6th. July. 2020. Daily Devotion
Psalm 42:1-7
For the director of music.
A maskil of the Sons of Korah.
1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon – from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
The psalmist feels something that all of us have felt. He has spent his life worshipping God is tired of waiting. He wants to see God Himself. He feels like a deer dying of thirst, searching for a river it cannot find. He is upset; he spends his time in tears, unable to eat or drink. The thought of the days when he went to religious services, happily keeping holy days with his community, makes him even more upset.
His soul is in despair, because things in his life have gone wrong somehow and he no longer has God to carry him through his time of trouble. But in this time of despair, he remembers God again. He realizes that the faith he once had has not been destroyed, but only put aside; he can find it again.
The answer to his agitated fit of anguish is to realize that it is God who has given him the good things in his life; in fact, He has given him life itself. He should trust God to know when the time is right for them to appear face-to-face.
And so, he is renewed in his faith and makes the decision to remember God everywhere he goes. “Deep calls to deep,” and the depths of his soul will find God; for both God and the soul lie at the deepest levels. At the end, he is filled with confidence, that he will find the Lord’s kindness in the daylight; and at night, when it is dark, will be able to hear God like a comforting song. From Daily Prayer.
Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester (1230 A.D.)
Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits thou hast won for me,
For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer for the Morning
I bless you for the day you have made, Mighty Lord God, and pray that I may spend this day rejoicing in your creation. I pray for your Holy Spirit to fill me with the joy of my salvation, so that your light may shine through me into the world, that your honour and glory may be known to all people.
Remind me of your blessings, I pray, with every trouble I may face, that I may act with energy, forgiveness and love, ever mindful of the grace You have shown to me. Through Christ I pray, Amen.
Coronavirus Prayer
O God our Healer show your compassion for the whole human family that is in turmoil and burdened with illness and with fear. Come to our aid as the coronavirus spreads globally, heal those who are sick, support and protect their families and friends from being infected.
Grant us your spirit of love and self-discipline that we may come together, working to control and eliminate the coronavirus. Heal the self-centeredness and indifference that makes us worry only when the virus threatens us; open ways beyond timidity and fear that too easily ignore our neighbour. Strengthen and encourage those in public health services and in the medical profession: care-givers, nurses, attendants, doctors, all who commit themselves to caring for the sick and their families Inspire, give insight and hope to all researchers focused on developing a vaccine.
Sustain all workers and business owners who suffer loss of livelihood owing to shut-downs, quarantines, closed borders, and other restrictions… protect and guard all those who must travel. Guide the leaders of the nations that they speak the truth, halt the spread of misinformation and act with justice that all your family may know healing. Heal our world, heal our bodies, strengthen our hearts and our minds, and in turmoil, give us hope and peace. Hold in your gentle embrace all who have died and who will die today. Comfort their loved ones in their despair.
Remember all your family, the entire human race, and all your creation, in your love, Amen.
A Prayer from Lutheran World.
