Song in the Night: Lent Daybook 20
Look: Albuquerque, Aug. 19, 2020: Juanita Lujan, 94, at a nursing home that was converted into a center to treat coronavirus patients. Ms. Lujan later recovered and was transferred back to her senior community in Las Cruces. Isadora Kosofsky for The New York Times - Source
Listen*: Calm My Soul, Paper Route - Spotify | YouTube w/ lyrics
Read**: Psalm 80; Psalm 77, 79; Jeremiah 6:9-15, 7:1-15; Romans 4:1-12; John 7:14-36
Excerpts:
“Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!
O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers? You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us an object of contention for our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved!”
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“I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said, ‘Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.’ Then my spirit made a diligent search: ‘Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?’ Selah
Then I said, ‘I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.’
I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph.” Selah
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“For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the Lord.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’
For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.’ “
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“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’”
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“Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake!”
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“About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, ‘How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?’ So Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?’ The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.’
… So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, ‘When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?’
The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Jesus then said, ‘I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.’”
-Psalm 80:3-7 * Psalm 77:4b-15 * Jeremiah 6:13-7:11 * Romans 4:1-8 * Psalm 80:8-9 * John 7:14-24, 30-34 (ESV)
Pray & Do: The Lord's Prayer - Adapted from this source.
On Mondays during Lent, we'll use the Lord's Prayer as our guide for praying for ourselves and the world. One of the ways to pray the Lord's prayer is by dividing it into six sections and pausing between each section to offer prayer on that theme. This week, as we consider how making petitions helps us express lament to God, notice areas of desire that stir in your heart and mind as you pray the Lord’s Prayer. Journal those responses.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thank God for who God is and for God's abundant faithfulness. Contemplate
God's many attributes and offer praise for the blessings in your life, community, and the world: ____________________.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Pray for God's rule and reign to become a reality in your life, city, nation, and
world. Ask for God to bring miracles and salvation: ____________________.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Pray for God's daily provision in your life and for those around the world who
the Holy Spirit brings to your heart and mind: ____________________.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
Engage in a few moments of silence to allow space for the Holy Spirit to bring
specific acts of sin to your attention. Confess those sins to the Lord. Also, be still
and allow the Holy Spirit to bring to mind those that have sinned against you so
that you can name them to God, ask for healing and strength to forgive. Forgive
those who have wronged you: ____________________.
Lead us not into temptation.
Ask for God to guide you in paths of righteousness for God's name sake'. Pray that
God will give you the discernment and knowledge of God's will in the specific
decisions, known and unknown, ahead of you today: ____________________.
Deliver us from evil.
Pray for God's protection against any of the strategies of Satan. The Devil wants
to kill, steal, and destroy. Ask God to mightily deliver you and others the Holy
Spirit brings to your heart and mind: ____________________.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
