17th. August. 2021. Daily Devotion.
When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place.
6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper. Psalm 118:5-7
Am I the only one who baulks at the question that the psalmist asks here ~ “What can mere mortals do to me?”
I think we all know what the psalmist is getting at here, but people can be mean! They can hurt us verbally, emotionally, psychologically, and physically. And my guess is that we’ve all experienced at least one of those hurts, if not all of them. I don’t necessarily live in daily fear of physical harm, but some people do—and that can be devastating. However, I do live in fear of being hurt by people’s words. Every time I open my email, I’m afraid of what someone else might say about something I did.
Still, the psalmist knew all of that as well as we do. He was pursued and threatened with bodily harm. But even in the midst of threats and dangers, he was able to give thanks to God, confess that the Lord was with him, and be certain that mere mortals could not ultimately destroy him.
While people might be able to hurt our bodies or minds, they can’t hurt our souls. And while people can hurt us in this world, they can’t hurt us forever. That is the message the psalmist wants us to hear. We aren’t assured of health and safety on this earth. But we don’t need to fear what anyone on this earth can do to us. They cannot control our destiny. With God, we can be certain that our destiny is in his hands. ~ B. Lamsma.
Prayer
Eternal God, even when we are hard pressed and threatened, help us remember that you are God and that nothing can take us away from you. Amen.
Prayer of Praise and Thanks
Oh God, you know every blade of grass that grows, every sparrow that dies, every act and thought of the seven billion people here on earth. The hundred billion stars are yours and you made them, and you watch them, and the vastness of space and the countless galaxies, you know. You know my coming in and my going out, my thoughts, dreams, and schemes, my countless little sins and lies, my kindnesses and my cruelties, my prayers and my curses.
Your knowledge is utterly beyond my comprehension, Lord. And yet, despite all of this, you have promised to know me, to be with me, to listen to me and help me and, if I only ask for it in the name of your Son, to forgive me when I offend you.
I praise you more than anything else, Mighty God, for the wonderment of your existence and the unfathomable size and complexity of your creation. And above all, my love and obedience are yours; I give them to you now and forever, in gratitude for your greatest gift, the sacrifice of your blessed Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Forgiveness
Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace to grow increasingly into your likeness and image, through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen.
We are beginning to learn that this is a fragile world you’ve placed into our care.
But there are times, Lord, when we are reminded of our human fragility, needing your loving care through times of anxiety and illness. Touch us, Lord, with healing hands and words, that we might walk together through this temporary darkness
and into your glorious light. Amen.
