are not as strong as we think we are. I am not as strong as I think I am. So second is self reflection/examination and repentance. Oh, Father, I am sorry for my ingratitude and arrogance in that area.

Next, how do I do with the second commandment (according to Jesus) of loving my neighbor as myself? Am I there sacrificing for others? Loving my enemies or those I simply don’t like? Am I willing to go the extra mile for not only my friends (even sinners do that), but also for those with whom I disagree or don’t appreciate? Father, give me eyes to see my hypocrisy here and help me to recognize when you are calling me to act in your name, regardless what it will cost me.

Father, I have a lot more Belshazzar in me than I do Daniel. On a spectrum of Belshazzar to Daniel, I would love for my needle to point towards the Daniel side of the scale than Belshazzar’s, but I recognize that it’s a constant struggle to submit to you in worship, submit to you in repentance, and submit to you and my neighbors in love and sacrifice. Walk with me, Holy Spirit. Speak to me. Guide me. And in the words of the song “Spirit of the Living God,” “Break me. Melt me. Mold Me. Fill me.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 26, 2025 in Daniel

 

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Psalm 139:1-12

10 Nov

Psalm 139

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
    You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
12     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you.

Psalm 139:1-12

Dear God, I am grateful for your love. I am grateful to be known by you. I am grateful that I cannot hide from you. I’m grateful to know you see my sin–to be freed from the idea that I need to hide things from you. I might cling to my sin. I might deny it’s there and not want to let it go. But I know there’s no point in trying to hide it from you. There’s great freedom in that.

The gospel reading today is from Luke 17 and includes verse 3b-4: “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” I accept your rebuking. I accept your forgiveness for my foolishness, hard-heartedness, and my unwillingness to always refuse other gods before you. Thank you for that. Help me to give this forgiveness to others–70 X 7.

Father, I want to quote the Rich Mullins song “Nothing is Beyond You,” which is based on Psalm 139: “Nothing is beyond you, you stand beyond the reach of my vain imagination. My misguided piety. Heavens stretch to hold you, and deep calls out to deep saying, ‘Nothing is beyond you.’ Time cannot contain you. You fill eternity. Sin could never stain you. Death has lost its sting. And I cannot explain how you came to love me, except to say that nothing is beyond you. Nothing is beyond you.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 10, 2025 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 131

04 Nov

Psalm 131

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.

1 Lord, my heart is not proud;
    my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
    or too awesome for me to grasp.
2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
    like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
    Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
    now and always.

Psalm 131

Dear God, I really liked all of the readings from the Catholic church today, and it is weird that the psalm would stick out to me the most to me, but here we are. I liked it. I liked it because I don’t feel like I’ve reached it yet, but it feels like something I would love to reach. A couple of days ago, I prayed about the “now and the not yet.” That’s what this feels like.

To not be proud and haughty. That would be great, and I can get there sometimes, but pride and haughtiness still linger. I think what I really liked was the humility of the second part of verse 1: I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. I think all American Christians could stand to sink into this concept and just accept their smallness in the little lives most all of us live.

The suffering in Ukraine is great, and I don’t know what to do about it. The suffering in Palestine and Israel and Sudan and in Central America and all sorts of other places is great, and I don’t know what to do about it. I can pray, but I don’t pray enough for them. I can send donations which I did for a Ukrainian relief effort last week. But, honestly, these matters are too great or too awesome for me to grasp.

I was listening to a podcast on “Christian Nationalism” this morning. Defining it. Trying to understand the theological underpinnings for it among those who believe in it. And trying to verbalize what exactly it is they believe. I would say, at the end of the day, what separates my life, faith, and living out my faith from someone who would describe themselves as a Christian Nationalist is that I don’t feel the need to get political power to force others to live under my belief system. That’s not what I saw you do through Jesus. What I want to do is love those around me and convince them to walk through the narrow gate and follow you, understanding Jesus called it the narrow gate for a reason. And he said few would walk through it for a reason. It might be a fool’s errand to try to get a society to walk through the gate. In fact, the only way to do it might be to compel them, and that simply isn’t how your kingdom and worship of you works.

Father, I want this to be true of my life: I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. I am about to go to a symposium that will talk about community needs and what we need to do to help those who are struggling. In this limited way, this idea is not too awesome for me to grasp. Help me to be able to say and live this: 2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. I want to calm myself before you. I want to be your peace for others. And I want to be completely still before you so that your Holy Spirit might reach out to me and through me so that your kingdom will come and your will shall be done on earth as it is in your heaven and the new earth.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 4, 2025 in Psalms

 

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