Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, 2for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.
3Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. 4Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Lord,
What an incredibly difficult piece of instruction this is to follow! Do not fret! Do not be envious! Trust in the Lord and do good. Take delight in the Lord.
And the promise is nearly as challenging; the wicked “will soon fade like the grass” and “he will give you the delight of your heart.”
Here the spiritual and the ethical converge in perfect marriage. Doing good has its roots in “trust in the Lord” and trust produces good works. “Trust in the Lord and do good.” Like the old song my Daddy sang, “You can’t have one without the other.”
And the promise: “Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Jesus said to seek first his Kingdom and all these things will be added and had said, “Whatever you ask in my name will be given to you.”
I’ll confess to some prayers that were disappointed, unanswered prayers. At the same time I cling to the hope of answered prayer. And I sit in the mystery of the way that “delight in the Lord” and “doing good” and the desires of the heart all come together in the poet’s experience. Grant to me trust and understanding.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Ask God to stir within you a delight in God, the will to do good, and trust that the desires of your heart will be fulfilled.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Psalm 36
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 9For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
10O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart! 11Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12There the evildoers lie prostrate; they are thrust down, unable to rise.
Lord,
The Great Divide between your steadfast love and the behavior of those who know nothing of loyalty, honesty, mercy, love or justice! It is by the power of your love that those who do evil are disabled, so writes the poet.
Fatigue and fear are the great enemies of a sustaining trust in you. When we are weary, we forget all that you have done and even who you are and we become captives to the moment. When we are afraid, the object of our fear demands all of our attention and drives out an awareness of your grace and kindness. Perhaps that is why scripture so often says, “Do not be afraid.”
Lord, grant me this day the daily bread of a persistent awareness of your constant love. And grant me confidence in your loving power to meet and beat all forces that would do harm both personal and impersonal.
Personal Prayers: Ask God to wrap you in the certainty of God’s faithful love.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In the name of Christ,
Amen.
10O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart! 11Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12There the evildoers lie prostrate; they are thrust down, unable to rise.
Lord,
The Great Divide between your steadfast love and the behavior of those who know nothing of loyalty, honesty, mercy, love or justice! It is by the power of your love that those who do evil are disabled, so writes the poet.
Fatigue and fear are the great enemies of a sustaining trust in you. When we are weary, we forget all that you have done and even who you are and we become captives to the moment. When we are afraid, the object of our fear demands all of our attention and drives out an awareness of your grace and kindness. Perhaps that is why scripture so often says, “Do not be afraid.”
Lord, grant me this day the daily bread of a persistent awareness of your constant love. And grant me confidence in your loving power to meet and beat all forces that would do harm both personal and impersonal.
Personal Prayers: Ask God to wrap you in the certainty of God’s faithful love.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In the name of Christ,
Amen.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Psalm 36
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; before their eyes. 2For they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 3The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit; they have ceased to act wisely and do good. 4They plot mischief while on their beds; they are set on a way that is not good; they do not reject evil.
5Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 6Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgements are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
Lord,
The poet must have had a really bad day! Somebody must have done something really bad to him. The “Transgressors” were scheming and plotting and lying and willing to do anything, no matter how unethical or immoral or just plain evil, to destroy the poet, or so the poet thought.
Thank you that this experience of betrayal is not something that happens every day but it is an experience that every mature person knows first hand. Some trusted person turns out not to be trustworthy. Some sacred promise is broken. An ally turns his or her back or simply stands on the sideline and watches as you struggle for your life. We all know some version of the story and we all know the deep and bitter disappointment that brings.
In the midst of that bitter sorrow and deep anger the poet turns to you Lord and reflects on the nature of your love. His description of your love, Lord, is an eternal reminder of the only place where trust will never be violated.
Let me meditate on the words and phrases:
Steadfast love
Extends to the heavens
Faithfulness
Righteousness
Judgments that save humans and animals alike
Thank you God for being you.
Personal Prayers:
Ask God to continually remind you of the steadfast trustworthiness of God’s love.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
5Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 6Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgements are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
Lord,
The poet must have had a really bad day! Somebody must have done something really bad to him. The “Transgressors” were scheming and plotting and lying and willing to do anything, no matter how unethical or immoral or just plain evil, to destroy the poet, or so the poet thought.
Thank you that this experience of betrayal is not something that happens every day but it is an experience that every mature person knows first hand. Some trusted person turns out not to be trustworthy. Some sacred promise is broken. An ally turns his or her back or simply stands on the sideline and watches as you struggle for your life. We all know some version of the story and we all know the deep and bitter disappointment that brings.
In the midst of that bitter sorrow and deep anger the poet turns to you Lord and reflects on the nature of your love. His description of your love, Lord, is an eternal reminder of the only place where trust will never be violated.
Let me meditate on the words and phrases:
Steadfast love
Extends to the heavens
Faithfulness
Righteousness
Judgments that save humans and animals alike
Thank you God for being you.
Personal Prayers:
Ask God to continually remind you of the steadfast trustworthiness of God’s love.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Psalm 35
Let them be put to shame and dishonour who seek after my life.Let them be turned back and confounded who devise evil against me. 5Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them on. 6Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7For without cause they hid their net* for me; without cause they dug a pit* for my life. 8Let ruin come on them unawares.And let the net that they hid ensnare them; let them fall in it—to their ruin.
9Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his deliverance. 10All my bones shall say, ‘O Lord, who is like you?You deliver the weak from those too strong for them,
Lord,
This doesn’t sound like “Love your enemies” or “do good to them that misuse you.” But I get it, I totally get it. In the midst of the struggle to do the right thing in the right way, in the effort to be faithful to you and to your way, when the opponents are not impeded by the same rules and are free to lie and mislead and cheat and betray, there needs to be a great equalizer and the poet is praying that you will be the One who equalizes. The poet is praying that the misdeeds of those who would do him unjust harm will be turned back on them.
I wonder how Jesus would pray a prayer like this. From the cross he prayed, “Forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” He said to “love your enemies.” How did Jesus respond to those who would like and cheat and betray for the sake of defeating him? He went to the cross!
Hear my confession Lord. Most days, it’s easier to pray like the poet than like Jesus.
Lord, I pray that you would help me to do the right thing in the right way and, to borrow from Jesus’ prayer, that you will not “Lead me not into hard testing.”
I will pray with the poet, “You deliver the weak from those too strong for them.” Lord, deliver me from those things, circumstances and issues and problems and even principalities and powers, and even from opponents, who are too strong for me.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Name the biggest challenge that you are facing and ask God for help to do the right thing in the right way and to deliver you from defeat.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
7For without cause they hid their net* for me; without cause they dug a pit* for my life. 8Let ruin come on them unawares.And let the net that they hid ensnare them; let them fall in it—to their ruin.
9Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his deliverance. 10All my bones shall say, ‘O Lord, who is like you?You deliver the weak from those too strong for them,
Lord,
This doesn’t sound like “Love your enemies” or “do good to them that misuse you.” But I get it, I totally get it. In the midst of the struggle to do the right thing in the right way, in the effort to be faithful to you and to your way, when the opponents are not impeded by the same rules and are free to lie and mislead and cheat and betray, there needs to be a great equalizer and the poet is praying that you will be the One who equalizes. The poet is praying that the misdeeds of those who would do him unjust harm will be turned back on them.
I wonder how Jesus would pray a prayer like this. From the cross he prayed, “Forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” He said to “love your enemies.” How did Jesus respond to those who would like and cheat and betray for the sake of defeating him? He went to the cross!
Hear my confession Lord. Most days, it’s easier to pray like the poet than like Jesus.
Lord, I pray that you would help me to do the right thing in the right way and, to borrow from Jesus’ prayer, that you will not “Lead me not into hard testing.”
I will pray with the poet, “You deliver the weak from those too strong for them.” Lord, deliver me from those things, circumstances and issues and problems and even principalities and powers, and even from opponents, who are too strong for me.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Name the biggest challenge that you are facing and ask God for help to do the right thing in the right way and to deliver you from defeat.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Psalm 35
Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! 2Take hold of shield and buckler, and rise up to help me! 3Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers;say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’
Lord,
With the poet, I really do want you to be on my side and I really do want for you to engage my struggles with me. Why would I pretend otherwise? Why would I want anything other thing?
Lord, never allow me to forget the other side of that holy equation. You have invited me to engage in your struggles. The fundamental vocation of life is to be on your side and to be a part of your mission in this world.
So, how am I to know that I am on your side? Two things come to mind. (1) Jesus commanded us in several ways to love you with all of our being and to love our neighbors as ourselves. If love is the dominant characteristic of what I think and do, there is a pretty good chance that I am on your side. (2) Last week I heard Bill Tillman say that the Spirit is the ethicist of the Trinity. I think that it is true and I believe that your Spirit will lead me into the way that you want me to go.
It sounds like a holy covenant. You are on my side and invite me to be on your side and in that holy relationship; you engage the struggles of life with me. I believe that to be true.
With the poet I pray, “Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’” Allow me, O God, to hear those words and to experience that reality at the very center of my being.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Ask God for a fresh awareness of the salvation that God grants to us through his presence and through the witness of Jesus.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In the Christ’s name,
Amen.
Lord,
With the poet, I really do want you to be on my side and I really do want for you to engage my struggles with me. Why would I pretend otherwise? Why would I want anything other thing?
Lord, never allow me to forget the other side of that holy equation. You have invited me to engage in your struggles. The fundamental vocation of life is to be on your side and to be a part of your mission in this world.
So, how am I to know that I am on your side? Two things come to mind. (1) Jesus commanded us in several ways to love you with all of our being and to love our neighbors as ourselves. If love is the dominant characteristic of what I think and do, there is a pretty good chance that I am on your side. (2) Last week I heard Bill Tillman say that the Spirit is the ethicist of the Trinity. I think that it is true and I believe that your Spirit will lead me into the way that you want me to go.
It sounds like a holy covenant. You are on my side and invite me to be on your side and in that holy relationship; you engage the struggles of life with me. I believe that to be true.
With the poet I pray, “Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’” Allow me, O God, to hear those words and to experience that reality at the very center of my being.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Ask God for a fresh awareness of the salvation that God grants to us through his presence and through the witness of Jesus.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In the Christ’s name,
Amen.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Psalm 34
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. 16The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. 18The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all. 20He keeps all their bones; not one of them will be broken. 21Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Lord,
Today I am grateful for the release of the journalists from North Korea. Your “rescue”, as promised by the Poet, is a remarkable thing to see. Of course it helps to have a former President, Vice President and First Lady who is now Secretary of State, involved. Regardless, I am grateful.
Lord, I pray that the poet’s vision is true, that the righteous will indeed be rescued and that Evil will be eradicated. I pray that those who do good and who are good will be blessed and those who do evil will be cut off from all of the resources that make evil possible.
I pray for your blessings. Grant me every grace for the living of my days. And bless those I love.
Lord, just when I am tempted to scream out against “hyper-optimism”, the poet injects a firm dose of reality into his hymn. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous”, he writes. The poet knows that the blessings of the righteous are sometimes delayed. Righteousness does not guarantee that the journey will be problem-free. “But the Lord rescues them from them all.”
As the poet sees it, or so it seems to me, we are not so much protected from difficulty and sometimes disaster as we are met in the midst of disaster by the rescuing and healing power of God. God meet us there, sees us through and sees us out.
Now for my personal experience Lord; sometimes the rescue comes on the other side. In death, we are made whole. In death, we experience eternal life in all of its fullness.
Here I confess my frustration and anger. Too many pandering preachers are promising more than you have promised to deliver. They seem to be promising inoculation against difficulty. “Say your prayers and send your money and you’ll never have another problem”, so they say. I am strongly tempted to use a scatological metaphor here but that would be a disservice to bulls. The truth is that cow manure has more nutritional value than the preaching of these false-prophets. Forgive me if I’m wrong – but I don’t think that I am.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Seek God’s blessing and, if needed, ask for God’s rescue as you wrestle with the problems that are afflicting you.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all. 20He keeps all their bones; not one of them will be broken. 21Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Lord,
Today I am grateful for the release of the journalists from North Korea. Your “rescue”, as promised by the Poet, is a remarkable thing to see. Of course it helps to have a former President, Vice President and First Lady who is now Secretary of State, involved. Regardless, I am grateful.
Lord, I pray that the poet’s vision is true, that the righteous will indeed be rescued and that Evil will be eradicated. I pray that those who do good and who are good will be blessed and those who do evil will be cut off from all of the resources that make evil possible.
I pray for your blessings. Grant me every grace for the living of my days. And bless those I love.
Lord, just when I am tempted to scream out against “hyper-optimism”, the poet injects a firm dose of reality into his hymn. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous”, he writes. The poet knows that the blessings of the righteous are sometimes delayed. Righteousness does not guarantee that the journey will be problem-free. “But the Lord rescues them from them all.”
As the poet sees it, or so it seems to me, we are not so much protected from difficulty and sometimes disaster as we are met in the midst of disaster by the rescuing and healing power of God. God meet us there, sees us through and sees us out.
Now for my personal experience Lord; sometimes the rescue comes on the other side. In death, we are made whole. In death, we experience eternal life in all of its fullness.
Here I confess my frustration and anger. Too many pandering preachers are promising more than you have promised to deliver. They seem to be promising inoculation against difficulty. “Say your prayers and send your money and you’ll never have another problem”, so they say. I am strongly tempted to use a scatological metaphor here but that would be a disservice to bulls. The truth is that cow manure has more nutritional value than the preaching of these false-prophets. Forgive me if I’m wrong – but I don’t think that I am.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Seek God’s blessing and, if needed, ask for God’s rescue as you wrestle with the problems that are afflicting you.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Psalm 34
Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? 13Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. 14Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Lord,
Help me to listen to the poet. Help me to learn to fear you, to stand before you with reverence and respect.
In this paragraph, the poet connects long life with the things we say and the things we do and all if it is summarized in the phrase, “seek peace and pursue it.”
His instruction is not so hard to understand though the implementation is difficult. If I want to live long, then I need to watch my mouth, especially its truthfulness. I need to walk away from evil and do good things. And, above all, I need to do those things that make for peace in all of its dimensions. How hard is that? It’s easy to say and, for whatever reasons, very hard to do and least it seems hard for me to do.
Long life, good words, good deeds and peace: they are all a part of fearing the Lord.
Thus the poet teaches.
Jesus said, in the Beautitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers, they are the children of God.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Ask God to lead you to be a “peace maker” today.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
Lord,
Help me to listen to the poet. Help me to learn to fear you, to stand before you with reverence and respect.
In this paragraph, the poet connects long life with the things we say and the things we do and all if it is summarized in the phrase, “seek peace and pursue it.”
His instruction is not so hard to understand though the implementation is difficult. If I want to live long, then I need to watch my mouth, especially its truthfulness. I need to walk away from evil and do good things. And, above all, I need to do those things that make for peace in all of its dimensions. How hard is that? It’s easy to say and, for whatever reasons, very hard to do and least it seems hard for me to do.
Long life, good words, good deeds and peace: they are all a part of fearing the Lord.
Thus the poet teaches.
Jesus said, in the Beautitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers, they are the children of God.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Ask God to lead you to be a “peace maker” today.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.
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