Resources for Prayer and Devotions
Meditations from Carol Dean Henn
Coming soon
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5 Along with the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd psalm is one of the best-known portions of the Bible. That’s natural. It gives us what we need: the assurance of God’s presence, even in our darkest moments, even in the presence of our enemies. It tells us that he provides for us in every way—food, water, rest, and protection. For example, when shepherds place oil on the heads of their sheep, that oil protects the sheep against the bites of insects and pests. If we’re running on empty spiritually, if God seems distant or worry has wormed its way into our hearts and minds, it would be good to re-read psalm 23. It … and God … will comfort us. ©Carol Dean Henn, 2018 How can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to dispute with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. Job 9:2-3
The Book of Job is fascinating reading. For one thing, Job seems to be in the right. He was a righteous, good man; blameless before God and people. What happens to him is not only unfair (a word that we humans use often), it’s downright horrendous. Then Job goes a step further in faithfulness and refuses to condemn God. His wife and friends berate him for his continuing loyalty to God, but Job stands firm. Eventually, in his despair, Job questions God and demands answers. What he gets in response is what he has always known: that God’s ways are not humanity’s ways; that there are some answers we can’t understand. And he also, in the end, receives God’s mercy and the return of his blessings a hundred-fold. We all have ‘Job times’ in our lives; times of loss or suffering. However dark those times, God is still there. He doesn’t mind if we scream our despair to him. He understands. But it is useless to debate with him. We do better to be like Job, and to remain as faithful as we can, knowing that God’s purposes evolve toward blessings. ©Carol Dean Henn, 2018 The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant. Psalm 103:17-18
Last Fall, our church theatrical group presented a play about the life of Martin Luther. Several lines in the play were references to the ideas and beliefs of that time, the late 1400s and early 1500s. In the 21st century, many of those ideas are sickening. Religious and secular leaders, for their own power and greed, taught people that God is a vengeful, angry, and punishing God. Common people, before they had access to the Bible in their own language, were told that God could only be placated through self-punishments, such as flagellation, or the purchase of indulgences. To ‘fear’ God meant to be afraid of him, not to revere and respect him, as that word should mean. For centuries, the true God of love – and the historical Jesus – were lost in the twisted, warped misrepresentations of priests, popes, nobles, and emperors. How many lives were harmed by those lies? How much human misery was caused by the inability to believe in a God of love? Undoing centuries of lies takes time. Perhaps we’re still trying to rid ourselves of the image of a scowling old-man God who cannot be appeased. “Father, abolish all the misleading ideas of you that have come down over the years. Help us to see you as the loving, creative, forgiving, and redeeming radiance that you are.” ©Carol Dean Henn, 2018 |
Details
AuthorCarol Dean Henn of St. John’s Windish Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, PA |