God’s righteousness and me Plead my cause and redeem me; Give me life according to your promise. Psalm 119:154 Read Romans 3:19—22 Whenever I have tried to prove myself — the whole business of trying to prove myself before God and the watching world — I have been degraded to the status of a…
The generous life But when you give alms, Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Matthew 6:3 Read 2 Samuel 9:6—11 If I were king, as David was, there would always be another interpretation of my behaviour. What I presented as generosity of heart, the honouring of an…
The love story The alien who resides with you Shall be to you as the citizen among you. Leviticus 19:34 Read Luke 10:30—37 So Jesus draws me into the story. I can’t help making my own judgements. I’m looking at the beaten-up man. I’m moved. I’ve crossed a border now, and I’m letting a…
Come to Zion with singing Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land. William Williams Read Isaiah 35:5—10 Before Israel went into the Promised Land they drooled over pictures of it. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. There they would grow fat.[1] In this passage I am again…
Beyond healing You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay! Psalm 70:5 Read Matthew 8:14—17 Any healing of any individual is worth celebrating. I don’t have to find an argument for health and fitness and a body ready to serve God and love my neighbour. It proves itself. But this…
The troubler of Israel Trust in him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before him; for God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8 Read Matthew 9:27—34 Illness, blindness, demon possession, loss of speech: all of them are a rupture in the flow of life. Intrusions. I know it even when…
All of a piece The Lord is good to all, He his compassion is over all that he has made. Psalm 145:9 Read Acts 9:31—42 Here I am tonight, looking over Peter’s shoulder, and I see those eyes open! Tabitha! By the power of God! She who was washed and laid out dead is…
A sick king prays I sought the Lord, and he answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4 Read Isaiah 38:10—20 I am reading part of a prayer of a king, Hezekiah. There is little regal about it. Kings die like the rest of us. He is fretful in the face…
He will bring forth justice You are righteous, O Lord, And your judgements are right. Psalm 119:137 Read Isaiah 42:1—8 I may give little day-to-day thought to justice — it seems for some to be equated with revenge, not the noblest virtue — until I am unjustly dealt with. Then I know it. Then…
I’d never keep my mouth shut I have told the glad news of deliverance In the great congregation. Psalm 40:9 Read Mark 7:31—37 I know that if I had been that man healed, not able to speak clearly because I had not been able to decipher sounds, and if I could now speak plainly,…