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Psalm 51

29 Mar

Psalm 51

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
    blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
    Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
    it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
    I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
    and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
    yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
    teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
    you have broken me—
    now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
    Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
    Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
    and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
    and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
    then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
    that my mouth may praise you.

16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
    You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
    with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
    Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Dear God, it’s so remarkable we have any of this. That David’s sin was known, recorded, and then maintained in a way that I would know about it today. That David was confronted and humiliated by Nathan. And then to not only know that he repented of his sin, but that his repentance, at least in part, is recorded in this psalm. He was not only broken, but he vulnerably shared his brokenness with the world at the time and the world for all time. They took this repentant psalm, labeled it for exactly what it was, and then gave it to the Israelites to use when they had their own repentance to do. Like I said, it’s remarkable.

I guess the two questions I have this morning are, 1.) how good am I at truly searching my heart and repenting and 2.) how willing am I to publicly repent and give others not only an example of a flawed fellow sojourner but also an example of what to do about it?

Scale of 1-10, I would say I’m about a 5 on searching my soul and heart, discerning the sin in my life, and then repenting. One thing I’ll say about the “reconciliation” (i.e., confession) in Catholicism is that it makes you think about it, name it, and then claim it out loud to another person. I don’t believe it is something that has to be done for absolution from you, but I can see the value in it. As for my “Baptist” way of doing it, it can awfully easy to take the light approach and just think of something, tell you I’m sorry about that, and then not think of it anymore.

Regarding sharing my sin with others, I would say it depends on the sin. If it’s something that I’m really ashamed of, I just keep those between you and me. But should I? Should I be more open about sharing all of me with others? For my sake as well as theirs.

Father, as I search my heart and soul this morning, I can feel the sin of self-pity that I’ve given a special space in my heart to occupy. I also feel the sin of selfishness and lethargy. The sin of unintentionality. I am too unintentional about some of my activities, and that leads to slothfulness. I’d love to say I’m just doing “Sabbath” when I’m being slothful, but that’s not really what I’m doing. I’m just being selfish. I will claim some victory over some temptations I’ve had recently that you enabled me to withstand. But there are others that I’ve jumped right into. Undue anger. Judgment of others. Slander. I am sorry. I am really sorry. Help me to be intentional today about Sabbath, worship, loving others, and the work you’ve given me to do, even in my rest.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 29, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 119:133

26 Mar

133 Establish my footsteps in Your word,
And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

Psalm 119:133

Dear God, the last part of this one verse is so powerful. My iniquities and their influence over my life is a concept that overwhelms and humbles me. How many of the frustrations I’m experiencing now are a result of my iniquities? My sins?

It doesn’t say that David wrote this psalm, but my first thought goes to David and how his dalliance with Bathsheba (rape?) and then murder of Uriah seems to be the touchstone for his family problems later. That iniquity, though repented of in Psalm 51, seemed to have dominion over the rest of his life and even flowed into history. Amnon was the rightful heir to the throne, but Absalom killed him, led a revolt that ultimately led to his death. And Solomon would never have existed if not for David’s relationship with Bathsheba.

So, what can I pray for this morning? Well, somehow, Solomon was the pathway to Jesus through lineage. There was redemption for this somewhere down the line. Can you somehow use the ripples of the sins I’ve committed to do something positive in this world? Can you protect me from my iniquities and keep them from having dominion over me?

Father, I want to be at peace with the sorrows in my life. I can see where I made mistakes that played a role in my current sorrows, but I still don’t know how I ended up in them to the level I’m at. And it hurts. I hurt. So please be in these situations. Don’t let my mistakes and sins (sometimes mistakes aren’t sins) have dominion over me, the ones I love, or the plans you have for us. Help me to know the path forward, which starts with my very next step.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 26, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 84:2

24 Mar

2 My soul longs, indeed it faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.

Psalm 84:2

Dear God, of course, things like this aren’t written and published on a whim. The psalmist isn’t correcting himself in the first line of this verse. He’s communicating intentionally. It’s like a P.S. at the end of a fundraising letter. The marketing person didn’t forget to tell you something in a letter that was reviewed and edited multiple times before it was sent. The P.S. is intentional to communicate an emotional punctuation at the end of the letter. The same is true for this first line of this verse. I just looked at about five different translations, and while they didn’t all say it like this, they all communicated some sort of emphasis about a desperation for you.

Do I feel that desperate this morning, or am I just going through the motions? If I search my heart honestly, I can see where there is a part of me that is going through the motions, but I am going through these motions because I know that I need you today. I need you this morning. I need you this hour. I need you in this moment. Who am I without you? You created me, and you want relationship with me. I am more than happy to oblige because you teach me love and forgiveness. You teach me your ways. You teach me about you.

In today’s entry from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, Sister Miriam focuses on how we long for the thing(s) we gave up during lent as we fast from them, and then talked about replacing the longing for that particular thing to our longing for you. Am I as desperate for you as I am for the thing I gave up for Lent? If I were to give you up for Lent–time with you, prayer, church, podcasts, Bible, music, etc.–who would I be by Easter? I shutter to think.

Father, I love you. I need you. I cannot do this without you. Love others through me. Show me how to offer reconciliation with you to those around me. I am yours. Thank you for being mine.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 24, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 31:1-2

21 Mar

Psalm 31

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me,
    come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
    a strong fortress to save me.

Dear God, I was talking with a relative yesterday, and she was recounting a conversation she had recently had with a friend. The friend was telling her about a lot of therapy work she’d been doing over the last year and uncovering and dealing with a lot of childhood trauma. Ultimately, she told my relative something to the effect that she didn’t believe in you anymore because she didn’t know why you don’t stop things like that. How can a good God allow so much pain?

It’s an age-old question. Job asked it. His friends errantly told him that his suffering was a result of his sin, and he rejected that explanation. But he fussed at you. He demanded you answer him and explain yourself. Funny, how I keep coming back to the whole thing about people expecting you to explain yourself to them. It’s starting to reveal itself as a theme during these Lenten journals. C.S. Lewis wrote a whole book about it called The Problem of Pain. I think it’s something we all struggle to answer because we want to be a good and loving God would never allow such things.

So what was my answer to my relative? Well, I hope it was okay. I simply said that one question to ask her friend is what she would have you do. How would she like for God to respond to pain in the world? Should you kill bad actors? Should you stop all natural disasters? If this were a Bruce Almighty situation and she had your power for a day, how would she use it? And once you decide to start killing bad actors who do the worst of crimes, where do you draw the line and what are the limits? I guess the ultimate question would be, why did you create any of this at all? Why did you create us just to have us suffer?

Sister Miriam had a nice paragraph today in her book Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation. She said, “As painful as life has been for us in moments, God is not our enemy. God is only good and offers goodness. He understands our pain and sorrow, our anger and rage. He is not afraid of it, disgusted by it, or deterred by it.” I like that.

Father, help me to represent you well today. Help me to show everyone around me how good you are. Help me to offer reconciliation with you to them. It starts with my own heart loving you well, worshipping you, and being wholly yours. So, I offer myself to you today. I am yours. This day is not about me or what I can get out of the day. It’s about what I can give to this day. Help me to offer you as a refuge for those who are scared and hurting. Help me to remind others who worship you of how good you are. Use me, Father. I’m here to offer myself to you as best as I know how.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 21, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 38

19 Mar

Psalm 38

A Penitent Sufferer’s Plea for Healing

A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.

1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
    or discipline me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
    and your hand has come down on me.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh
    because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
    because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
    they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.

5 My wounds grow foul and fester
    because of my foolishness;
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
    all day long I go around mourning.
7 For my loins are filled with burning,
    and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am utterly spent and crushed;
    I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

9 O Lord, all my longing is known to you;
    my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me;
    as for the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction,
    and my neighbors stand far off.

12 Those who seek my life lay their snares;
    those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin
    and meditate on treachery all day long.

13 But I am like the deaf; I do not hear;
    like the mute, who cannot speak.
14 Truly, I am like one who does not hear
    and in whose mouth is no retort.

15 But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait;
    it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me,
    those who boast against me when my foot slips.”

17 For I am ready to fall,
    and my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
    I am sorry for my sin.
19 Those who are my foes without cause are mighty,
    and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good
    are my adversaries because I follow after good.

21 Do not forsake me, O Lord;
    O my God, do not be far from me;
22 make haste to help me,
    O Lord, my salvation.

Dear God, context is so important. Just knowing that this was written by David and then provided to the people to be used for a specific purpose–the memorial offering–sets the stage for the words here. I’d guess David wrote this for others to use to repent, but it also came out of his own heart and experience. Maybe or maybe not the experience of that moment, but a past experience at the very least.

For my purposes today, Sister Miriam, in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation focused on the last two verses, 21 and 22. Here is part of what she says about pain from our past impacting our present (the one point in time when we have the opportunity to interact with you): “there is a wonderful saying in healing circles that I find to be true: ‘Suffering that is not transformed is transmitted.’ Every experience of suffering we have had that has not yet been redeemed and transformed by the love of Christ is transmitted to those around us. The suffering we have experienced does not just disappear; it is most often buried alive. And that pain buried alive continues to afflict us and those around us.”

Yeah. I can definitely see this. Earlier in today’s meditation, she asks where we have “experienced war being waged against [us].” I can think of a few times in my life that were disastrous. Some were because of my sin. Some were because of sin done to me or to someone I love. What was my response to those things? Did I invite you in to heal me? Did I confess my sin to you?

Father, thank you for not forsaking me. Thank you for not being far from me. Thank you for helping me. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for healing me. Thank you for meeting with me here this morning. Thank you for accepting my presence–my very existence–and giving me your Holy Spirit to reside in me and guide me. thank you for protecting me in ways I cannot even see. Thank you for loving my wife and children. For hearing my prayers for them and everyone else I love. I know I have put you into too small of a box in my mind. I know I have limited you and your power in my conceptions of who you are. No matter how big I might think you are, I know you are even bigger. I just cannot imagine it. So give me the imagination you need me to have to pray the way you want me to pray.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 19, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 13

18 Mar

Psalm 13

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
    my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

5 But I trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 13

Dear God, Sister Miriam, in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation focused on verse 3b and verse 4a for her meditation today, but what strikes me about this short psalm by David is the last stanza. It seems he’s desperate and everything is going wrong, and yet in that midst he comes to his senses and reminds himself that he is yours no matter what. It’s quite beautiful.

I don’t know that this ties in anywhere, but I want to say it out loud because it struck me this morning and I don’t want to lose it. I was listening to the Voxology Podcast and their interview with Nijay Gupta. They were talking about the fallacy of Old Testament = Law and New Testament = Grace, saying that our modern day Christianity sometimes sets up the Old Testament as the bad guy and the New Testament as the good guy. They didn’t think Jesus would feel that way. But then they said something funny, but there was truth to it. They were joking about people complaining about accepting sin and enabling bad behavior, and they said, “Was God enabling bad behavior by sending Jesus?” It was funny, but it was a good question in some ways. Where does adherence to the law come into my faith walk when it is compared with grace? The first thing I thought of were Jesus’s words, “17Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” So that’s enough of that little rabbit trail. I just didn’t want to lose that though from this morning: Was God enabling bad behavior by sending Jesus?

Back to this psalm, I want to zero in on Sister Miriam’s focus and the phrase, “Give light to my eyes.” David want a poker face for his enemies to see. He doesn’t want them to feel the emotional victory they are currently getting over him. But that light needs to come from you. It needs to come from hope in you. Faith in you. It’s not a lie he is seeking to give to his enemies. He wants to show them what faith in you looks like no matter what.

Here is what Sister Miriam said as she quoted a priest she knows: “First, our wounds are not arbitrary, they are not random. Satan is like a sniper. He intuits with his angelic intellect the destiny of every human person and he shoots his deadly arrows into the place that will do the most damage in order to thwart the flourishing of the person and God’s plan for their life. Satan succeeds when he can convince us to hate God, hate ourselves, and hate others for the wounds we bear. Second, in God’s mysterious and divine sovereignty, God allows Satan this access only to make the wounded places even more life-giving, beautiful, and glorious than they ever would have been otherwise, if we allow the restoration of these places.”

Father, I want to show those around me what faith in you looks like, no matter what. I love you. I worship you. I want to show them what a faith-filled life looks like so that they might want you as well. So they might be drawn to you, worship you, love you, and then find the fruits of your Holy Spirit growing within them. For all of us who have wounds, and I’m thinking of a couple of people in particular right how, heal their wounds and use them to grow great fruit. Oh, Father, use me to love them and others around me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 18, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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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

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

 

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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

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

 

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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

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

 

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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

 
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Posted by on March 8, 2025 in Psalms

 

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