Tag: Psalm devotions

Sabbath Psalms – Hidden Faults

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Psalm 19:12        Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

I was once invited to teach two English Literature classes in my youngest daughter’s High school class. It all came about when Lauren’s teacher referred to Britain as ‘England.’ Lauren took offense at this, and reminded her teacher that Britain is made up of several nations, which includes Scotland. Thankfully, her teacher accepted what Lauren had to say and, in the ensuing conversation, I somehow got volunteered to teach two classes about Scotland’s contribution to English literature, especially the works of Robert Burns, one of the world’s greatest poets.

Today’s verse from the psalmist reminded me of something that Burns once wrote. The psalmist writes about hidden faults, and how each of us are blind to the constant mistakes that we make. In the past, ministers would call these ‘sins of omission,’ – in other words, the things that we neglect to say or do, as well as the errors that we unconsciously commit. In one of his poems, Burns put it this way:

‘O the pow’r that God wad gie us, to see ourselves as ithers see us.’

(O the power that God would give us, to see ourselves as others see us)

Sometimes, we are blind to the sins we commit and the mistakes that we habitually make. If only we had the power to see ourselves making those mistakes, which others around us often notice.

Perhaps today, we could all make a conscious effort to watch what we do or say; to be careful about the witness to Christ we project, and to be aware that we are not perfect all of the time. Maybe then, at the end of the day, as we make our confessions and give thanks to God in prayer, we will also remember to ask forgiveness for our hidden faults.

Point to ponder: How do others see and experience the faith we project?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, sometimes we unknowingly hurt other people and offend You. Sometimes the things we say and do, or the things we neglect to say or do, cause us to disappoint others and sin against You. Help us to recognize our personal mistakes and give us the ways, as well as the means, to humbly compensate for our sins of omission. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sabbath Psalms – Map Reader

church devotions, Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Psalm devotions

Psalm 025sPsalm 25:4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. (NIV)

It was in the Boy Scouts that I learned how to read and use a map. I can remember hiking in the Campsie hills above Glasgow, Scotland, with my Scout troop. As we climbed the hills, a deep fog descended around us. Before long, it seemed to me that we were hopelessly lost. As the mist slowly cleared, we began to see the landscape of the Campsies around us. During this time, our patient Scoutmaster unfolded a map and pointed out the various small streams and elevation markers that were drawn on it.

At first, all I saw were lines on a piece of paper which meant nothing to me, but as my Scoutmaster pointed to all of the trails, brooks, and peaks around us while carefully identifying them on the map, I began to make the connection. He knew exactly where we were and he was teaching all of us how to discover our location and re-find our path. It was a wonderful lesson that I have never forgotten and to this very day, some fifty years later, I still enjoy looking at and reading maps wherever I go.

In today’s highlighted Bible verse, the ancient psalmist is asking God to show him the right path to take. The psalm writer, possibly King David, has reached a point in his life where he doesn’t know what to do or where to go. He needs God to indicate his location and show him the way ahead, so he prayerfully and sincerely asks for God’s direction. It’s a simple act of faith and trust which we can all experience many times in our lives. Thankfully, God hears our prayers for direction and is always willing to show us the path ahead. So, no matter who we are or what we are feeling, encountering, or experiencing today, it’s good to know that God is always aware of the life trail that we are on, and will always be our map reader and patient guide, even if we are lost or can’t see the way ahead.

Point to ponder

Where am I? What path does God want me to follow?

Prayer: Lord God, You have always been leading us through each day of our lives. Every moment is a sacred experience; every step is an act of faith. Be with us by guiding us on this great journey we call life and, when all of this is over, lead us upward and onward to Your Eternal Kingdom. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sabbath Psalms – Welcome Table

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Psalm 146sPsalm 146:7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. (NIV)

I recently began working as a part-time interim pastor in a local Presbyterian congregation. It was nice to get back into ministry and I really appreciate the welcome that the church folks have given to my wife and me. We both look forward to being here for at least six months

Every congregation has its own unique ministries and this one – First Presbyterian Oak Ridge – is no exception. The church folks focus on social justice issues and even in the few weeks that I have been here, they are teaching me a lot of new things.

One of them is called ‘The Welcome Table.’ It takes place each month in the Fellowship Hall. The congregation provides a hot meal to anyone who wishes to come along. They also have several tables of groceries that the attendees can pick up to take home with them after the meal.

Those who come along are very grateful for the meal that is given, and for the fact that the church members serve people at their tables, bringing plates of food to them, just as if it was in a restaurant. Rather than have people stand in line, the church members humbly serve as waiters to the recipients. This means that those who have food insecurity issues are not treated like clients but are respected as equals. And when everyone is served, the church folks bring their own plates of food to the tables, to eat and converse with those who attend. In this way, several friendships have grown between those who serve and those who receive.

I like to think that this is how God welcomes us to His table, whether it be for Communion or just fellowship with one another. It’s a beautiful thought that God treats us all equally, doing it lovingly while maintaining respect and dignity for all of us who experience His blessings.

Point to ponder: How am I supporting food pantries and other food distribution missions?

Prayer: Lord God, thank You for blessing us through times of insecurity and need. Help us to remember to share Your grace with others and treat one another as Your children. In your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a Scottish Presbyterian pastor living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sabbath Psalms – Sowing Sorrowfully, Singing Joyfully

church devotions, Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Psalm devotions, Sunday devotions

Psalm 126sPsalm 126:5 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.

It was an old superstition. People once believed that if they planted their seeds positively, then something bad would happen to the expected crop. So, instead of looking forward to the harvest, they used to weep profusely as they sowed the seeds. They didn’t want to make the agricultural gods angry by taking them for granted, so they developed a rite of mourning at seedtime.

Obviously, the Hebrew children did this too, although instead of angering the local Canaanite gods, they didn’t want to offend the One True and Living God. The people of the land had been blessed in the past, therefore, they hoped that God’s promises would be fulfilled at harvest time, so long as the people remained faithful.

The farmers also knew that they lived less than perfect lives, so they planted their seeds with penitential tears. They sincerely believed that if God watched over them as they humbled themselves, then perhaps God would also take pity on them and bless them with a great growing season. The farmers didn’t take God’s compassion for granted, but when the harvest was bountiful, they were truly thankful – which is why we still celebrate Thanksgiving feasts as special days in our nation and around the world.

Perhaps you are starting something new, beginning a new job or business, or going to a new college or location. Maybe you’re apprehensive about the future and hope that things will turn out well. Take time to bring God into this venture and humbly commit Your ideas, goals, and work to the Lord. You may not have to weep sorrowfully these days, but if You honor God at the outset of what you’re seeking to do, God’s approval will eventually come.

Point to ponder: Am I attempting something new in my life? If so, how have I sought God’s blessing?

Prayer: Lord God, You know everything about us and are fully aware of all our plans. We humbly seek Your approval and guidance in all that we hope to begin and accomplish. In Your Holy Name, we dare to hope and humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sabbath Psalms – Unanswered Prayers

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Psalm 022sPsalm 22:2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. (NIV)

We’ve all been there at some point in our lives – crying out to God for help, but receiving no response. Usually, the prayer is about our health or the well-being of a loved one. Instead of getting the answer we want, nothing changes, leaving us feeling bewildered, abandoned, even forsaken by God. It makes us question God’s existence, as well as asking what’s the point of having faith if God won’t do what we want?

The Bible doesn’t shy away from those hard questions. Psalm 22 is a prime example of someone who is feeling forlorn and forgotten by God. The writer is feeling vulnerable and lost, finite and frail, so he is looking to God for strength and deliverance, renewal and restoration. It’s a painful psalm to read because it’s written by a tormented soul and even though it ends with some sort of resolution, the sorrows expressed appear to be unanswered and relentless.

Jesus quoted the beginning of this psalm when He was brutally nailed to the Cross. In His final moments of life, He truly identified with the pain, loss, and suffering which all human beings experience. He could have chosen to run away before He was arrested to save His life. He could have called down legions of angels from Heaven to rescue Him from death and destroy His enemies. Instead, He chose to accept a painful end to His life, so that He truly became one of us, as well as the prophesied “Man of Sorrows” described in Isaiah 53.

Perhaps you are going through a hard time and praying for someone you love. Maybe you feel as though your prayers are unanswered and that God doesn’t care about your plight. It’s an awful feeling and heavy burden to bear. I’ve been there, too, but what got me through it was an understanding that Jesus knew exactly what I was facing and had felt the same kind of pain. In other words, He walked beside me to help me endure. I hope and pray He will do the same for you.

Point to ponder: What painful prayers and burdens am I currently experiencing?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, today we appeal to Your humanity and not Your divinity. Today, we pray for You to walk alongside us as we journey through a path of pain and loss. Help us to endure and enable us to overcome. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sabbath Psalms – The World We Live In

church devotions, Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Psalm devotions

Psalm 124sPsalm 124:8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Some days I worry about climate change and what kind of impact it will have on my grandchildren. Each year, our little planet is getting warmer, glaciers are retreating, and sea levels are rising. The weather is erratic, and I’ve never seen so many floods and torrential downpours in my thirty years of living in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee. Some people say it’s just cyclical and eventually the climate will right itself. I don’t know about that; it seems like wishful thinking instead of finding a solution which will help my grandchildren.

Today’s highlighted verse reminds me that God is the Maker of this beautiful planet, so perhaps I should address God, asking for guidance and answers. If human beings are messing up what God created, then why doesn’t God intervene and set things right? As an artist, I take great pride in what I draw or paint and I would hate it if someone vandalized or broke the work of my hands. This makes me wonder if God steps back from Creation to allow human beings to see how destructive we can be, in the hope that we would recognize our mistakes and start to apply our knowledge, wisdom, and skills to repair what we have broken and to cherish what God has made.

The psalmist wrote that our help is in the name of the Lord which tells me that we need to cry to God in order to rely on God to remedy the climate crisis we are in. I think this is why more churches are focusing on environmental health as well as spiritual growth; it’s almost as if the Maker of heaven is encouraging us to be caretakers of the world we live in. I hope so, for the sake of my grandchildren and their grandchildren.

Point to ponder: What do I do in my life to care for the environment?

Prayer: Lord God, You created this unique planetary jewel that spins around the Sun as it moves through space. There’s nowhere else like it in our Solar System, so please help us recognize how fragile this world is by giving us the courage to repair the damage we have selfishly and sinfully caused. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sabbath Psalms – Wise Words

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Psalm 111sPsalm 111:10 Revering the Lord is where wisdom begins; all who follow God’s teachings have good sense. To God belongs everlasting worship.

One of the sacred things that we’ve sadly lost is reverence for God. In an age and society where wisdom and knowledge have largely been replaced with self-opinion and prejudice, we tend to put God on the same level as ourselves, expecting Him to follow and approve our ways. We put ourselves at the center of our own universes and shape God into being a benevolent bystander, forgetting that we actually live in His existence and under His sovereignty.

The writer of today’s psalm reminds us that the smartest thing we can do in life is to respect and worship God. No matter how big, how powerful, or how accomplished we think we are, God is always infinitely greater than anything we can imagine, do, or fulfill. It is very humbling to realize that God can do anything better than us and that we are all just creatures who exist in His creation. When we understand and accept this, then we will begin to realize what our lives are for: to worship God and enjoy Him forever.

A lot of the world’s foolishness, as well as its wickedness, originates when people are besotted with themselves, their power, and esteem. Putting ourselves first before God panders to our pride, supplements our selfishness, and activates our arrogance to such a degree that we consider ourselves to be little gods and seek equality with Him. An example of this occurs when we talk about the ‘kindom’ of God, rather than the kingdom which Jesus constantly expressed. Kindom places us all on the one level, whereas kingdom reminds us that we are subservient to God. Kindom makes us look wiser and greater in our own eyes; kingdom reveals to us Christ’s wisdom and personal knowledge about God.

Point to ponder: How do I revere and worship God wisely?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You revealed to us many truths about God in order to help us gain a greater knowledge of who God is and what we are. Help us to embrace Your ideas and ways rather than holding tightly and foolishly to our own. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sabbath Psalms – On the Edge – Psalm 14

Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Psalm devotions, Sunday devotions

Psalm 014sPsalm 14:1 The fool says within himself, “God does not exist.” They are immoral, their deeds are disgraceful; there is nobody who does good things.

Like everyone else, I struggle with my faith at times. I’ve always believed in God as far back as I can remember, but it’s what I believe in God that keeps changing. When I first became a Christian, I wanted to convert the entire world. I actually preached on street corners in Scotland and sang hymns outside Glasgow pubs. I was fearless for Christ and wanted to show the world what unbelievers were missing. I guess I must have appeared like a religious freak to most of my drunken audience, but I was on fire for the Lord, and it didn’t bother me.

These days, I would find it tough and perhaps be too embarrassed to preach outside a city bar. I got in enough trouble preaching from the relative safety of a church pulpit. Sometimes my zeal to get the Gospel message across caused some people to get upset and leave the church. A sermon that stings is sometimes too close to the truth, even for me.

Faith is a precious gift from God, but sometimes we foolishly take it for granted or allow ourselves to cast it aside in order to indulge in sinful things. We stumble on the edge of foolishness which, for some people, can lead to affluence and unbelief, indifference and apostasy. I’m not one of those who subscribes to the belief that ‘once saved means always saved.’ I think that we can lose our salvation if we lose ourselves to the wiles of the world, which is why Jesus says in Mark’s Gospel: “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”(Mark 4 v 25). If we were saved for all time, we could give our hearts to Christ at the age of three and spend the next 97 years doing whatever we liked.

When I preached the message on Sunday mornings, I was very much aware that we’re all just living on the edge of eternity. Who knows what tomorrow may bring, so that is why we all need to get our hearts and minds, our lives and ways right with God through Christ today. To do anything else or to leave it for another time is plainly foolish and just as spiritually harmful as the person with no belief at all.

Point to ponder: What things disrupt my belief in God? How does Christ restore me?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, let this be the day when we all completely surrender our lives to You. Let this be the time when we allow You totally into our hearts, to change us forever. Enable us not to keep back anything or any part of us from You. Take away our foolishness and fill us with true faith. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.