Psalms 61:1-4 (60:2-5 LXX)

Hear my supplication, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I cried out to You
When my heart was discouraged;
You lifted me high on a rock.
You guided me, for You became my hope,
A tower of strength from the face of the enemy.
I will dwell in Your tabernacle unto the ages;
I will be covered with the shelter of Your wings. (Pause)

Encouraging Words

Our God is everywhere present, all knowing, and all powerful. He is complete love, complete grace, complete mercy, and complete truth. He is the almighty creator of all and yet He humbled Himself to become one of us. He is my God and I am His child, a sheep in His flock, a member of His bride, the Church. So, when I have a need, He is there. When I am lonely, He is there. When I am living my life independently and selfishly, He is still there to catch me when I fall. He is not a God that can only be found in His churches when we go there, for He is everywhere. My God hears my supplications and attends to them. He lifts me up and sets me on solid ground when I cry to Him in the midst of my discouragements. He guides me, He is my hope, He is my tower of strength in the midst of the battles of life. He covers me with His wings of protection whether I recognize it or not. Thank you, my Lord! Glory be to You!

Tobit 1:6

But I alone traveled frequently to Jerusalem for the feast days, as it is written for all of Israel in an everlasting ordinance. I would carry the firstfruits and the tithes of my harvest and the first-shearing.

Personal Challenge

To bit is one of the apocryphal books of Old Testament that is included in the Septuagint but excluded in later texts. Tobit was amongst some of the Jews of his day that were captured and taken away into exile. He and his kinsmen lived far away from Jerusalem. In this verse, we learn that this distance did not prevent Tobit from sojourning back to Jerusalem on a regular basis to celebrate one of his annual religious events This would have been a long, hard and precarious trip. He would have been in much danger from marauders and thieves along the way because he was bringing with him a year’s worth of tithes and offerings. And yet, year after year, be continued to make the journey. It always amazes me that so many people today, many of which who claim to be followers of Christ, find it too difficult to regularly attend worship because it is an inconvenience to get up on Sunday mornings, get the family ready to go and then drive 20 miles to church. Tobit reminds me that nothing should ever come between my Precious Lord and me! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and forgive me for those times that I just want to stay home.

Luke 1:50

And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.

Encouraging Words

In the Old Testament, we are taught that the sins of the father affect at least three generations. We see this play out today as we observe families dealing with alcoholism and other forms of addiction. It also teaches that the righteousness of the father passes onto thousands of generations. Here in the New Testament, Jesus reminds us that our loving and merciful God will pour out His mercy upon those who fear and respect Him and also pour that mercy out upon generation after generation. The consequences of my choices do not just affect me and those around me, but they can affect many generations after me. That is part of the reason that I choose, daily, to love and strive to follow my Lord. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 59:16-17 (58:17-18 LXX)

But I will sing of Your power,
And greatly rejoice in Your mercy in the morning;
For You are my protector,
And my refuge in the day of my affliction.
You are my helper; I will sing to You;
For You, O God, are my protector;
You are my mercy, O my God.

Encouraging Words

I absolutely love the depth of the love that the psalmist has for his God and the breadth of his relationship. In some passages such as this one it is so clear how much He sees God actively and intimately involved in his life and in others we see him crying out to God in anger, frustration, and confession because he cannot see or feel God’s presence in his life. This kind of relationship is only possible after many years of intimacy with another, working together through the good times as well as the bad. My desire is to live my life in such a way that I too can be this close to my Lord. I know that if there is any kind of distance between Him and me it is there because I have pulled away for He is always pouring out His power, money, and grace upon me. He is always my protector, refuge, and helper. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Nehemiah 6:16

And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

Encouraging Words

Once again, we see the power of living our lives in submission to God, Nehemiah took on the task of rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. This was a daunting task, to say the least, especially with all of the opposition from their enemies. And yet, Nehemiah lead his people to be humble before the Lord and focus on the task at hand. They worked with mason’s trowels in one hand and a sword or a spear in the other, constantly at the ready for any opposition from their enemies. The wall was fully rebuilt in 52 days, clearly a miracle from their God. This miracle was so obvious that all the people around them, including their enemies, proclaimed that this could have only been done by their God, God will do these things in our lives if we will just submit to Him and focus on His work. Glory be to God!

Luke 1:37

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Encouraging Words

Imagine, if you can, that you are a young woman that has spent most of your life living in the Jewish temple with the priests. You were dedicated to God as an infant and when you were old enough to walk your mother and father, who was also a priest, presented you to the priests of the temple and the older women serving there to raise you as a godly woman. Then when you entered into your teenage years your body began to change and you began to transition into womanhood. You can no longer remain in the temple because your monthly issue will defile it. But this is the only life that you have ever known. Then somewhere around the age of 13-16, the priests make arrangements for you to be betrothed to a Godly man in the community. He is an older man whose wife has passed away and his children are older than you. This betrothal is not one of a sexual nature, but one to give you a safe home to live in the rest of your life. Then, before your wedding has taken place, an angel appears and tells you that you are going to have a child, a son. Now can this be, you have never had a relationship with a man? And this verse is what He tells you. Thank you, Holy Theotokos (God Bearer) for saying “Yes!”, when you could have said “No!”, and for being the gateway for the incarnation of our God. Holy Theotokos, full of grace, we magnify You!

Psalms 57:1-3 (56:2-4 LXX)

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will hope,
Until lawlessness shall pass away.
I will cry out to God most High;
My God who is my benefactor.
He sent from heaven and saved me;
He gave over to disgrace those who trample me down.

Nehemiah 4:7-8

Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall in the sheltered areas, and I positioned the people by families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember our God, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

Personal Challenge

Even though those of us who follow our Lord and desire to be like His Son acknowledge that He is the one that is always there for us and that as the Creator holds everything in the palm of His hand, we also acknowledge that we must work together with Him. Our relationship with God is a synergistic relationship. We can do nothing without Him and He will never force us to do anything against our free will. As Nehemiah pursues building the walls of the temple he makes it clear that God’s work can only be completed as the people work together with Him to do His work. Our lives are made complete as we work in synergy with our Father in heaven. Glory be to God!