Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. We give thanks to Rev. Dr Linda Stargel, Academic Dean and Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Biblical Language, for writing this devotional.
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 138 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
Of David.
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Devotional
The psalmist praises God with his whole heart (1) and bowed down body (2). He acknowledges the steadfast love (hesed) of God (2). He recognizes both the exaltedness of God over all people and God’s special attention to the lowly (6). The psalmist has experienced some sort of distress, and God has heard (3). But one deliverance has not produced a carefree life. He, like God’s people in all times, is not immune to trouble. He must continually walk in the space between distress and confidence (7), between being under attack and being protected. Seven times he recites the personal name Lord (Yhwh). His vocabulary in versus 7-8 (“stretch out,” “enemies,” “delivers,” and especially “right hand”) hints at his remembrance of the exodus (Exodus 15:6, 12), God’s great deliverance that inspires the faith of his people. Finally, the psalmist remembers again the steadfast love (hesed) of God (8). In the dynamic space of trouble and deliverance, it is the remembrance of this God that revives his soul (3).
Prayer
Oh Lord, You are our strength, our fortress, our redeemer and deliverer.
In the midst of our trouble and distress may we fix our eyes on your steadfast love and faithfulness. May you come and restore our strength.
In Christ’s name we pray. AMEN
Shalom,
Linda M. Stargel (Academic Dean, Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Biblical Language)