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
Listen to the old preachers. After many years, they’re still preaching, still believing they have something to say. They’ve been there and done that, but they’re not finished yet. They preach so as to point the way to a loving and gracious God. They have learned this in good times and bad, in times of joy and sadness, in the midst of storms of uncertainty and fear. There is something to learn from them other than the words they speak. It is faith learned from trust. It is the hand of God upholding them and us, that our words and our preaching matter. “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.” Listen to the old preachers. Within and around the words, there is a faith revealing the God who makes our trust and hope in God a reality for us all.
Prayer
O Lord, who is our hope and our trust, be our rock of refuge. Be our strong fortress. Teach us the way of leaning upon you. Instruct us from the witness and words of your faithful ones. Let us come to you with praise and thanksgiving. In you, O Lord, we take refuge. Amen.