Today is January 28.


The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you.    
  
Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”     
    
Today’s reading is from Psalm 119, beginning in verse 89. 
 

Your word, Lord, is eternal; 
    it stands firm in the heavens. 
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations; 
    you established the earth, and it endures. 
91 Your laws endure to this day, 
    for all things serve you. 
92 If your law had not been my delight, 
    I would have perished in my affliction. 
93 I will never forget your precepts, 
    for by them you have preserved my life. 
94 Save me, for I am yours; 
    I have sought out your precepts. 
95 The wicked are waiting to destroy me, 
    but I will ponder your statutes. 
96 To all perfection I see a limit, 
    but your commands are boundless. 
 
     
 This psalm in it’s entire is the longest psalm in the bible, and it’s focused on glorifying God and his word. The words for word… sometimes ‘law’, sometimes ‘precepts’, sometimes ‘statues or commands’ – together build a picture that the psalmist is glorifying God’s revelations, God’s discernment, His instructions. The psalmist is saying than in a world where everything changes, where rules change where values change, where people change… God’s word is stable. It’s the only stable thing we have, actually. As you come to prayer today, think about all of the ever-changing things in the world around you. Does that ever feel disorienting?  
   
Our world, for many people, feels like a sea filled with waves, storms, and winds blowing in opposite directions. It doesn’t feel like anything has a firm foundation: even truth. Or virtue. It feels like nothing is enduring. Cultural rules change faster than we can keep track! So do allegiances. The psalmist is describing what we feel – that sense of homelessness, the sense of confusion, the same that we don’t ever have a firm foundation for truth. Listen again for the consolation that the psalmist has found in God’s enduring revelation. God doesn’t change. God always loves mercy and justice. God always is compassionate. God always is willing and wanting to forgive. God always, always, always, offers grace.  
   
Many of us grew up in religious environments where God’s word felt like a bunch of arbitrary rules. Or we grew up in secular environments where cultural norms felt like a bunch of arbitrary rules! Either way, the revelation God brought to the world in Christ is that God’s word isn’t a list of rules…. God’s gracious revelation to us is in Christ, our brother. The spirit, our helper. And they are an ever-present foundation, a tall strong tower to find protection in. I would love for you to, this year, work to read scripture with these sorts of eyes… to read the Bible looking not for a list of rules, but for the steady, firm, and consistent presence of your good and gracious Father God. If you don’t read the Bible regularly, would you consider giving yourself a time each week to sit down, read, journal, and pray. If you don’t understand what you read, look for the passage on a web resource called The Bible Project and there’s a good chance you’ll find a video that will help you understand what’s going on in the book or text you’re looking at.

Music: Dwell - Vineyard Worship