Today is the 10th day of Lent.

May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.

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 95

"1Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; 7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice, 8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

This psalm harkens back to the great Exodus of Israel from Egypt, where God set his people free. And the result of Exodus is worship. Moses told Pharoah, God says, “let my people go that they may worship me.” Think for a moment about the places where God has brought Exodus, newfound freedom into your life. Maybe freedom from guilt, or freedom from shame, or freedom from sorrow or sadness. Take a moment to worship God for your newfound freedom.

The psalm also talks about temptations. The Israelites were set free to worship God but they found themselves in the wilderness where their faith and trust in God were tested. And in the midst of being tested, they hardened their hearts toward God. As you hear the scripture again, identify an area of your life where you are being tested.

"1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; 7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice, 8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

The number ‘forty’ is an important number in the Bible. In the Old Testament the Israelites failed to trust God in the wilderness and for forty years were made to wander in circles. In the New Testament, Jesus was tested for 40 days in the wilderness, yet he succeeded in trusting God and fulfilled what Israel couldn’t fulfill on their own. The same is true for you and me. As we continue through these forty days of Lent, thank God that he fulfills all that you can’t, on your own.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy of your saving help again and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.