Skip to main content
May the Lord 
answer you 
in a day of trouble; 
may the name 
of Jacob's God 
protect you. 
May he send 
you help 
from the sanctuary 
and sustain 
you from Zion.
Psalms 20:1-3 CSB 
David's song here is written on behalf of others;
"answer you"
"protect you"
"sustain you".
Don't know if David didn't think he needed those things in his own life but this seems to be a shift from earlier psalms where David is putting his own case to God. 
Here it's all about others. 
His song is about wanting good for others, for people who need help, protection, sanctuary. 
Things shift when we consider what's going on for others, take up their case, become that place of sanctuary for them, protect those who need it, help those who are in trouble. 
It starts tho with seeing. 
With asking.
With checking in.
With following up. 
And it starts with just one person. One person who I can ask how they are this week.
One person who I can check in with.
One person who I can be a place of sanctuary and safety for. 
Jesus said that he has overcome, yet in this world we will still have trouble, so while we wait for that ultimate putting right of everything, may we be one another's sanctuary...
#psalms
#psalm20
#monday
#Godsgym

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16 NLT OK so this is an English translation of a letter Paul wrote to a church 2,000 years ago, but does it feel like Paul is wrestling with words and ideas to try and capture all of who Jesus is, of who God is, of how does it work that the walking around Jesus was also there before the beginning of the beginning of everything we can see and touch and know. Not only that but Jesus was somehow the agent of everything that has been made in the physical, social, and spiritual.  Jesus is at the centre of it all.  Walking around Jesus. Cooking fish for breakfast Jesus. Heart aching as he ...
Friday! Proverbs! The Lord hates six things;  in fact, seven are detestable to him:  (1) arrogant eyes,  (2) a lying tongue,  (3) hands that shed innocent blood, ... Proverbs 6:16-17 CSB This list of things that Proverbs describes that our God stands against, are anti-God, must be things that God isn't.  It's easy to use Proverbs as a weapon, to accuse or label others, but Proverbs is about finding the way of wisdom, of life, it's about the heart, mine, yours, ours.  And it's full of metaphor. Arrogant eyes. Eyes aren't arrogant, they're just that part of my body that receives visual information aren't they? Arrogant eyes. My tongue doesn't tell lies by itself, I do that. Hands that shed innocent blood - I haven't taken anyone's life... The word here for "hands" is "yad" and it is used literally and figuratively- it means an open hand (not closed) and is about direction and use of power. Proverbs invites us to sit with these p...
Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. [37] Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. [38] She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 NLT We don't have anyone live at my church (maybe we should?).  But I wonder how Anna would describe her life? Would she say her life is defined by loss, sorrow? Or by service and dedication, a life that contains suffering and loss? What we do know is that she recognised something important was going on with Jesus - the Rescuer she had been waiting for was here. By our standards we might judge Anna's life as a bit of a waste - yet he...