Good Morning, Lord!
I Am Baptized
3 Do you not
know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into
death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of
the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have
been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him
in a resurrection like his. (Rom. 6:3-5 ESV)
Make the sign of the cross as you say, “In the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
A Morning Prayer
We pray that you would defend us, O Lord, from any lack of
faith and love, from all selfishness and all apathy in the face of the
sufferings of those who suffer for your name’s sake. Grant that we may take to
heart the need and the struggle of your church and keep her constantly in our
prayers. We pray, O Lord, for all who suffer from the effects of sin within
this life – whether that is a troubled conscience, injustice, injury, or
illness. We pray for all our fellow members of the body of Christ as well, that
in the midst of the effects of sin we might be messengers of hope, peace, joy,
and love in Jesus’ name. Amen.
I Believe …
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the
Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord,
who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all
sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but
with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I
may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting
righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead,
lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.
Bible Reading – Psalm
7
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to
the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
7 O Lord my God, in you do
I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if
I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O Lord, in your
anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
8 The Lord judges the
peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man does not repent,
God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to
the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.[1]
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.[1]
This Psalm is about justice. David’s complaint is rooted
in feeling that he is pursued unjustly, he feels he is being torn apart, and he
is seeking relief from God. He acknowledges that if he has done wrong, he
deserves the comeuppance, but he holds that he is innocent.
Justice is an important matter, and seeing God as the last
and ultimate source of justice puts a heavy burden on us as his creatures.
There will be a reckoning, and the imagery of that reckoning in this Psalm is
not pleasant. God usually uses society and government to enforce a certain
amount of civil justice – I’m not talking about the forgiveness of sins yet,
this kind of justice or civil righteousness is the framework, the set of rules
that we follow to live a peaceful life with one another. They can largely be
summed up in the part of the Ten Commandments that deal with our neighbors, but
they usually get … diluted or warped, and sometimes these rules for life can be
utterly perverted by us leading not only to personal sin, but systemic sin –
when the systems of the world support injustice against us or our neighbors.
The Psalm pleads, “if I have done this,” and this is a call
for us to consider our behaviors. Is there wrong in our hands? Have we repaid a
friend with evil? Have we plundered an enemy without cause? Whether we realize
it or not, the answer is, yes, we have. Remember that there are the sins that
we commit actively (sins of commission), and there are sins that we commit by our
inaction (sins of omission). When it comes to systemic injustice, our sin is
often in our inaction, and our neighbors are wronged and plundered.
There is only one person who could pray these words in total
innocence, and that is Jesus. Pay attention then to Him, because, despite his
innocence, he allowed his life to be trampled to the ground and laid his glory
in the dust. He did this to take your place. He allows the natural consequences
of sin to fall upon him in order to be your refuge and save you from pursuers. He
delivers you by dying for you. This Psalm can only be prayed by us when we pray
it in Christ – the one who knew no sin, but who became sin for us, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God.
Question for Meditation
What does this reading teach you about Jesus, what He said
and did, or what He wants His followers to believe? What does it teach you
about God’s love and forgiveness?
What does this reading lead you to be thankful for?
What behavior, thought, or attitude does this reading
challenge? What sin does it lead you to confess?
How might you pray for God to have a richer impact on your
life through this reading?
Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer
The Fourth
Petition: “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Heavenly Father, You give daily bread to everyone without
our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that You
would lead us to realize this so that we receive our daily bread with
thanksgiving. Make us mindful of all that You give us that has to do with the
support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house,
home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children,
devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather,
peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors,
and help us to always give thanks to You; in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Prayer
Pray about the
creation. This certainly includes things like pollution and proper care for
creation, but it also includes growing seasons, the bounty of the earth, food
for the hungry, and every aspect of bodily life.
Benediction
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your
life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth
and forevermore. (Ps. 121:7-8 ESV)
[1] English
Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good
News Publishers.
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