e-vo for week of January 23

Dearest e-votees-

The appointed Psalm for this coming Sunday is Psalm 19.

Psalm 19 is the source of one of my favorite passages of scripture. For this week we’ll hone in on just one verse of our appointed psalm.

Peace,
Karl

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Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14, NRSV

This is a prayer. It is directed to one’s strength and one’s means of salvation.

This is a prayer about the outside life and the inside life.

We communicate in so many ways. Words are one of the most potent. What we say reflects how we feel and what we believe. People hear us and assess us by what we say and by what we don’t. Our words testify to what we believe about the world and about God if we are speaking particularly theological words or if we are not. The psalmist prays that the words of the mouth are found acceptable in the ears of the Lord. How mindful are we about whether are words bring glory and pleasure to our Lord?

What we say is one thing; what we think and feel can be quite another. We may parrot the proper words of faith but have a heart that is far from believing. We may pray for our enemies but inside deeply loathe them. We might sing songs of praise with fellow believers but deep down despise and ridicule them. The psalmist prays that the movements of the heart are found acceptable in the eyes of the Lord. How mindful are we about whether our interior life brings glory and pleasure to our Lord?

The psalmist’s Lord is a rock—a sure and certain place to find footing in a slippery world.

The psalmist’s Lord is a redeemer—a sure and certain place of salvation in a world that can be so very lost.

The psalmist’s Lord is our Lord. Jesus is our Rock and our Redeemer. We find sure footing and sure future in the care of Jesus.

When I am about to preach I almost always pray:

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.

Now you know why I keep praying this and where it comes from.


God, have your way in our lives—inside and out. Grow us in trusting you no matter how slippery or uncertain the way becomes. Amen.