We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Psalm 4 (NRSV)
1 Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.
2 How long, you people, shall my honour suffer shame?
How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 When you are disturbed, do not sin;
ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.
6 There are many who say, “O that we might see some good!
Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!”
7 You have put gladness in my heart
more than when their grain and wine abound.
8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.
Devotional Thought: Being Honest with God
The psalms are a great tool for worship. They show us raw emotion as the psalmists (in this case, David) express their feelings with honesty. Although there are psalms of overwhelming praise, many like Psalm 4 are full of the problems, the difficulties, the hassles of daily life.
How do we express our feelings in worship in 2021? Do we feel we have to be happy all the time – that feelings of anger, despair, fear, intense sadness, shame, depression have no place in our worship? Do we feel we have failed God if we don’t have joy all the time, or if we cannot honestly sing the upbeat songs that seem to prevail in our services? Are we as Christians unwittingly rejecting those who cannot share our ‘happy’ worship?
God gave us all our emotions – let’s honestly express them and allow others to do this also. And let’s use in our corporate worship all the psalms we have been included in our Bibles, not just those that are positive and triumphant. Perhaps reading the verses of despair and lament will encourage others to accept the God we know – and receive the peace that our God alone can give (verse 8).
Prayer:
· God who hears the inward groanings of our hearts, help us to be honest with you each day.
· God of presence, help us to know that you are with us always.
· God of peace, help us to accept the peace you offer. Amen.
Rev Pam Reed
NTC Registrar
Nazarene Theological College