It's the third day of the New Year. Are you still holding to any of the resolutions that you made? Or did you, some years ago, resolve to never resolve again?
Let's begin this day with prayer.
PRAYER: God of the morning, noon, evening, and night, thank you for this day. With so much on our hearts and minds we find it necessary to ask you to please help us center solely on you. In the forest of worries, let there be a path cleared by you to solitude and peace. May the darkness brought on by worry and concerns be lifted completely through the light of He who came to set us free. We pray in His name, Jesus the Lord. Amen.
The Psalm recommended for this week by the Lectionary is Psalm 29
"29:1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy splendor. 3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over mighty waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, "Glory!" 10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!"
It's always fun to find a passage with a word that you either can't pronounce or don't quite know the meaning. Ascribe is one of those words. I can pronounce it all right, but its true meaning is what I searched. It means to give credit or attribute to. So in this Psalm, the writer is saying, "Let us give credit to God, for God having 'glory and strength.' Let us give credit to God just for the 'glory of his name' and let us praise him in 'holy splendor.'
What the writer is saying is this: As we ponder on God and who God is, we have to recognize how awesome God really is. Glory is that which we can't describe completely but it falls under the "awesome" understanding, meaning God is so wonderful, so strong, we can't explain it but we can sure enjoy it. It's as if the psalmist walking the freshness of the aftermath of a thunderstorm, inspired by what he saw and heard during that majestic show, says, God is awesome! He may be sitting on a hill looking over the at the floods that came as a result of this storm. The landscape now features fallen trees. The air fresh with the smell of wet dirt. And with the wonder and excitement of a child who has experienced quite a heavenly show says again, in the midst of all this, if God is our God, God's strength is ours as should be the peace that comes with knowing that!
I pray that we have no storms in our lives this year that don't point us back to God. May the strength of God be ours as we see things that we can only say, God is awesome!
PRAYER: God of the awesome and of the common, come to our lives with your strength and peace. Bring to us the joy of both. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Have a great day!
Blessings,
e.v.
