Psalm 31:9-16 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 31:9-16 on biblegateway.com
Verse 9Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.
Verse 10For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.
Verse 11I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.
Verse 12I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
Verse 13For I hear the whispering of many- terror all around!- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
Verse 14But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God."
Verse 15My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Verse 16Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.
Devotion
The journey of Lent is a long one, sometimes quite exhausting. The repentant ashes we took up on Ash Wednesday are starting to become tedious, and our Lenten practices (soup suppers, giving up a favorite treat, increasing our offering, etc.) are starting to wear our schedules and our willpower thin. In today's reading, the psalmist laments with an almost Job-like voice; his suffering is not foreign to us Christians today. If we are truly living an evangelical life, the world will call us fools and ridicule our efforts at stewardship and neighborly love. Dwelling in the sackcloth and ashes of Lent has taught us to yearn for relief. We cry along with the psalmist for the Lord of all the living to stretch out a hand of blessing, of pardon, of peace.
Prayer
Lord of salvation, your Son shared my weariness in trying to do your will. For his sake, look upon me in steadfast love and restore in me a rejoicing heart. Amen.