God’s concern for his people

The people of the promise May God continue to bless us, Let all the ends of the earth revere him. Psalm 67:7   Read Romans 11:25—32 I would have to admit that I have a deep ingrained tendency to see this Gospel I believe in from a very restricted perspective. In the instance of this…

God’s concern for his people

The choice of God You only have I known Of all the families of the earth. Amos 3:2   Read Deuteronomy 32:3—12 Almost any creature I am familiar with could give me a way of picturing God’s focus upon me, his choice to be my God, his guiding me, his guarding me, his holding me…

God’s concern for his people

Seek the welfare of the place where you live He led them by a straight way, Until they reached an inhabited town. Psalm 107:7   Read Jeremiah 29:4—9 Even if I live in the culture of my birth and upbringing, my heart culture, my familiar language, hearing the kind of jokes I don’t need explained,…

God’s concern for his people

Standing firm To hear the groans of the prisoners To set free those who were doomed to die. Psalm 102:20   Read 1 Kings 21:17—21 Because the Lord is the protector of the alien, the orphan and the widow, because he has declared that the poor will always be with us and our hand will…

The Lord’s concern for his people

A picture of prayer May the hand of God protect us. May the shield of God defend us. St Patrick   Read Exodus 17:8—15 I see in this story something my doubting friends will set to one side (at its most polite). Others will pity me for reading texts like this. But for all that,…

The Lord’s concern for his people

God himself is the reason Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Psalm 138:8   Read Deuteronomy 7:6—11 I have this in common with the Israel of God: I am called from among the peoples and there is no reason I can give beyond God himself. It’s…

The Lord’s concern for his people

The visitation of the Lord Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised In the city of our God. Psalm 48:1   Read Luke 19:41—46 What moves Jesus to tears? What is the deep pain that he cannot brush off? Surely it is the outright horror that those he made, made for relationship with…

Be wise in the Lord

Glad surrender Your word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path. Psalm 119:105   Read Luke 12:42—48 This is slightly gruesome. For the slovenly slave it is. It is a sorry miscalculation on his part, to think that he can indulge his own brutality at whim, and not attend to…

Be wise in the Lord

The total exchange As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; When I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness. Psalm 17:15   Read Matthew 13:44—46 However often I come to these sayings of Jesus I am sure he does not cease to address me, and with a new word, and with…

Be wise in the Lord

More wise than not O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? Psalm 15:1   Read 1 Kings 3:21—28 It’s a rather sordid story. No one was setting out to be Godly. There are no fathers taking any responsibility. There is no conversion to God at the end.…