Devotion for Monday 20 September
Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from Psalm One Hundred and Eighteen, verse Seventeen, “I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord,” (NRSVB). This psalm is a praise psalm written to sing during the worship service by two alternating groups, each group describing different aspects of God’s work and blessing. The unknown psalmist opens the psalm stating that the assembly must give thanks to the Lord. Israel is called to proclaim God’s loving-kindness, as a nations, then the priests are called to proclaim God’s loving-kindness and lastly everyone who fears the Lord must tell of the endurance of God’s loving-kindness. God is the one who will deliver those who are in danger with his mighty right hand. Those who fear for their lives will be saved and they will praise God, for he did not allow tribulations to consume them. They were not given over to death, even though they lived under the threats of death.
The Apostle Paul wrote a parallel verse in the Second Letter to the Corinthians regarding the watchword and said, “We are treated us unknown and ignored by the world, and yet we are well-known and recognized by God and His people; we live as if we are dying, and yet here we are alive; as chastened by suffering, and yet not killed,” (Amplified Bible). Jesus quoted from this psalm when he spoke about the destruction of the temple and his own imminent death when he said, “The stone which the builders had rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” verse Twenty Two, (Amplified Bible).
Through the death of Jesus the New Testament church was born, a body of living stones, being the temple of the Lord, for he lives and dwells within us. These are the living stones who call out and praise the Lord in the assembly, for Christ is the foundation of the church, and he will protect her. He is the corner stone, the One who will not allow his members to perish, the One who will perform marvellous deeds to protect and save those who worship him. The new life that is created within those who love the Lord, is a life that looks away from the dangers and plights of the world, towards the saving hand of Jesus, He who promises that he is present in calamity.
The desires of those who love the Lord have been changed, their goals are to be more like Jesus, to conform to his likeness. The old self has been crucified and the new creature lives to rejoice in the Lord, for he will redeem our lives from destruction. The Apostle Paul writes in his Letter to the Galatians, in Chapter Two verse Twenty, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me: and the life that I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me, ” (Amplified Bible). Christ has honoured us by seeing us as worthy to redeem, He suffered and died for us. Because of what Christ has done, says the Apostle Paul, none of us can be the same again, for our lives are filled with the love of Christ. This love of Christ causes us to be filled with loving-kindness towards others. This love of Christ reaches us where we are suffering and brings us to a safe and blessed place.
Father, we thank you that you reach out to us, you bring us to safety amidst our fear of death and our doubts and weakness of faith. We thank you that you are gracious unto us and lives within us. We praise you Lord as we sing, we living stones in the temple of the Lord, the body of believers in Christ, Amen.
