Daily Devotional – May 21, 2020

Well, good Thursday afternoon to you. This is day 61. Day 61. So if my calculations are right, this is the 9th Thursday that we've been grounded. 9th Thursday. Wow. Time sure flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?

Well, on a positive note, today is also Ascension Day. 40 days after the Lord rose from the grave. He ascended on high and that would be today. So we remember that momentous event today. In fact, this Lord's Day, Sunday morning, I'll be speaking on the Ascension from Acts chapter 1.

So I hope you'll be able to tune in Sunday morning at 1030 for that. By the way, I hope you pray for the folks that are, we call them shut-ins or the homebound, and particularly those that are in... Sorry about that.

I forgot to turn my speaker off on my computer, so it was feeding back. Anyway, pray for the the shut-ins, the homebound, because you know, especially those who are in care facilities, nursing homes, and so forth.

I mean, these people have been truly locked down for nine weeks. They haven't even been able to have somebody visit with them, friends or whatever, family members. They've just been isolated, and I can't imagine the loneliness.

And they, you know, they watch the news. They watch the TV. It's like they don't have anything else to do. And so they see all this reporting about the COVID stuff, the pandemic, and can you imagine being in a home like this and then getting the reports about the fact that the vast majority of the people who die from this COVID thing are in nursing homes?

Anyway, so pray for them, if you would. Well, the school year is winding down, isn't it? I suppose that depends on how the homeschooling is going. Did you notice the totally new vocabulary terms that the teacher sent home for your kids to learn?

Terms that you never had to learn when you were growing up, you know, back in those days when you had to walk two miles to school each way, uphill, both ways, through three-foot snow drifts. Too bad you didn't have a nationwide lockdown back then, huh?

Well, anyway, so your kids are expected to master the definition of these new terms like new normal and in this together and flatten the curve and social distancing and essential workers. Yeah. Anyway, crazy world, huh?

The Experts, Schooling, and the Limits of Human Projections

Speaking of school, what kind of grade do you suppose the experts should get? Somebody asked this question. I said, okay, let me get this straight, he said. All the projections were wrong because all the assumptions were wrong, but we still can't go to church because the experts who were wrong said so?

Is that about right? Yeah, that's about right. Yesterday from Psalm 31, I suggested that reflection can serve as a stimulant. Looking back on what the Lord has done in the past can serve as a stimulant for some responses in the present.

You know, we looked at many of the things that David himself reflected on in Psalm 31 in his time of distress. There were several verses about in the middle of the passage, the middle of the psalm. He kind of reflects on or expresses some of the distress that he's going through.

But he does pray at one point, incline your ear to me, rescue me speedily, because it was a distressing thing.

And yet,.

Even though he was in this some kind of distressing situation, he overcame what I think is our natural inclination in those times. We're inclined to just focus on the present distress. But what he did instead of just simply looking around him and looking off ahead of him into the future at the threats, the potential harm that could come from the present distress, he reflected, he looked back.

And as he looked back, he reflected on how the Lord had led him and guided him in the past, how the Lord had released him from some kind of trap, and probably more than one of those traps, how the Lord had redeemed him from certain death, and how the Lord had not delivered him into the hand of his enemy.

He reflected on how the Lord put him in a place of safety and of relative peace. He reflected on how the Lord heard his pleas for help, all of that in the past. And when he reminded himself of all that the Lord had done in the past, that stimulated some truly important responses.

And I encouraged us yesterday to take some time in this time of distress and reflect on, you know, what has the Lord done for us in the past? Personally, individually, corporately, as a church or church family or our individual families, and even nationally, that can be a helpful thing.

And then that reflection will then stimulate the responses. And the one we looked at yesterday was the response of praise. And David responded in praise by saying, for you, speaking to the Lord, are my rock and my fortress.

He said, blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously showed his steadfast love to me. Responded in praise. And today I want to look at a couple other responses that reflection can stimulate. And the second one is the response of faith that is largely expressed through prayer.

So David expressed faith and put his trust in the nature and the character of God. Listen to what he said. He said, in you, O Lord, do I take refuge. It's a statement of faith. You are my rock and my fortress.

He says, I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols. In other words, I don't have any use for those who don't have any use for you. But I trust in the Lord. He said, but I trust in you, O Lord. I say, you are my God.

So these are expressions of faith or trust in the person of God, in the character and the nature of God. And because he really believed that God is the powerful and protective God that is worthy of all his trust, he prayed.

So his reflection on the past stimulated faith and trust.

In.

This God who he sees as being powerful and protective, and that leads him then to pray. Listen to some of the things he prays. He says, let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness, deliver me.

Incline your ear to me. Rescue me speedily. Be gracious unto me, O Lord, for I am in distress. My times are in your hand. That in itself is an expression of faith or of trust. Then he goes on to say, my times are in your hand.

Rescue me from the hand of my enemies. So he's acknowledging there that even though the hand of the enemy may be near and about to snatch him, his times are in the Lord's hands. And then he prays, make your face shine on your servant.

Save me in your steadfast love. O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you. He even prays against the enemy who is causing all of this distress, and he says, let the wicked be put to shame.

Let them go silently to Sheol or to the realm of the dead. Let the lying lips be mute. It is not a wrong thing to pray for the wicked who are trying to destroy the righteous to be put to shame. Well, I got a subtle reminder this morning of this important response of faith, this aspect of faith, that is prayer.

As I was getting ready, I played just playing some instrumental music, some calming instrumental music, and a tune came on that I recognized. And it drew me back to my childhood. It was remembering an LP, an album, that my dad had.

I think it was 16 Singing Men. And this song, the instrumental version, came on, and I was reminded of the lyrics. The song is Did You Think to Pray? It goes like this. Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?

In the name of Christ our Savior, did you sue for loving favor as a shield today? Oh, how praying rests the spirit. Prayer will change the night to day. So in sorrow and in gladness, don't forget to pray.

Reflection That Leads to Praise, Faith, and Prayer

And so a second response that is stimulated by active reflection on what God has done in the past. Praise, then faith that expresses itself in prayer. And then finally, the encouragement of others. Reflecting on the past and what God has done for us can stimulate you and me to encourage others in the Lord.

And so the psalm ends this way. David writes, Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays those who act in pride. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.

So, you who fear the Lord, you who are trusting in the Lord, you who are trusting in Christ as your Savior, love the Lord in this time of distress. The Lord preserves the faithful. Be faithful to him.

Be strong. Let your heart take courage as you wait on the Lord. So let's pray to the Lord and look to him and ask him to give us that faith and that trust, that courage, that strength. Our Father and our God, we're thankful for who you are.

Thank you that you are our refuge and in you we can find security and shelter. And so we pray today as we've been reminded even from this psalm that we would reflect on all you have done for us in the past and that would then turn our attention to you, to praise you, to pray to you, and even to encourage others in you.

Help us, O Lord, to love you, to trust you, to be strong and courageous in you as we wait upon you. This we pray in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. All right, well you have a good rest of your day today.

Enjoy the clouds and the slightly warmer weather and trust the Lord to give you a good weekend as well. Have a good day.