e-vo for week of January 30

Dearest e-votees-

This week we’ll spend some time with our appointed psalm. Blessings, grace and joy to you.

Peace,

Karl

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1 In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. 5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.

Psalm 71:1-6

Where do you find refuge when the world becomes too much? Do you lurk in a pair of headphones and drift away with the music? Do you throw yourself into exercise or into work where you can at least have some measure of accomplishment and sense of worth? Do you lose yourself in the alternate world of movies or TV or video games? Where do you find shelter when the throes of the world prove too much?

Where do you find hopes for deliverance for the things that could overwhelm you? Who do you call when you are imperiled and needing assistance? When the hand of the wicked is on the scruff of your neck or the grasp of the unjust and cruel is flailing at your heels who has got your back?

The psalmist would find balm and healing for all these woes in the Lord. Safety, comfort, deliverance, support and the like all come from the Lord. The Lord who has known us since birth (if not before) is with us—of what shall we be afraid?


Lord help us learn to lean on and trust in you. Help us find comfort, shelter, healing, support, deliverance and even our very lives in you. Grow us in our ability to praise you more and more continually. Amen.