Listen here.
Welcome to Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the
appointed Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday. Thank you for being with
me today.
I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in
Hudson, OH.
This coming Sunday is the 13 Sunday after Pentecost
Before I read this psalm, a couple of comments might be
helpful. The psalms are poems, originally written in Hebrew – the language of
most of the Old Testament. Just as poetry in English tends to have a different
format than our general prose, Hebrew poetry has a different feel and format
than other parts of the Old Testament. Hebrew poetry does not use rhyme or
meter the way English poetry does. Instead, it uses repetition. The psalmist
states a thought, and then restates it in a slightly different way, slowly
working his way through the whole message he is presenting. In this way the
Psalter serves as a sort of model for how Christians meditate. We do not empty
our minds, as the Eastern mystics do, but we fill our mind repeating and going
over God’s Word again and again, stating and restating it.
Because of the meditative nature of the Psalter, it is good
to listen to them repetitively. The monks in the middle ages used to speak each
of the Psalms in a single week! While that is admirable, such a habit probably
wouldn’t fit too well in our modern lives. We will however, treat the psalm of
the week differently than we do the other readings. I will read it through once
like I normally would read a lesson. After that I will read it again slowly.
The Reading: Psalm 26 – I am reading from the English
Standard Version of the Bible.
Psalm 26:1 Of David.
Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and
I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
2 Prove
me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.
3 For your
steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.
4 I do not
sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites.
5 I hate
the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.
6 I wash
my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O LORD,
7
proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds.
8 O LORD,
I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not
sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in
whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But as
for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My foot
stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the LORD. (Ps.
26:1-12 ESV)
(Re-read slowly)
Comments
The psalms always connect us in faith to one another and to
Christ himself. No one can make the claims that the psalmist makes regarding
his integrity and righteous life apart from Christ and his forgiveness. We
indeed are vindicated by Jesus through his death on the cross on our behalf. In
a sense, despite the fact that we have sinned, every accusation of sin that is
leveled against us is proved false because Jesus took our sins upon himself and
died leaving the record of our debt in his grave. Our sins have become his sins
and his righteousness has become our righteousness.
This status we have with God makes us bold to confess our
sins to God and to profess our holiness, too. Our boldness before God can be
the same as the psalmists, because we know Jesus has died and risen for us.
Prayers – We’ll use the 26th Psalm as our prayer
as we come before the Lord today. Rejoicing that we are holy before God because
of Jesus.
Memory Verse: Matthew 16:25 - For whoever would save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matt.
16:25 ESV)
Thank you so much for using Devotions for Worship, I pray
that our time together has blessed you and given you something to meditate on –
some reminder of God’s grace to rattle around in your brain – for the rest of
the day.
Would you do me a favor? If you got something out of this
devotional time, would you like and/or share it on Facebook, Twitter, or
wherever you do social media? That would help me get the word out, and
hopefully help these devotions be a blessing to others.
God bless you!
Comments