Psalm 71:1-6 (NRSV)
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Verse 1In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
Verse 2In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
Verse 3Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
Verse 4Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
Verse 5For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Verse 6Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.
Devotion
Rescue us, O God! Public leaders we count on to make the world a better place dither and dissemble instead. People we love or admire continually disappoint us. Economic recovery is shadowed by persistent joblessness. The din of wars and rumors of wars drown out whispers of hope. We feel discouraged, even hopeless, when we survey the brokenness all around us, including our own abuse of your creation and our inability to love one another.
God, turn our words of lament into songs of joy. Teach us to trust your righteousness and strength as the psalmist did—to take refuge in you, to lean on you, to praise you continually. Help us to remember in this season after the Epiphany that with a word, you called forth light from the beginning of creation and that in the Word, you sent your Son to be the Light of the world.
Prayer
Faithful God, our rock and fortress, you are our hope. Come close to us and comfort us, that we might proclaim your wondrous deeds to all the world. Amen.