May 7th — Psalm 67

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us. May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.” Psalm 67

So many people in this world are lost. They do not know where they came from, why they are here, and where they will go after death. Thus, their vision of life in this realm is solely focused on what they can get before they die. The Devil then comes along and fills their minds with his desires, misleading them with all that leads only to death. These people need to know the ways of the Lord and the Lord needs you and me to be at the forefront of this endeavor. There is nothing like a pandemic to help people feel even more lost — and to believe that the Devil has taken charge.

As such, the people of this world are also blinded by the Devils tricks. Salvation belongs to G-d alone, and nothing is more important than for the Lord to have an army of believers who know G-d. The psalmist prays that the “nations will be glad and sing for joy” as a response to the Lord’s presence — that the ways and salvation of God may be known throughout the earth.

The faith of G-d’s people must be strong in the Lord so we will resist evil and that others may be strengthened and encouraged to resist the evil one as well.

PRAYER

God of wisdom, through your power the earth has brought forth its noblest fruit, the tree of the cross. Unite all people in its embrace, and feed us with its fruit, everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

May 8th — Psalm 68

“Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, let the wicked perish before God. But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy. Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds—his name is the Lord—be exultant before him. Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a parched land.

O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad; you restored your heritage when it languished; your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. The Lord gives the command; great is the company of those who bore the tidings: “The kings of the armies, they flee, they flee!”

The women at home divide the spoil, though they stay among the sheepfolds—the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with green gold. When the Almighty scattered kings there, snow fell on Zalmon.” Psalm 68:1-14

This Psalm in the Old Testament shows that the heart of G-d in the Old Testament is the same as G-d’s heart in the New Testament. G-d desires to save us from sin, death, the devil and all earthly desires that heap undue volumes of burdens upon us. The greatest burden that often goes unspoken is the burden of our sins — and it is our sins that crushed the Lord Jesus, who bore them on the cross. How much more will He bear the much lighter burden of our day to day troubles. Just as we trust our Lord to forgive us our sins, we must trust Jesus to bear our burdens.

Every day, in these days of sheltering in place, we have a lot of time to think, to contemplate, and to pray. As such, as we come out of our daily prayer time, we must come out free of the condemnation of sin — or in other words, when we live knowing that Jesus forgives us, then we are free from the burden of our troubles and free from the fear of death.

But we cannot do this alone. It requires the presence of the Holy Spirit and our relationship with G-d — the spirit-filled life is one full of vitality and life. The Gospels show us that sin, death and evil are nothing in the hands of our G-d who alone can save us from them. Furthermore, the keys of death and of Hades are also firmly in His hands. When we live in the presence of the cross of Jesus, then we know that when we die, we will live on in the age to come resting in the presence of Jesus. He alone can help us bear death in this world and He alone will carry us to the next — where we shall never die.

PRAYER

God of majesty, when we were in captivity your Son was lifted high on the cross to lead us into freedom. Support us day by day. May our lives praise you and our voices proclaim your good news to all people, that they may find their hope in you and live to your honor and glory; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.