Daily Reading
Daily Thought
"Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in" (Psalm 107:4). Literally it says they just want a place to sit. They are "hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them" (v 5). Job to job, relationship to relationship, community to community, they wander, looking for something to hold onto, a place to call home.
"Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High" (vv 10-11). Trouble of their own doing, they wouldn't listen. They had the Word, they heard the counsel, and they did their own thing, and now are bonded to their rebellion.
"Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death" (vv 17-18). They blew it and they know it, but now they can't get over it. Their despair is deep, they have no value, they fight the voice inside that tells them there is no hope, no future.
"Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end" (vv 23-27). Life came crashing in, and not of their own doing. Going about their business, tragedy strikes, and they are overwhelmed.
And each turns to God. "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress" (Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, 28). They could have been fat and happy, but the wandering did them a favor. It brought them to their need, their need led them to their Lord, and their Lord loved them and lifted them up.
Daily Prayer
My Lord and Savior, I was lost and now am found, simple as that. Like the blind man, now I see. Now I see Your face, Your grace, Your love, Your holiness, and I want it. I am ready to give up what keeps me from it, and do whatever makes it grow in me.
Teach me to walk, then to run, then to soar, that I may delight in You and in life and in love. Turn my heart outward toward others, to love them in Your name, to serve them with Your grace, to show them Your face, so they may see You and cry out to You and be lifted up.
Amen
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