Good Morning, Lord!
I Am Baptized
And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38 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
O Holy Spirit of God, visit my soul, and dwell within me all through this day. Inspire my thoughts. Infuse my imaginations. Suggest all my decisions. Make your home in my will’s most inward fortress and organize all that I do according to your will. Be with me in my silence and in my speech, in my haste and in my leisure, when I am alone and when I am with others, in the freshness of the morning and the weariness of the evening; and give me grace at all times to rejoice knowing that you are with me.
I Believe …
I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He
has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and
all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and
shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and
all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support
this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me
from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and
mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to
thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.
Bible Reading – Psalm
8
To
the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.[a] A Psalm
of David.
O Lord,
our Lord,
how
majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of
the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to
still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the
work of your fingers,
the
moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what
is man that you are mindful of him,
and the
son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower
than the heavenly beings[b]
and
crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You
have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you
have put all things under his feet,
7 all
sheep and oxen,
and
also the beasts of the field,
8 the
birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever
passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord,
our Lord,
how
majestic is your name in all the earth![1]
Have you ever noticed that the Bible is focused on God’s name? “How majestic is your name in all the earth.” “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.” “Hallowed be thy name.”
Shakespeare may have believed that a rose by any other name would be as sweet, which may be the case for Montague and Capulette, but is not the case when it comes to the LORD.
If you are reading this devotion you may notice that the first time the world LORD is used in Psalm 8, every letter is capitalized. That is how we translate God’s proper name – the name he told Moses at the burning bush when Moses asked whom he should say sent him if they asked for a name and God replied, “I am.”
This is the name that God spoke through Isaiah when he said, “I am the LORD, and there is no other god.”
This is the name that declares the existence, the sufficiency, the reality, the uniqueness, and the presence of the God who brings all things into existence, sustains it all, defines reality, calls us to a unique relationship with himself, and is present with us.
God’s name – his names, because he has many, and many of them are a variant on the LORD – communicate him to us. He is present in his name. A name is a word that symbolizes a person, but in this case the name is a word that became flesh and dwelled among us, it is a name that draws us to itself, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.
The LORD is the one God whom we know in Jesus – whose name means, “The LORD saves.” He is our creator, savior, and the one who dwells among us revealing himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is, and his name is majestic, beautiful, and glorious because he is majestic, beautiful, and glorious. He the LORD and when we consider all he has done, all he is, we are moved to worship and praise. “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
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 Third
Petition: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
O God, Your will is done even without our prayers, but we pray that it may be done among us also. Please break and hinder every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow Your name or let Your kingdom come. Strengthen and keep us firm in Your Word and faith until we die. Let Your good and gracious will be done. Amen.
Prayer
Pray for the
government and all who are in authority.
Pray that God
grants wisdom, integrity, courage, and safety to all our leaders, to police,
firefighters, health care professionals, and all who work for the public good.
Benediction
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23 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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