Psalm 26 Self Awareness?
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: A collect of the morning
Lord our heavenly Father,
almighty and everlasting God,
we thank you for bringing us safely to this day.
Keep us by your mighty power,
and grant that today we fall into no sin,
neither run into any kind of danger,
but lead and govern us in all things,
that we may always do what is righteous in your sight;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
An Australian Prayer Book, 1978
Read:
Psalm 26:1-7. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1Vindicate me, Lord,
for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the Lord
and have not faltered.
2Test me, Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
3for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love
and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.
4I do not sit with the deceitful,
nor do I associate with hypocrites.
5I abhor the assembly of evildoers
and refuse to sit with the wicked.
6I wash my hands in innocence,
and go about your altar, Lord,
7proclaiming aloud your praise
and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
(Psalm 26:1-7 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
We know David’s life story; his childhood steeped in shepherding and reflecting on God, his faith based gangly teenage faith based war on Goliath, his rise to General in Saul’s army, and his faith based defense of his own paranoid king. It is no wonder that he wrote a Psalm like this- before he became one of the “deceitful, wicked, evildoer, hypocrites”! His adulterous affair with the married Bathsheeba and the cynical disposing of her honourable husband under cover of the warfront took even David by surprise (see his Ps 51)
It is a very human thing to do. It begins when we demonise people who do bad things. In our arrogance we assume that they are not like us, that there is something different about them, that they (and not us) have a quality called ‘wickedness’ about them that makes them do what they do. And because we don’t have this quality we are safe from ever doing what they do.
The Editor who collected all the five Psalms collections together into one book 2500 years ago knew that the composer of Ps 26 was the composer of Ps 51. When read together they give a much fuller understanding of what it is to be human.
When read together we begin to gain self-awareness.
Psalm 25 Trust
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: For the peace which the world cannot give
Eternal God,
from whom all holy desires,
all good purposes, and all just works proceed:
give to your servants that peace
which the world cannot give,
that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments,
and that free from the fear of our enemies
we may pass our time in trust and quietness;
through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
An Australian Prayer Book, 1978
Read:
Psalm 25:1-7. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.
2I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.
4Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
5Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
(Psalm 25:1-7 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
What do you trust God for?
Is it for something that is really important to you? The Psalmist was concerned about shame, enemies who could wreck his life, and also wisdom to live life.
The only thing that weakened his trust was the fear that God would remember those wicked things he did in his youth. Do you share the fear that past sins will undermine God’s willingness to stand by you now? Don’t be. The Psalmist knew that God was trustworthy but we also have the knowledge that Christ has forgiven all our sins without exception and then promised to be with us always. Mt 28:20
Immanuel, God with us.
Photo by Dave Lowe on Unsplash
Jesus, Suffering One
(Devotion by Ros McDonald)
Prayer: Costly love
*Christ of vinegar and gall,
help us to learn to die in freedom from fear.
Show us the lengths to which God’s love will go.
Reawaken in us the song of protest.
Remind us that our sisters and brothers starve.
Enable us to comfort the empty and feed the hungry.
Call us to release the captives waiting in hope,
and through your costly love
bring us to a deeper understanding
of the meaning of suffering.
As we grapple with your struggle and ours,
grant us your blessing.
*A reference to what was offered to Christ on the cross
(Kate McIlhagga, Green Heart of the Snowdrop)
Read:
2 Corinthians 1: 3-5 (CEV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! The Father is a merciful God, who always gives us comfort. He comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble. We share in the terrible sufferings of Christ, but also in the wonderful comfort he gives.
Thought for the day:
“Wounded healer” is a term that comes from a Dutch Christian, Henri Nouwen. Nouwen used “wounded healer” to describe Jesus and to describe something of the way we, as followers of Jesus, care for others. Because Jesus suffered, he is our companion in our suffering. Because Jesus overcame suffering, he offers us comfort. With the wisdom that comes from our own sufferings and disappointments, we can offer comfort to others, becoming a wounded healer.
Jesus, Radical
(Devotion by Ros McDonald)
Prayer:
We pray, O God, for every child, for every woman,
for every man, for whom justice, security, and
freedom is but a dream, and we pray for all
who long and work for a better world,
a world where your will is done. Amen.
(from Be our Freedom Lord, ed. Terry Falla)
Read:
Luke 7:36–39 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Thought for the day:
*In Jesus’ society women were excluded from participation in synagogue worship, restricted to a spectator role, and forbidden to enter the Temple beyond the Court of the Women. A woman was not to touch the Scriptures, lest she defile them. A man was not to talk much with a woman, even his wife. Talk with a woman in public was yet more restrictive.
In the face of his society’s practices, Jesus’ inclusion of women was radical. The story of the anointing of Jesus by a woman “who lived a sinful life” is amazing. She showered her love and gratitude upon Jesus, and he affirmed her and her act. Jesus let this woman touch him in public and express her feelings toward him, causing great consternation among the religious leaders present. (Luke 7:36-50)
Jesus’ ministry was to usher in the Kingdom of God, where all are equal and respected. He treated this woman with love. Spend some time reflecting on the radical actions of Jesus, and notice where your thoughts lead you.
*This information is from the journal Christianity Today
Image: Christ in the house of Simon the Pharisee, Rubens 1577-1640, Vanderbilt Divinity Library
Jesus, Healer
(Devotion by Ros McDonald)
Prayer: Enlarge my heart
O God:
Enlarge my heart
that it may be big enough
to receive the greatness of your love.
Stretch my heart
that it may take into it
all those who with me around the world
believe in Jesus Christ.
Stretch it
that it may take in all those who are not lovely in my eyes,
and whose hands I do not want to touch;
through Jesus Christ, my saviour, Amen.
(Prayer of an African Christian, in Bread of Tomorrow)
Read:
Luke 5:12-13 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
Thought for the day:
Leprosy is not like COVID. Unless you live with an infected person for a month, you are unlikely to catch it, especially as there is only a little leprosy left in Australia. Effective treatment was not available in Jesus’ day, and lepers were shunned. Yet Jesus touched this man and healed him. By so doing, Jesus enabled him to once more live within his community, no longer on the margins.
In our society there are groups of people who, like lepers, are banished to the side-lines and marginalised. Those living with long-term mental illness often fall into this group. Let us give thanks for the way our congregation and others around the world include marginalised people in their community life. Today, be especially mindful of the emotional wellbeing of those around you, and choose to do something to enhance your own wellbeing.
Image: Rod Long in Unsplash, with the caption “I love this photo of my mums hand reaching out to share a moment with her great grandson.”
Jesus, Truth-teller
(Devotion by Ros McDonald)
Prayer: Show us what is true
In a world of great wealth where many go hungry,
in a world of great knowledge where many die in ignorance,
come, Holy Spirit, and show us what is true.
In a Church divided over doctrine, creed and ministry,
in a Church interpreting the will of God with new insight,
come, Holy Spirit, and show us what is true.
(Source: Adapted from Stephen Orchard in Bread of Tomorrow)
Read:
Bible reading Matthew 16:21-23 RM1 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Thought for the day:
Often Jesus uses parable and metaphor to get his message across, but there are also many examples of Jesus using direct words of truth, especially in Matthew’s gospel. In this passage, he doesn’t try to protect his disciples from the distress of what awaits in Jerusalem. Jesus tells it like it is. Another occasion of truth-telling occurs in Matthew 23 when Jesus confronts the religious leaders with the fact that they are concentrating on minor issues and neglecting “the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.” (verse 23) Jesus is totally guided by matters which are of importance to God.
Today may God guide our speech and show us what is true.
Image: Timothy Eberly on Unsplash, with the caption “Reading the bible in the morning for devotions”
RM1
Ruth Series: Of Law Courts and David’s Line
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: The workshop of the Carpenter
O Christ, the Master Carpenter,
who at the last through wood and nails
purchased our whole salvation;
wield well your tools in the workshop of your world,
so that we, who come rough-hewn to your bench,
may here be fashioned to a truer beauty by your hand.
We ask this in your name and for your sake. Amen.
A prayer of the Iona Community, Scotland
Read:
Ruth 4:1-16. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.
2Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. 3Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.”
“I will redeem it,” he said.
5Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”
6At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”
7(Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)
8So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.
9Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!”
11Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”
13So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
16Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
(Ruth 4:1-16 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Boaz had such integrity that he would risk losing the opportunity to marry the woman he had immense admiration for rather than cheat his relative of his legal rights. Everything then was taken out of Boaz’s control. His relative with the prior claim/responsibility to care for their relative in distress (for that is the sole role of a guardian-redeemer) could say yes or no to this responsibility. But the key point is that Boaz had no control. It is hard to “let go and let God” as the old saying states.
By doing so he kept his good character as well as gaining the amazing Naomi into his life.
Of course, Naomi had even less power over her life as a woman in those times but she too gained a man of good character into her life.
As a married couple their good qualities would have combined to make a rich upbringing for their children where good character would be a highly valued trait. This sets the scene for their great grandchild David who would become King of God’s people.
But what is truly remarkable about this whole story of Ruth is that she is not even an Israelite. She comes from the Moabites to the south east her were ancient enemies of Israel. The story is highlighting that God cares for good character and faith above all else that may divide us. A lesson that had to be relearnt by the early church. God is delighted to welcome into the centre of his family anyone who yearns for the things that God yearns for.
How might this insight help you today?
Ruth Series: Roundabout Ways
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: Offering ourselves to God
O God,
who has so greatly loved us,
long sought us,
and mercifully redeemed us;
give us grace that in everything
we may yield ourselves,
our wills and our works,
a continual thankoffering unto you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Westminster Divines, 1647
Read:
Ruth 3:1-13. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for.
2Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.
3Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
4When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”
5“I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered.
6So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
7When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down.
8In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!
9“Who are you?” he asked.
of our family.”
10“The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.
11And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.
12Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I.
13Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.”
(Ruth 3:1-13 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Isn’t it amazing how different cultures are around the world. And yet somehow we can still recognise what is going on here. Naomi is trying to matchmake with Ruth. She loves Ruth so much that she wants her to have a life of her own. Boaz is probably 20 years her senior but it is his character that Naomi has noticed (see chapter 2 “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for Boaz, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”).
In all these roundabout plans God is working. Are these co-incidences or good human choices based on belief in good character before all else? Or both at the same time. The writer of Ruth doesn’t say but seems to hold both together.
Good character is a theme in Ruth in both male and female. In our society success is valued highly. If you had to choose, which would you rather have in life; success or good character?
Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash
Ruth Series: Character Matters
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: For the graces of the Holy Spirit
O merciful God,
fill our hearts with the graces of the Holy Spirit,
with love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Teach us to love those who hate us,
to bless those who curse us,
and to pray for those who abuse us,
that we may be the children of our Father:
who makes the sun shine on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the just and unjust.
In adversity grant us grace to be patient;
in prosperity keep us humble;
may we guard the door of our lips;
may we lightly regard the pleasures of this world,
and thirst only after heavenly things;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
St Anselm, 1033-1109
Read:
Ruth 2:1-11. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.
2And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
3So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
4Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”
bless you!” they answered.
5Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
6The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi.
7She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
8So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me.
9Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
10At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
11Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
12May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
(Ruth 2:1-11NIV)
Thought for the Day:
“I’ve been told …” It is not only bad news that gets talked about in the community. Surprising actions that reveal a wonderful character gets much airspace as well. Ruth’s selfless acts were both extravagant and noticed. As a result Boaz (who she had never met) wanted to support her.
Grace works the same way now as it did then. Extravagant love towards others changes minds and changes lives. And it all begins in the heart.
What sort of person do I want to be?